European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - October 23, 1991, Darmstadt, Hesse                                . Military medical team provides Aid to Zimbabwe by Rourk Sheehan special to the stars and stripes i n the capital of Zimbabwe the Skyline is studded with skyscrapers arc  streets sport the same fast of acc text ets that Mark modern cities be i in Quot a Weyard Harare s City limits Quot cd rvs Zim Cacie can Sti i be very. Or so by r c Escenia ii m the vital area of Mecca care for or. Alan Pearson a  army major who visited the country last month medical conditions in the towns and villages dotting Zimbabwe s Countryside were a sobering experience. Quot one Day the first kid i saw had malaria the last kid was dying of aids and i saw everything imaginable in Between Quot he said. Quot we saw some extremely rare and serious diseases that we normally Only read about in  Pearson a physician at the Lan Stuhl army regional medical Center in Germany was one of about 80 . Military personnel who took part in a 10-Day medical Mission to Zimbabwe. The Mission which combined hands on and classroom training for local medical personnel with humanitarian medical Aid for Rural zimbabweans was the 11th in a series of medical exercises in Africa sponsored by the . European come. The classroom sessions which covered such topics As emergency medical care triage and evacuation were followed by a mass casualty exercise that simulated a serious bus train Accident. Both civilian and Zimbabwe military medical personnel participated in the exercise. The americans then fanned out on visits to Rural villages working with zimbabwean health specialists to provide medical dental optical and veterinarian care. Quot a dentist or an optometrist can have a dramatic effect on someone s life by taking care of acute dental problems or putting someone in glasses who has never had them before Quot said or. Eric Schoumaker an army lieutenant colonel who headed up the team from Lan Stuhl. Quot the zimbabweans have been very receptive and exceedingly helpful in allowing us to teach and to take care of patients. We Are also learning lessons from them in taking care of patients in this  during the visit the optical team made glasses for 200 villagers and left behind hundreds of lenses and frames for zimbabwean specialists to use. More than 90 percent of the glasses they made were for Reading Quot we knew in a fairly Well developed country like Zimbabwe they would be Reading and there would be a real need for glasses for adults Quot said or. Jeff Franz an optometrist and Captain from Lan Stuhl. Quot there is an immediate positive result. Villagers can come in and walk out being Able to read again. It is almost a Miracle for them and very exciting and rewarding for  the dental team of four dentists and six assistants saw More than 250 patients and pulled 275 Teeth. Spec. Tom Rountree a dental specialist stationed in Kaiserslautern Germany also gave demonstrations on dental care including the importance of proper brushing. Quot it was hard to Tell How much they got out of it but we gave away loads of toothbrushes so hopefully it did some Good Quot Rountree said. Or. Ronald Hayes who headed the dental unit said the team also left behind stocks of gloves Medicine and Complete sets of dental equipment. Hayes a lieutenant colonel is chief of the Kleber dental clinic in Kaiserslautern Germany. The european come contingent also included a Navy environmental and preventive Medicine unit from Naples Italy. Members of that team took part in a Angola Namibia Botswana 400 Miles / / South / Africa ap/s4s Field study of area insects to determine the prevalence of such diseases As malaria. A veterinary team from Lan Stuhl also worked with the zimbabwean army which has about 400 horses for use on Border duty and game preserve patrols. Quot we visited their stables and made recommendations to them Quot said maj. Mark Krause an army veterinarian. Quot they Are also trying to increase their cattle Herd from 300 to 4,000. We made some recommendations we Hope will help them do  while noting that the country suffers from a shortage of health supplies and equipment members of the . Team said that they were nonetheless impressed with the Overall health care system in Zimbabwe. In All the team left behind $250,000 Worth of Medicine supplies and surplus equipment including microscopes and an operating table. Quot the Zimbabwe army medical staff impressed me with their eagerness to learn and their ability to treat patients without the proper supplies Quot said sgt. 1st class Richard Melancon a practical nurse at Lan Stuhl. Quot they also really surprised me with their hospitality. It started the first night when they helped us unload and then provided us with a traditional  for their part the zimbabweans had Only one complaint Quot we Only regret it was Only 10 Days and not 10 years Quot said col. Tich Aona my Dingwa the head of medical services for the Zimbabwe detente Force. Staff sgt. Slaw Han it assigned to the Lan Stuhl army regional medical Center Public affairs . Maurice Gonzalez a dental Assisi out snacks to children at a Zimbabwe \ a capt. Kenneth Wade of the 7th medical Cor also conducted classroom sessions with the Page 14 the stars and stripes wednesday