Five years ago, Ray Rickman – a former staate legislator – was home sick. He heard a report about a doctor in Mali who did not have enough supplies to do his job and was thinking of leaving.
Rickman tracked down the doctor and asked what it would take to keep him on the job in Mali, where 64 percent of the population lives below the poverty line. The answer: $110 a month.
In response, Rickman, working with Brown University medical student Rajiv Kumar, created Adopt a Doctor.
Today, the nonprofit subsidizes 16 doctors in Liberia, Mali, Malawi and Sierra Leone.
Consider that in Liberia alone, the number of publicly paid physicians has fallen from about 200 to 27 since 1990. Imagine what a difference several more doctors make in that desperate environment.
The group’s ability to do more is limited only by its fundraising, and it is hoping to attract additional cash through a redesigned Web site.
Sometimes, the problems seem so overwhelming that people feel powerless to help. But as Mr. Rickman proves so eloquently with his actions, concerned and