PROJECT MAE TAO - SUPPLY DRIVE!

Dear Friends,

We are two Brown University Master of Public Health students who have been accepted to go spend a summer at Mae Tao Clinic in Thailand. The clinic is located in Mae Sot, on the western border between Thailand and Burma. We will be working with the clinic’s 5 physicians, 100 health workers and 40 support staff to provide free and much needed medical care to an estimated 150,000 refugees, immigrants, landmine victims, and abandoned children, all of whom have been displaced by socio-political oppression, civil war and poverty.

We are writing to let you know about Project Mae Tao, a medical supply drive we are organizing in an effort to bring items that are either too expensive or not available for purchase to the clinic this summer. Mae Tao has provided us with a list, and we are inviting local and affiliated hospitals/clinics to donate specific medical items that require clinical supervision and items that are needed in bulk.

How can YOU help? The clinic is also in need of items that could easily be purchased in a drug store or wholesale stores, or things that might be sitting in your basement not being used. Here are some of them:

- Powder/tablet oral rehydration therapy (HydraLife, Gatorade, etc.)
- Over-the-counter supplements (multivitamins, iron, zinc, calcium, etc.)
- Sterile gauze, bandages, gloves, masks
- Stethoscope (Littman)
- Clinical methods books (History taking and Physical exams)
- Obstetric picture books
- Oxford Handbook of Clinical Medicine
- Oxford Handbook of Tropical Medicine
- Pharmacology and Medicines books
- The Merck Manual
- Physician’s desktop reference books
- Medical dictionaries (English, English-Thai)

If you are unsure of what to donate, or have any questions about the drive, please feel free to contact either one of us. We can arrange pick-ups (from your homes or your work) in the greater Providence area. The main drop-off box will be located on the second floor of 121 South Main Street, Master of Public Health student lounge area. For more information about the clinic, please visit: www.maetaoclinic.org

Thank you in advance for your support. Please help us bring hope to the Mae Tao Clinic.

Peace,

Annie Thacker RN, MPH candidate (Anne_Thacker@brown.edu)
Yumi Aikawa MPH candidate (Yumi_Aikawa@brown.edu)

decree

keep your eye on my finger
and listen to the sound of my voice
get your subliminal decree and your false security
be all that you can be

in hospitals and schools
airports and banks and bars
big ones on street corners
little ones driving by in cars
glowing through countless
bedroom curtains at night
that 20k tone
and that pale blue light
saying
daddy knows best
yes, this is the news
in 90-second segments
officially produced
and aired again and again and again
by the little black and white pawns
of the network yes men
while the stars are going out
and the stripes are getting bent

cancer, the great teacher
has been opening schools
downstream from every factory
still, everywhere fools
are squinting into microscopes
researching cells
trying to figure out a way
we can all live in hell
well
step back
look up
you'll see i'm dimming the sun
but you won't, will you?

the stars are going out
and the stripes are getting bent

ani difranco