NEWS AND VIEWS

A concrete example of humanitarian aid that works

by Walter M. Wess

Almost every time that I hear the topic of humanitarian aid to Ukraine discussed it is combined with the question "Is it being, or will it be, properly utilized?" Another variation of this question is "Won't it just wind up on the black market?" I don't need to expound further along these lines; all of you have heard this theme as often as I have. That is why I want to tell you about my experience in Zakarpattia Oblast during the past 18 months.

After 16 humanitarians aid trips to various parts of Ukraine, I went to Uzhhorod, Zakarpattia, for the first time in August 1998. During this trip I was a speaker and also chairman of one section of the VII Congress of the World Federation of Ukrainian Medical Associations. I attended as a delegate of the Ukrainian Medical Association of North America. During the convention I met with many local doctors in Uzhhorod and was impressed by the fact that they themselves were performing charitable works for those unable to help themselves.

One physician, Liudmila Korolchuk, head of the Zakarpattia Foundation for Mothers and Children, approached me and asked if I would help her raise money to purchase hearing aids for eight children that needed them. During the convention banquet we raised approximately $1,400. I then asked Dr. Korolchuk to not purchase the hearing aids right away, but to please wait one month. I wanted to see if I could obtain aids from my suppliers.

After returning to the United States, I contacted five American hearing aid manufacturers, and they gave me a total of 33 new hearing aids. I called Dr. Korolchuk and told her what had transpired. I then asked her to use the money that we had raised for food and medication for children in desperate situations (which she did). I explained that I would come to Uzhhorod in October and fit the 33 hearing aids.

That October, the first trip after the medical congress, I was also able to bring insulin for 16 diabetic children. (Sadly, my source for insulin dried up after this initial donation. Insulin is in very critical short supply. If any readers know of a source for insulin donations, please call and let us know.)

During my subsequent return trip to Uzhhorod I constantly stressed a need for records and receipts for the hearing aids that were going to be fitted, including their serial numbers. This record system was put in place and is still serving us well today.

We addressed the aid issue in the following way. During this first trip of fitting hearing aids we first saw the original eight patients, then others were selected for examination and fitting by the school for the hearing-impaired. We also looked for multiply handicapped individuals. After these criteria were met, we then saw patients on first-come, first-served basis.

Each patient was examined first by a Ukrainian doctor, Dr. Tamara Kalinina, and then by me. She and I then consulted on the patients' needs, some were medicated, some referred for surgery and the rest were fitted with hearing instruments. I saw each patient a minimum of three times, first the examination, then the fitting and one follow-up visit.

Enough batteries had been donated for each person to have one-year supply, however, we gave the patients only a two-month supply at a time. In this way the patients had to return to the hospital for their next two-month supply. We now had a way of tracking who was actually using their instruments full-time, as they had been instructed to do.

At the end of this visit to Ukraine I was about 15 hearing aids short of the number I needed to fit the patients I had seen after the initial 33 were given out. After I returned to the United States, I went back to the manufacturers with photographs and a full report of what I had done. Included in this was original copies of letters from the children to the manufacturers. In my report I also asked them if they could dig a little deeper and give me 15 more hearing aids. They gave me another 23.

On the next visit to Ukraine I began to notice a difference in the attitudes of the administration and the doctors with whom I was working. They were beginning to see that their record-keeping and cooperation with getting out thank-you letters was paying off. We scheduled several of the previous patients for follow-up visits and documented the results of our rehabilitation efforts. With these new documents, thank-yous and my follow-up report to donors here in the United States, a new facet was emerging: the donors and recipients who had never seen each other, except through my eyes, were beginning to feel an actual kinship with one another. As the Ukrainians began to fully realize that it was not I who needed to be thanked, but rather the donors, their letters and demeanor, and press articles took on a tone that set the stage for the most recent humanitarian aid trip.

When, learning that I was about to return to Ukraine for the turn-of-the-century, one American manufacturer of hearing aids gave me an unprecedented donation of 150 new instruments. Another individual paid for custom-made ear molds for all of the patients and, in addition, he paid for a very generous supply of hand tools to go with a modern ear, nose and throat treatment cabinet, equipment and treatment chairs that were also donated by an individual donor.

Armed with the above contributions, my wife and I set out for Ukraine. In Uzhhorod we saw many of the previous patients and over 100 new patients. With the generous supply of new hearing instruments and batteries, plus good equipment with which to work, we were able to successfully begin rehabilitation processes for over 100 individuals.

One doctor with whom I have worked a good deal of time told me that for the first time in many years she enjoyed working again. As we discussed this we determined that the source of her regained professional satisfaction was the fact that she could now actually do something "meaningful and make a significant contribution to a patient's life and well-being." In the past 14 months we have upgraded the clinic in which she now works to near Western standards. In addition, we have fitted approximately 130 patients with a total of over 200 new hearing aids. Just the follow-up work and counseling involved will keep this doctor busy in a meaningful and productive way for several months.

Our plans for the future are to raise funds to buy a washer and dryer for a rehab center for crippled children in Uzhhorod, and to equip the school for the hard-of-hearing in Khust with a special F.M. system that will enable them to teach the children to speak rather than use sign language. In Ukraine, due to a lack of modern equipment, the children who have moderate to severe hearing loss do not learn to speak. In the United States, with our equipment, we can teach children with very severe hearing losses to speak almost normally.

During the five trips that I have made on this one project, I do not feel that any of the aid has been misappropriated in any way or manner, nor do I feel that any "preferential" selection process as to who received aid took place. In fact, there was a significant amount of first-come, first-served patients seen.

As a result of the Ukrainian doctor and me working together and directly with our patients, we have established an excellent working relationship and it has translated to direct patient benefits. In addition, the patients also now have a greater respect for their local doctors - and that is a significant part of the battle.

Walter W. Wess M.A. is an audiologist in Manahawkin, N.J., and is a founding member and president of the Adopt-A-Hospital Foundation. He is fluent in Ukrainian and has completed 22 humanitarian aid trips to Ukraine. He may be reached at P.O. Box 116, Manahawkin, NJ 08050; telephone, (609) 607-1801; fax, (609) 607-1802

Copyright © The Ukrainian Weekly, April 16, 2000, No. 16, Vol. LXVIII

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