Dr. Pia Skarabis-Querfeld treating a patient at a refugee shelter.
By Brady Way, 2017-18 president of the Rotary Club of Moorehead City-Lookout, North Carolina, USA
In the winter of 2014, Europe was beginning to experience a massive refugee influx as a result of the turmoil in the Middle East and Africa. Berlin would receive 100,000 of the 1.2 million refugees which came to Germany.
Rotarian Dr. Pia Skarabis-Querfeld went to a refugee shelter with a much needed donation of clothing. She was immediately struck with the urgent need for medical care and medical supplies. The refugees had traveled long distances for several months, in harsh conditions, fleeing many atrocities at home. They had many obvious acute and chronic problems, especially the children.
Despite the excellent healthcare system in Germany there was a clear problem. Some found their path into the healthcare system denied while others simply could not navigate it despite proper credentials.
Dr. Pia Skarabis-Querfeld with a young refugee at the shelter.
Dr. Skarabis-Querfeld and her husband, both physicians and Rotarians, began taking care of the needs of the sick at the refugee center. She organized other doctors, nurses, and volunteers into the nonprofit healthcare group “Medizine-Hilfte Flüchtling,” which grew to more …read more
Source:: Rotary International Blog
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