While most people celebrated the Christmas season at home with family and friends, one Saint Louis University professor spent her holidays in a much different environment-halfway around the world.
Dr. Sharon Frey, an associate professor of internal medicine at the School of Medicine, traveled to Afghanistan from Dec. 14 to Dec. 30, 2001, on a medical mission of mercy to help refugees. Frey’s trip took place through Relief International, a U.S.-based agency that provides high-impact emergency programming to communities in need.
Frey is recognized for her highly publicized research for two National Institute of Health studies involving the smallpox virus. Previous volunteer trips have taken her to other locations worldwide, including Bosnia, Zaire and Rwanda.
Frey and three fellow Relief International workers traveled south from Tajikistan into northeastern Afghanistan, setting up their base compound in Dasht-e Qal’eh. From there, the group worked out of a mobile clinic, visiting villages to treat patients and deliver aid to Afghans.
The basic needs of Afghanis are “in great demand,” Frey said, listing a lack of education, nutrition and medical care as examples. “Afghanis are very hearty people . and have survived some of the worst conditions.”
The group from Relief International stayed in a mud-brick house during their trip, living with basic conditions; for example, the group drew water from a nearby well and used a “literally a hole in the ground covered by a cloth” as a latrine.
Medical equipment and supplies for the relief team were also less than ideal, but Frey said the group was able to make the most of the materials it had. An operating table, for instance, was a table in a clinic. The group did, however, receive an abundance of medical supplies-including bandages, blankets, surgical gloves and intravenous fluids-from a U.S. special forces unit who helped deliver the supplies to a village hospital.
Entering the war-ravaged country was not as difficult as one might expect, Frey said, noting that traveling to Afghanistan was actually easier than when she had tried to enter the country last year. Evidence of war was plentiful, she added, citing bomb craters, bomb shelters and shell casings.
“When you’re in an area that has experienced war or is currently at war, you’re always at risk of harm,” Frey said. Precautionary measures included using common sense, she said, such as traveling only during the day. How people interpret each other’s word and “being careful about what you say” were also matters of concern. “We try to stay apolitical,” Frey said. “Often times we’ll provide help to either side of conflict.”
Frey said that most of those individuals she encountered, though, were not hostile towards foreigners. “We found that most were very nice and friendly toward us,” she said.
Frey described one example of the daily problems encountered, this one occurring at the end of the trip’s duration. She, along with three German doctors, performed emergency surgery on two brothers injured by an exploding shell. While operating, eight to 10 members of the U.S. special forces assisted by holding up lights so that the doctors could see, since they had little daylight. “It was a huge international effort,” she said.
“It’s a huge privilege to be able to travel to other parts of the world and share these experiences with others,” Frey said. “It’s enormously rewarding.”
Currently, nongovernmental organizations from the United States and other countries are supplying aid to Afghanis refugees.
Volunteering for such humanitarian trips is a yearly tradition for Frey, although she does not know where she will travel next year.
Relief International’s purpose is “to serve the needs of the most vulnerable, particularly women and children, victims of natural disasters, civil conflicts and the poor worldwide with a specific focus on neglected groups.”
Charitable contributions can be made by calling 310-572-7770, on the web at www.ri.org or in writing to 11965 Venice Blvd, Suite 405, Los Angeles, Ca., 90066.
