Marines and sailors participate in Operation Unified Hope

Courtesy Photo | A Bangladeshi farmer works in a rice paddy in the Rangpur District. Rice farms account...... read more read more

Courtesy Photo | A Bangladeshi farmer works in a rice paddy in the Rangpur District. Rice farms account for 75 percent of the total area of agricultural crops and the rice sector provides a vast number of rural employment opportunities.  see less | View Image Page

09.05.2008

Courtesy Story

III Marine Expeditionary Force   

✔ ✗ Subscribe

106

By III Marine Expeditionary Force Public Affairs

OKINAWA, Japan - Marines and sailors participating in Operation Unified Hope provided care to more than 6,870 patients during the 10-day operation.

Sharing run down single lane roads that haven't seen repairs in decades with rickshaws filled with grains, rice and other agricultural products, a small contingent of American service members rumble slowly through the countryside on a mission to provide medical and dental assistance to impoverished parts of Bangladesh.

The 25 Marines and sailors, from 3rd Marine Logistics Group, III Marine Expeditionary Force, based in Okinawa, Japan, pass overflowing buses filled with people trying to get somewhere in this sprawling country, where the rice fields seem to go on forever.

The U.S. service members joined with Bangladeshi forces to provide free medical and dental care to those in need in the Rangpur District through Operation Unified Hope.

Unified Hope is designed to further develop cooperation between Bangladeshi and U.S. forces by providing a forum for the two countries to share information and ideas on medical issues.

But beyond military and regional objectives, Unified Hope is about people.

Sgt. Robert Moore, a 3rd Marine Logistics Group data communications Marine with multiple deployments under his belt, spends countless hours a day processing endless lines of patients so they can be seen by the Bangladeshi and U.S. medical team.

With his experience, he mentors other service members like Petty Officer 3rd Class Pedro Perez, Jr., on his first deployment.

Before joining the Navy, the 25-yearold corpsman worked as a lifeguard at an amusement park in Denver.

Now he finds purpose as a field medical technician providing medical aid to people a world away from the comforts of American suburban life.

"This is a humbling experience, I'm just glad I can contribute to helping these people," Perez said. "One of the most rewarding experiences for me is seeing the look on a child's face when you help them, you know you are making a difference and hopefully improving that child's quality of life for many years to come."

The joint medical team treated a wide variety of patients needing care. Cases ranged from malnutrition to tuberculosis on the medical side, to gingivitis and decaying teeth among dental patients.

Some of the patients have never seen a doctor in their entire life. One patient traveled more than 120 miles because she heard there were American doctors and she wanted to be seen by them. Travel in this country is much harder than in the United States or Japan and people take whatever transportation they can find to be seen by the medical team.

Children as young as 8 years old bring themselves to the clinic. They come alone because their parents must work in order to provide their family with enough money to eat for the day. Their eyes show they are scared. For most, it is the first time they have seen Americans, but they come because they want help.

One Bangladeshi child, who arrived alone, said he came after he learned about the clinic through flyers distributed in his village.

"My tooth hurt, I knew the American doctors would help me," he said through an interpreter.

For Lt. Julie Hengehold, Navy dentist, making people feel better is what keeps her going, "It is nice to be able to help these people, some of them are in pain and we have the ability to give them treatment they may not get otherwise," said Hengehold, a Macomb, Mich. native. "It's so rewarding to be able to work alongside the Bangladeshi military to help so many people."

And help they did. The small, dedicated team of Bangladesh and U.S. physicians, dentists, Corpsmen, and support personnel treated more than 6,870 patients, pulled more than 740 teeth, and dispensed more than 20,600 prescription medications over a 10-day period to Bangladeshi citizens ranging in age from a 3-day-old premature baby girl to a 104-year-old woman.