Dr. Nora Rowley Nora, who has just returned from Burma (Myanmar) after serving for close to two years with Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières), will be the guest speaker at the next meeting of the DuPage Democratic Club. She will talk about the work of Médecins Sans Frontières, the political situation in Burma and the upcoming worldwide rally for human rights coming to Chicago on May 10^th.

The meeting will be held on Thursday May 8^th at the Lombard Community Building, 433 E. St. Charles Road in Lombard and will begin promptly at 8:00 PM.

Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) is an international humanitarian aid organization that provides emergency medical assistance to populations in danger in more than 70 countries.

In countries where health structures are insufficient or even non-existent, MSF collaborates with authorities such as the Ministry of Health to provide assistance. MSF works in rehabilitation of hospitals and dispensaries, vaccination programs and water and sanitation projects. MSF also works in remote health care centers, slum areas and provides training of local personnel. All this is done with the objective of rebuilding health structures to acceptable levels.

In carrying out humanitarian assistance, MSF seeks also to raise awareness of crisis situations; MSF acts as a witness and will speak out, either in private or in public about the plight of populations in danger for whom MSF works. In doing so, MSF sets out to alleviate human suffering, to protect life and health and to restore and ensure respect for the human beings and their fundamental human rights.

Only a small percentage of the populations that find themselves in a situation of danger gain the attention of the media. MSF teams travel to places that many people have never heard of, to assist those who have fallen victim to natural or man-made disasters. MSF volunteers have a story to tell when they return from their missions, and they use their experiences to speak of what they have seen. For MSF, raising awareness for these populations and the situations they are in is an important task. Whenever possible, MSF volunteers give interviews and make presentations. MSF offices worldwide facilitate the organization of gatherings, for individuals and groups who want to speak in their home communities. MSF also mounts exhibitions and, from time to time, releases publications, with the aim of raising awareness.

MSF has been setting up emergency medical aid missions around the world since 1971.

In Myanmar (Burma), intimate HIV care is the focus where isolation and rejection is the norm. Unfortunately many of MSF patients who have contracted HIV are alone or rejected by their families and society and this can be very depressing.

Isolated from the outside world, the people of Myanmar are suffering from the consequences of repression and neglect. The crackdown on monks marching for democracy in September brought international attention to this long-suffering population, but it did not expose what ordinary Burmese go through every day.

Faced with high malaria and HIV rates, the impoverished population is provided with little healthcare from the government: only 1.4 percent of the regime's budget supports healthcare services.

The 8,000 of HIV/AIDS patients who come for treatment at the five MSF clinics in Yangon, the former capital of Myanmar, receive an extremely high level of care. The MSF staff are split into small teams consisting of a doctor, nurse and counselor. Patients therefore get to know their careers - which is very important for building trust and helping people to stick to a lifetime's course of treatment.

All DuPage Democratic Club meetings are open to the general public. We welcome and encourage attendance by individuals of all political views and affiliations.

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