Search Results for 'Dom Colbert'

In August 1994, as soon as it was considered safe, Dr Dom Colbert, and a medical team of four sister-nurses, Brenda, Fionnuala, Dorothea and Eileen, drove across the Ugandian border into Rwanda. They had no mandate from anyone or any organisation to be there.They were motivated by a deep sense of shame and anger that such an appalling holocaust could have happened.* They had their medical skills, a little money, and an old clapped out pick-up truck.

The Medical Missionaries of Mary were founded by a remarkable Irish woman Mother Mary Martin in 1937, dedicated to providing health care in underdeveloped regions of the world.* While working at ‘Mile 4’ hospital (St Patrick’s), near Abakaliki, eastern Nigeria, Dr Dom Colbert regularly visited the near-by leprosarium, which, despite the pitiful deformities, he describes as a ‘peaceful, tranquil place’. The lepers there were all long-term patients, ‘many had distorted faces, lacked ears or noses…deformities of the hands or feet with missing fingers or toes.’ Recurrent ulceration and infection of the skin required constant attention, dressing changes, and meticulous hygiene.

One disease that men should avoid at all costs is filariasis. It can cause serious scrotal swelling.

One disease that men should avoid at all costs is filariasis. It can cause serious scrotal swelling.