Local couple work to provide health care in rural Africa
By Sophia Fischer sfischer@theacorn.com

FOREIGN SERVICE- Sephanie Brink, left center, and Susan Hundshamer are presented Heroine in Nursing awards by the CareNow Foundation at the organization's recent fundraiser in Moorpark. The nurses staff a mobile clinic in Zambia that the foundation supports. CareNow co-founders are Ed Bjurstrom, third from left, and his wife Wendy, far right.

Wendy Bjurstrom had never wanted to go to Africa but once she did, the experience changed the Westlake Village resident's life.

She and her husband, Ed, a former Amgen vice president, were so deeply touched by the people they met on their first trip in 2002 that they formed an organization to help improve the health of Africans.

"We had done a lot of travelling but Africa sounded so primitive, like a scary place," Bjurstrom said. "But the people were so joyful, so giving, even though they had nothing. They are so poor and underserved. Our hearts were broken."

The couple returned in 2004, traveling to five countries to research how they could help. The following year Ed Bjurstrom left Amgen after 18 years to establish the nonprofit CareNow Foundation. The organization develops and supports community clinics in areas of Africa where healthcare is unavailable.

Among CareNow's projects is a mobile clinic staffed by two Americans, a nurse and a midwife, serving thousands of Africans in rural areas of Zambia.

Patients often walk for hours to get help at the clinic, which travels to various sites. So many people require care, and the nurses cannot see everyone although they try, Bjurstrom said.

In March alone 800 patients were treated. The nurses are training area residents in first aid so they can help care for their communities.

Last year CareNow shipped $700,000 in supplies and equipment to a medical center in South Africa and provided funding to another South African facility that treats HIV/AIDS victims, including AIDS-infected children at an orphanage.

To raise funds for their cause, CareNow organizers and volunteers are sponsoring a Walk for Africa on Sat., May 17 in Santa Monica. Proceeds will be used to purchase another mobile clinic to serve a remote Zambian area.

Band-Aids needed

Bjurstrom explained that many Africans die from medical problems that could easily have been healed by basic first aid.

"When people get sick they visit the witch doctor, who advises such remedies as putting rabbit hair on a wound that may simply need a Band-Aid and antibiotic cream," Bjurstrom said. "So many of them die from these types of things."

She described other health issues common in rural Africa. Many people don't have shoes, and if a bare foot gets a cut that becomes infected, the simple injury can threaten their lives.

Eye disorders are often seen in people who cook over a fire. Poisonous snake and scorpion bites are also common.

Women carry 5-gallon jugs of water on their heads, resulting in neck problems, and their drinking water is shared by animals who bathe in it.

Children having children

It's common for girls to have babies every year beginning at age 14, with no prenatal care. By the time they reach 25 their bodies are ruined.

"In Zambia the average age is 15. People don't live to their 40s and 50s because of health issues. There is so much that needs to be done," said Agoura Hills resident Chris Flaherty, a CareNow volunteer who will visit Zambia this summer to investigate other possible ways the foundation can help.

A former nurse, Flaherty will also provide healthcare during her two weeks in Africa.

Corruption obstruction

The Bjurstroms originally wanted to build drug manufacturing plants to help treat victims of the AIDS epidemic- AIDS is a huge problem but "nobody wants to talk about it or admit it," Bjurstrom said. "It's difficult to get anyone tested. They say they don't have it even though they have symptoms."

The couple tried to work with African officials on the drug production concept but quickly realized that the government was too corrupt.

"We had to find people on the ground dedicated to not taking bribes, but just to taking care of people," Bjurstrom said.

How to help

The two nurses who staff the mobile clinic flew to the U.S. to be honored at a fundraising dinner earlier this month at Moorpark Country Club.

Guests shopped for authentic crafts at a Zambian marketplace and helped pack BandAids, antibiotic ointment, alcohol swabs, Pepto-Bismol, latex gloves and gauze into basic first aid kits to send to Africa.

The foundation's goals include continuing the shipment of medical supplies and equipment to Africa, expanding the mobile clinic to new locations in Zambia and bringing additional healthcare providers to Zambia and South Africa. Bjurstrom hopes to bring in new staffers for at least a year to support the two nurses currently working in Zambia.

"What these two young women put up with is amazing- snakes, scorpions, miserable weather, no TV, no luxuries," Bjurstrom said. "They stay because they love the people."

To volunteer or donate, call (818) 597-2451 or visit www.carenowfoundation.org.