Nonprofits partner to bring medical relief to Syria and Turkey

SOUTHFIELD — The Southfield-based nonprofit World Medical Relief is teaming up with the National Arab American Medical Association and student volunteers from local universities to bring much-needed medical aid to the victims of the magnitude 7.8 earthquake that hit Turkey and Syria Feb. 6, killing 51,907 people, injuring 118,626 people and displacing at least 24 million people.

World Medical Relief, the National Arab American Medical Association and the student volunteers will gather 9 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Saturdays in March at WMR’s headquarters, 21725 Melrose Ave. in Southfield, to prepare and package medical goods and equipment for the shipment of five to 10 containers each week, for a total of 40 containers to be sent to Turkey and Syria.

The first day of packaging was supposed to be held Feb. 26, but due to an ice storm and power outage issues, it was pushed back to March 4. All containers will be shipped by sea, which can take up to a month and 10 days to arrive. However, WMR is processing trauma supplies in advance to ship them by air so they can be received within 10 days.

Dr. George Samson, who has been with WMR for over 30 years and serves as the president and CEO of the organization, recalls coming over from the Philippines as a missionary to get help from WMR for the victims affected by the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in 1991.

“They wouldn’t let me leave,” Samson laughs, “They said they wanted me to work at World Medical Relief, and here you are talking with me decades later. When you’re touched and encouraged to help people by God, you’re going to stay no matter what.”

World Medical Relief has been around since 1953, when a Detroit woman, Irene M. Auberlin, became inspired by the plight of a single war orphan during the Korean War. Auberlin rallied her friends and family together to collect food, baby clothes, cribs and medicine to ship overseas, shifting her original goal of helping one child to helping 400 children in need. From this, Auberlin and her husband, Lester, became dedicated to helping people across the world with medical and pharmaceutical needs in developing countries. Auberlin is remembered for her passion and drive to help others. She reached out to hospitals to collect discarded yet still functional hospital items, such as walkers, beds, wheelchairs and any other medical items that she could get her hands on that might help somebody in need. It was when the Auberlins got a complaint from their neighbors about her keeping all these medical items in her backyard that it was decided that WMR needed a warehouse.

Until her death, Auberlin remained devoted to helping others both locally in Detroit and internationally. Her mottos were that WMR was doing God’s work by “turning the sins of waste into the miracles of mercy” and that, “Money is dirty. Don’t keep it. Give it to us.”

WMR is loyal to honoring Auberlin’s legacy through its work and partnerships with the health systems of Corewell, Ascension, Henry Ford, Michigan Medicine and several local universities, such as Lawrence Technological University and the University of Michigan.

In 2018, through research done in partnership with U-M, WMR became home to the Sheldon and Marion Davis Pacemaker Recycling Center as a part of “Project My Heart Your Heart,” which is the first pacemaker reconditioning and recycling program in the world.

Samson explains that, typically, pacemakers are used for 10-12 years because of the battery. With this program, if a pacemaker has a battery life of at least five years left, it is donated to low-income people in need of the lifesaving device.

Keeping with the spirit of WMR’s mission, Samson explained that when he learned of the disaster in Turkey and Syria, he immediately contacted NAAMA, the largest international organization of Arab American physicians and medical students, based in the U.S. with headquarters in Troy.

Dr. Wassim Younes had formerly served as the president of NAAMA and was recently appointed an ambassador for WMR. Younes was familiar with WMR because NAAMA has worked closely with them. Volunteering with NAAMA and WMR has a special significance to Younes as a physician.

“So, for me, it’s really about the demand of underserved countries and fulfilling that medical need. It really can’t be a greater mission than what they (WMR) do; they fulfill the need for what we receive the most requests from. Every time there was a crisis, we turned to a medical source. That’s why I turned to World Medical first, because they’re the longest-standing organization. And they are the most giving.” In his new role as an ambassador for WMR, Younes aims to “bring up as much support as possible” and connect more medical professionals and pre-med students, regardless of ethnic background or religion, to bring relief to those in need.

“Humanitarian first, nonpolitical, not religious,” Younes said. “And that’s the biggest headline that we follow.”

For more information on WMR and NAAMA, visit worldmedicalrelief.org and naama.com.