GLOBAL HEALTH CARE
Surgeon Ingida Asfaw, founder of the Ethiopian North American Health Professionals Association (ENAHPA), regularly returns to his homeland, bringing with him something that can’t fit into a suitcase: modern medical care. To date, the nonprofit ENAHPA has recruited more than 1,000 like-minded medical and non-medical members to help provide medical and surgical services, supplies, educational materials, and training to address the health care crisis in Ethiopia, where the physician-to-population ratio is 1-to-100,000 and average life expectancy is 40. “I felt it was my obligation to do something to bring hope and healing to my fellow countrymen,” says the member of Detroit’s Renaissance Club, who set out to become a doctor as a sixth-grader. “More than half of Ethiopians don’t have access to health care; thousands of people are suffering,” Asfaw explains. “We have a global world — what affects Ethiopia, Africa, and Asia also indirectly affects us. This is a journey and a campaign to help mankind.” — Mary Sue Lawrence