2011.10.06: October 6, 2011: Hazle Shorter was 57 when she joined the Peace Corps for two years in 1998 working at Zomba Central Hospital in Zomba, Malawi where she delivered many babies

Peace Corps Online: Directory: Malawi: Peace Corps Malawi : Peace Corps Malawi: Newest Stories: 2011.10.06: October 6, 2011: Hazle Shorter was 57 when she joined the Peace Corps for two years in 1998 working at Zomba Central Hospital in Zomba, Malawi where she delivered many babies

By Admin1 (admin) (70.254.224.177) on Saturday, October 08, 2011 - 11:42 am: Edit Post

Hazle Shorter was 57 when she joined the Peace Corps for two years in 1998 working at Zomba Central Hospital in Zomba, Malawi where she delivered many babies

Hazle Shorter was 57 when she joined the Peace Corps for two years in 1998 working at Zomba Central Hospital in Zomba, Malawi where she delivered many babies

When the Peace Corps offered her a spot as a pediatrician in Malawi, the organization seemed to be filled with "young, idealistic people who want to save the world," most of them just out of college, and she was the eldest in her group. "They go teach or farm or fish, but they don't come with a whole lot of skill," she said. "I came with a lot of skill." She learned the language, Chichewa, and lived with a poor couple and their 13-year-old daughter who was physically disabled, and bedridden. Shorter cared for her. "She was the kind of child I was used to taking care of," Shorter said. When she became proficient in the language, Shorter was soon placed at Zomba General Hospital in Malawi. There, she served as chief of pediatrics, she said. "I was the only pediatrician in the whole hospital. There were only three doctors for hundreds and hundreds of patients. One was a German internist, and Japanese surgeon. That was it." Shorter saw about 400 patients each day, she said. She also started a handicapped clinic for disabled children. "I had to," Shorter said. "You had to do everything." Because there was no running water, she used bottled water to wash her hands between patients. She worked in a village where natives had no electricity and no running water, though she and other doctors lived on a road with these luxuries. She carried her supplies to walk the mile-long trek to the hospital each day. The stench of excrement in the hospital was so excruciating that she had her friends send her small vials of perfume so she could smear fragrance above her upper lip every morning. "The smell was what would bring you to your knees," Shorter recalled. "So I smelled something good. But once you're in there, you acclimate yourself to the smell," she said. "And there's nothing you can do about it." Her departure was abrupt. In a nearby area, a German doctor was killed after he apparently uncovered a smuggling ring in the hospital he worked in, and found that people had been stealing surgical equipment, Shorter recalled. "He was going to report them, and they killed him. He had all new equipment delivered, and the next day it was gone," she said. A week later, her drugs in stock went missing. "I was going to report it, but I called the Peace Corps to let them know, and they called the German embassy," Shorter recalled. She was ordered to leave, she said. "They felt my life was in danger." The Peace Corps accommodated her at a safe house in another town, she said.

Hazle Shorter was 57 when she joined the Peace Corps for two years in 1998 working at Zomba Central Hospital in Zomba, Malawi where she delivered many babies

Montclair pediatrician served in Malawi saving babies and mothers

Thursday, October 6, 2011
Last updated: Thursday October 6, 2011, 2:02 AM

BY TANYA DROBNESS
OF THE MONTCLAIR TIMES
The Montclair Times

Caption: Dr. Hazle J. Shorter gave away many mementos from her two years in the Peace Corps in Africa, but she keeps a few, including a carved stone figure of a mother and child from Zimbabwe. It resonates with her because of her profession: 'As a pediatrician, [I know] the patient is really the parent.' The quilt was made for her by the village women in Malawi. When Shorter's fellow Peace Corps volunteers saw it, they wanted quilts too and the women's business grew so that they were able to become self-sustaining. Photo: Adam Anik

The garbage dump was outside the hospital's newborn nursery.

When flies got in through the open, screenless windows, they made their way into the incubators, and ate the babies' eyes.

When Hazle Shorter saw this, she took it up with the Zomba city government. It took two years for officials there to have the dump removed, just before Shorter's time in the Peace Corps was up.

But she got it done. She couldn't stand back and not do anything.

Shorter was 57 when she joined the Peace Corps for two years in 1998. And although at the time she was divorced with three grown sons, it was something she had always wanted to do.

And her activism seemed to come naturally.

When Shorter, a pediatrician, worked at Zomba Central Hospital in Zomba, Malawi, she delivered many babies. Sometimes, just days later, mothers brought back their babies with abdomens hard as rocks, Shorter recalled. They had developed necrotizing enterocolitis, a disease that can be common in premature babies, in which there is tissue death in the bowel.

What was the cause?

Shorter soon came to realize it. Many women there were given petroleum jelly freebies, receiving them in little packages. They were happy to be getting something for nothing, Shorter said. When they smeared the substance on their babies, including the navel area, it would become susceptible to infection, she said. Bacteria would make its way into the abdomen. "There is no cure, and these babies would die," she said.

Shorter urged Malawi pharmaceuticals to cease its distribution, and arranged to have a billboard posted showing a mother and infant with its abdomen exposed, and the universal "no" sign emblazoned over the image, she said.

And that wasn't all.

"Women in Malawi don't read or write, but they understand music and jingles and like to be taught that way … Then they made a jingle to sing the message on the radio all day so mothers would know never to put Vaseline [on]. And they did it," Shorter said. "That was one of my best moments as a pediatrician."

It was too bad, Shorter said, that she couldn't forever maintain the change she brought.

"The sad thing was the Peace Corps, unlike other organizations, does not have a program where … programs developed are not sustained," Shorter said.

Her motivation to join had come several years earlier.

A major inspiration transpired while she was in medical school at Howard University. When President Kennedy died, Shorter was pregnant with her first child. His death prompted her to make a promise to herself, that one day she would go into the Peace Corps.

"[It was] kind of like a tribute to John F. Kennedy. He had encouraged people to give back, to be more than just themselves, but to help others. I felt being in medical school, it was my natural inclination to take care of people," Shorter said.

She went on to work in the South Bronx in pediatric child development, caring for children with disabilities.

When the demands of practicing medicine as a single parent became too strained, she joined the pharmaceutical industry and was a research physician. "It hurt my heart to give up practice, but I did it because I felt it was important to be there for my sons," she said. She moved up the ladder in the industry, and became vice president of clinical research at her company.

But when her father died when she was 56, Shorter resigned. She said her father had been an atomic physicist who helped build the atomic bomb. He was her role model, and had encouraged her to become a pediatrician.

At that point, she said it was time for her to return to practicing medicine, "because that would fulfill my promise to John F. Kennedy, and I also fulfilled my love for my father."

When the Peace Corps offered her a spot as a pediatrician in Malawi, the organization seemed to be filled with "young, idealistic people who want to save the world," most of them just out of college, and she was the eldest in her group. "They go teach or farm or fish, but they don't come with a whole lot of skill," she said. "I came with a lot of skill."

She learned the language, Chichewa, and lived with a poor couple and their 13-year-old daughter who was physically disabled, and bedridden. Shorter cared for her. "She was the kind of child I was used to taking care of," Shorter said.

When she became proficient in the language, Shorter was soon placed at Zomba General Hospital in Malawi. There, she served as chief of pediatrics, she said. "I was the only pediatrician in the whole hospital. There were only three doctors for hundreds and hundreds of patients. One was a German internist, and Japanese surgeon. That was it."

Shorter saw about 400 patients each day, she said. She also started a handicapped clinic for disabled children. "I had to," Shorter said. "You had to do everything."

Because there was no running water, she used bottled water to wash her hands between patients.

She worked in a village where natives had no electricity and no running water, though she and other doctors lived on a road with these luxuries. She carried her supplies to walk the mile-long trek to the hospital each day.

The stench of excrement in the hospital was so excruciating that she had her friends send her small vials of perfume so she could smear fragrance above her upper lip every morning. "The smell was what would bring you to your knees," Shorter recalled.

"So I smelled something good. But once you're in there, you acclimate yourself to the smell," she said. "And there's nothing you can do about it."

Her departure was abrupt.

In a nearby area, a German doctor was killed after he apparently uncovered a smuggling ring in the hospital he worked in, and found that people had been stealing surgical equipment, Shorter recalled.

"He was going to report them, and they killed him. He had all new equipment delivered, and the next day it was gone," she said.

A week later, her drugs in stock went missing.

"I was going to report it, but I called the Peace Corps to let them know, and they called the German embassy," Shorter recalled. She was ordered to leave, she said.

"They felt my life was in danger." The Peace Corps accommodated her at a safe house in another town, she said.

And just like that, the adventure was over.

She remembers that when she returned to the United States, she couldn't talk about her experience. "I was devastated by the poverty," she said. "The homeless of the United States have more than the people of Malawi."

Shorter said that a family of four in Malawi might earn $100 a year. They grow enough food to eat for the day, she said.

The staple diet for the villagers was corn, ground to a type of cornmeal.

"It's like grits, except we eat it hot, with some butter or sugar or salt or cheese. They just eat it plain, and they eat it cold," she said. "If they are lucky they might have shredded lettuce or shredded tomato … or a baby bird." A delicacy there, she said, is rats on a stick.

"They are born without any shoes, just like everybody, but they live their whole lives without shoes … They walk in their feet from the day they're born until they die."

Contact Tanya Drobness at drobness@montclairtimes.com.




Links to Related Topics (Tags):

Headlines: October, 2011; Peace Corps Malawi; Directory of Malawi RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for Malawi RPCVs; Medicine; Public Health





When this story was posted in October 2011, this was on the front page of PCOL:




Peace Corps Online The Independent News Forum serving Returned Peace Corps Volunteers RSS Feed

 Site Index Search PCOL with Google Contact PCOL Recent Posts Bulletin Board Open Discussion RPCV Directory Register

Who Were the First Volunteers? Date: September 14 2011 No: 1536 Who Were the First Volunteers?
As the Peace Corps prepares to celebrate its 50th anniversary, members of Colombia I say the agency's account of its early history is flawed. Although the Peace Corps' web site proclaims that the first group of volunteers were members of Ghana I, Colombia RPCV Ronald A. Schwartz writes that the first Peace Corps volunteers were, in fact, members of Colombia I and asks that the agency correct the historical record. Also read the essay by Ghana RPCV Bob Klein on Peace Corps Online about Ghana I - the first volunteers to arrive at their country of service.

Peace Corps Featured at Smithsonian Date: July 15 2011 No: 1527 Peace Corps Featured at Smithsonian
Take a look at our photo essay of Peace Corps' featured program at the 2011 Smithsonian Folklife Festival on the National Mall in Washington DC to see how the festival showcased the work of Peace Corps volunteers in economic development and income generation; ways volunteers have helped support local groups to help educate communities; and food and cooking traditions that have played a role in the Peace Corps experience. New: Enjoy photos from the second week of the exposition.

May 26, 2011: The RPCV in the White House Date: May 26 2011 No: 1522 May 26, 2011: The RPCV in the White House
The RPCV in the White House 8 Apr
Peace Corps Recruiter Remembers Thomas Maresco 2 Mar
Robbie Schwartz writes: How would my life have been different? 2 Mar
Rajiv Joseph is a fresh and compelling voice in theater 5 Mar
Robert Textor Releases Peace Corps Classic 13 Mar
Chris Matthews writes: What's the Real Mission In Libya? 22 Mar
Peace Corps Faces Budget Ax in FY2012 23 Mar
Brendan Moroso writes: Revolution comes to North Africa 23 Mar
Jessica Moon Bernstein has exhibition "Ourrubberos" 26 Mar
Joshua Stern Founds Envaya to Provide Interent Access 26 Mar
Richard Sitler Photographs PCVs around the world 27 Mar
Scott Lacy is Executive Director of African Sky 29 Mar
American Sailor Accused of Raping PCV in Uganda 24 Apr
Scott Koepke Shares his Love for Dirt 26 Apr
Jane Wolkowicz tried to be Strict Vegetarian in Kazakhstan 27 Apr
George Packer Writes: Bin Laden: Better Late Than Never 2 May
Clare Major Screens Film "Feast & Sacrifice" 4 May
Steve Kruse and Salifu Mansaray met 40 years ago 4 May
SuZanne Kimbrell Rocks in Dallas 12 May
Nancy Sathre-Vogel writes:A Long Path to Nowhere 15 May
Gal Beckerman writes: What is Peace Corps for? 15 May
Katie Dyer Founded Fair Trade Folk Art Gallery 17 May
Henry Wilhelm Honored for his Photography 25 May

Congressional Hearings on Sexual Assault Date: June 3 2011 No: 1523 Congressional Hearings on Sexual Assault
Congress held hearings on the sexual assault of Peace Corps volunteers. Read the testimony of RPCVs on how the problem is still ongoing, and not limited to any particular country or region. Director Williams says that "it has become apparent to me that the Peace Corps has not always been sufficiently responsive or sensitive to victims of crime and their families. I sincerely regret that." Read what the Peace Corps is doing to address the issue. Latest: Background on sexual assault of PCVs.

Peace Corps: The Next Fifty Years Date: March 8 2011 No: 1513 Peace Corps: The Next Fifty Years
As we move into the Peace Corps' second fifty years, what single improvement would most benefit the mission of the Peace Corps? Read our op-ed about the creation of a private charitable non-profit corporation, independent of the US government, whose focus would be to provide support and funding for third goal activities. Returned Volunteers need President Obama to support the enabling legislation, already written and vetted, to create the Peace Corps Foundation. RPCVs will do the rest.

How Volunteers Remember Sarge Date: January 18 2011 No: 1487 How Volunteers Remember Sarge
As the Peace Corps' Founding Director Sargent Shriver laid the foundations for the most lasting accomplishment of the Kennedy presidency. Shriver spoke to returned volunteers at the Peace Vigil at Lincoln Memorial in September, 2001 for the Peace Corps 40th. "The challenge I believe is simple - simple to express but difficult to fulfill. That challenge is expressed in these words: PCV's - stay as you are. Be servants of peace. Work at home as you have worked abroad. Humbly, persistently, intelligently. Weep with those who are sorrowful, Care for those who are sick. Serve your wives, serve your husbands, serve your families, serve your neighbors, serve your cities, serve the poor, join others who also serve," said Shriver. "Serve, Serve, Serve. That's the answer, that's the objective, that's the challenge."

PCV Murder Investigated Date: January 18 2011 No: 1477 PCV Murder Investigated
ABC News has investigated the murder of Benin PCV Kate Puzey. Read our original coverage of the crime, comments on Peace Corps actions, the email Puzey sent her country director about sexual incidents with Puzey's students and with another PCV, the backstory on how RPCVs helped the Puzey family, and Peace Corps' official statement. PCOL Editorial: One major shortcoming that the Puzey murder highlights is that Peace Corps does not have a good procedure in place for death notifications.

Join Us Mr. President! Date: June 26 2009 No: 1380 Join Us Mr. President!
"We will double the size of the Peace Corps by its 50th anniversary in 2011. And we'll reach out to other nations to engage their young people in similar programs, so that we work side by side to take on the common challenges that confront all humanity," said Barack Obama during his campaign. Returned Volunteers rally and and march to the White House to support a bold new Peace Corps for a new age. Latest: Senator Dodd introduces Peace Corps Improvement and Expansion Act of 2009 .



Read the stories and leave your comments.








Some postings on Peace Corps Online are provided to the individual members of this group without permission of the copyright owner for the non-profit purposes of criticism, comment, education, scholarship, and research under the "Fair Use" provisions of U.S. Government copyright laws and they may not be distributed further without permission of the copyright owner. Peace Corps Online does not vouch for the accuracy of the content of the postings, which is the sole responsibility of the copyright holder.

Story Source: Montclair Times

This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Malawi; Medicine; Public Health

PCOL47452
82


Add a Message


This is a public posting area. Enter your username and password if you have an account. Otherwise, enter your full name as your username and leave the password blank. Your e-mail address is optional.
Username:  
Password:
E-mail: