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"The scope of suffering and advanced illness is worse over there. Yet in the midst of that, they are saying, 'We must do more, we will help this person.' "
Dr. Alex Nesbitt, director for Hospice and Palliative Medicine at UPMC Williamsport, has been working for over a decade to bring better treatment to ease end-of-life suffering to one community in Tanzania.
Shirati, as the Sun-Gazette reported in Tuesday's edition, is in a rural area, two miles from Lake Victoria. Poverty is endemic and many residents have no electricity or running water.
Health care professionals and others from our region have spent years doing what they can to assist Shirati's hospital.
"We've had a partnership, which involves people from our community, supporting the work that they do, supporting this in the sense of financially," Nesbitt said. "This is a hospital where the hospital struggles hard to keep the doors open to care for all the people who come into the hospital. … All of the funding for that program comes from Williamsport, Pennsylvania, from people in this area."
Dr. Nesbitt and Dorothy Kawira, RN and palliative care coordinator at Shirati Hospital, shared many moving stories of the challenges they have encountered through their work and of the people they have met through their work. Their efforts to share those stories and bring the public's attention to this crisis are vitally important -- a stark reminder of the suffering that persists throughout the world beyond our boroughs, townships and neighborhoods.
The work and dedication of this team from our region should be commended. Our region has been blessed with many opportunities. It is imperative for us to appreciate these blessings and to do what we can for those, not only in our communities but throughout the world, who have not been as fortunate.
Dr. Nesbitt and his team exemplify that humility, gratitude and compassion. We encourage everyone to learn from their example, whether the significant lessons are applied locally, to the needs and struggles within our communities, or globally, as their pivotal work does.
For more information about the work being done at Shirati and to see the video that was filmed during the Williamsport team's visit, go to supportshirati.org.