International Medical Corps

Peering through a gap in her black veil, Bibi Totia watched anxiously as the doctor examined her fussing grandson in a crowded refugee camp near the Pakistan border. The doctor diagnosed flu and handed her a prescription for an antibiotic from the free pharmacy. "God bless you," she said, clutching the precious piece of paper to her chest. For nearly a quarter of a century, Totia has relied on the doctors of the International Medical Corps to care for her family, first as a refugee in Pakistan and now as a refugee in her own country, Afghanistan.

Peering through a gap in her black veil, Bibi Totia watched anxiously as the doctor examined her fussing grandson in a crowded refugee camp near the Pakistan border. The doctor diagnosed flu and handed her a prescription for an antibiotic from the free pharmacy. "God bless you," she said, clutching the precious piece of paper to her chest. For nearly a quarter of a century, Totia has relied on the doctors of the International Medical Corps to care for her family, first as a refugee in Pakistan and now as a refugee in her own country, Afghanistan.

I applaud your editorial "The Heartbreak of Africa: Somalia" (Feb. 18). The tragedy of war-ravaged Somalia is one of the most disastrous humanitarian tragedies in today's world. Most of the victims are women and children, caught in the bloody cross-fire of inter-clan warfare. The Los Angeles-based International Medical Corps (IMC) has witnessed this tragedy firsthand. Since last November, the IMC has been--and still is--the only U.S. medical organization providing medical relief to the Somali people.

If you're a friend of 83-year-old Lillian Rachlin, you can count on getting amazing Hanukkah cards: Rachlin, scuba-diving in the Red Sea two years ago; cradling a baby orangutan on Borneo in 1986; standing like a little porcelain doll between two tall Somalians at a hospital in war-torn Mogadishu in 1991; and wrapped in the arms of the mayor of Dobczyce, Poland, who showed his appreciation for her work teaching English to local children in 1995 by whisking her off the ground.

An international health organization has received a $25,000 grant to improve prenatal and postnatal health care for local mothers and infants. The donation from the Weingart Foundation will help fund the second year of the International Medical Corps' program to pair volunteer mentors and low-income mothers for one-on-one support and counseling. The effort is the first U.S.

If you're a friend of 83-year-old Lillian Rachlin, you can count on getting amazing Hanukkah cards: Rachlin, scuba-diving in the Red Sea two years ago; cradling a baby orangutan on Borneo in 1986; standing like a little porcelain doll between two tall Somalians at a hospital in war-torn Mogadishu in 1991; and wrapped in the arms of the mayor of Dobczyce, Poland, who showed his appreciation for her work teaching English to local children in 1995 by whisking her off the ground.

After years of working in war-torn nations overseas, the International Medical Corps is turning its attention to America's inner cities. What it has found are communities faced with problems not so different from those in developing countries: high infant-mortality rates, an extremely low ratio of residents to physicians and high poverty rates.

After years of working in war-torn nations overseas, International Medical Corps is turning its attention to America's inner cities. What it has found are communities faced with problems not so different from those in developing countries: high infant-mortality rates, an extremely low ratio of residents to physicians and high poverty rates.

Crouched in the bushes on the side of a road in southern Mogadishu, Dr. Broderick Franklin prepared to face death. * Months before, Franklin had left the comfort of his home in Washington, D.C., and headed for Somalia, where he treated the victims of war and famine, sometimes seeing up to 60 patients a day at Mogadishu's Digfer Hospital.

Crouched in the bushes on the side of a road in southern Mogadishu, Dr. Broderick Franklin prepared to face death. Months before, Franklin had left the comfort of his home in Washington, D.C., and headed for Somalia, where he treated the victims of war and famine, sometimes seeing up to 60 patients a day at Mogadishu's Digfer Hospital.

An international health organization has received a $25,000 grant to improve prenatal and postnatal health care for local mothers and infants. The donation from the Weingart Foundation will help fund the second year of the International Medical Corps' program to pair volunteer mentors and low-income mothers for one-on-one support and counseling. The effort is the first U.S.

After years of working in war-torn nations overseas, the International Medical Corps is turning its attention to America's inner cities. What it has found are communities faced with problems not so different from those in developing countries: high infant-mortality rates, an extremely low ratio of residents to physicians and high poverty rates.

Crouched in the bushes on the side of a road in southern Mogadishu, Dr. Broderick Franklin prepared to face death. * Months before, Franklin had left the comfort of his home in Washington, D.C., and headed for Somalia, where he treated the victims of war and famine, sometimes seeing up to 60 patients a day at Mogadishu's Digfer Hospital.

After years of working in war-torn nations overseas, International Medical Corps is turning its attention to America's inner cities. What it has found are communities faced with problems not so different from those in developing countries: high infant-mortality rates, an extremely low ratio of residents to physicians and high poverty rates.

Crouched in the bushes on the side of a road in southern Mogadishu, Dr. Broderick Franklin prepared to face death. Months before, Franklin had left the comfort of his home in Washington, D.C., and headed for Somalia, where he treated the victims of war and famine, sometimes seeing up to 60 patients a day at Mogadishu's Digfer Hospital.

I applaud your editorial "The Heartbreak of Africa: Somalia" (Feb. 18). The tragedy of war-ravaged Somalia is one of the most disastrous humanitarian tragedies in today's world. Most of the victims are women and children, caught in the bloody cross-fire of inter-clan warfare. The Los Angeles-based International Medical Corps (IMC) has witnessed this tragedy firsthand. Since last November, the IMC has been--and still is--the only U.S. medical organization providing medical relief to the Somali people.

Your article "CNN Brings the Famine Story Out of Africa," reviewing CNN's coverage of the famine in Africa (June 22), and your editorial "The Disaster of Not Responding" (June 26), should be commended for the timely treatment of a tragic subject. Having just returned from Angola and witnessing firsthand the devastation and massive hunger plaguing that part of the world, I can attest that the suffering of these people is not going unanswered. International Medical Corps, a nonprofit, non-sectarian, nonpolitical Los Angeles-based relief organization, responded on June 13 by initiating a major airlift of food and emergency supplies to southeast Angola.

Southern California organizations accepting donations to assist the relief effort in Somalia include the following Air Serve International P.O. Box 3041 Redlands, Calif. 92373 (714) 793-2627 American Red Cross, Los Angeles Chapter 2700 Wilshire Blvd. Los Angeles 90057 (213) 739-5200 Doctors Without Borders USA 1999 Avenue of the Stars, Suite 500 Los Angeles 90067 (310) 551-4072 International Medical Corps 5933 W. Century Blvd.