b"WORLD HEALTHExcerpt from 'The Face of Hunger'IcandoallthingsthroughChristaddition, at the end of my stay there,seen.Thefirstthoughtinmymind which strengtheneth me I would have to recover from hepatitiswas he was not going to survive. HePhilippians 4:13 E, which I thought was going to be mywasterriblywastedandthin.His final illness! cheeks were sunken. He had just been By Byron E. Conner, M.D. While in Makale, I took care of manycaught in a rainstorm and was shiver-famine victims. The majority would being violently. His family was with him, buttheyappearedwell.Hisclothes hadyoung children including infants and Iarrivedtoddlers.Ihadtolearntodosome- werejustthinrags,andhelooked to serve alongthing I was not formally trained to do,almost naked. We found clothing for with my familybut it had to be done. I learned whatDesta along with a blanket. He contin-asamission- illnessestoexpectandhowtotreatued to shiver violently but in addition ary to Ethiopia,them. It was a learning experience. Ito this, he refused to eat any food we inAugustofworked in the clinic we had as well as aofferedhim!Allseemedinvain.We 1984. We as acourtyard behind the clinic we used ashowever decided to take him to a small familywouldfeeding center and place to distributefield hospital operated by the Catholic live in the capi- blankets and clothing. Relief Services.talcity,AddisWedecidedtoreturnin2daysto Ababa.Iper- Inthefeedingcenter,wehadthesee Desta.He was sitting up in bed! I sonallywouldpeople gather together for twice dailywas told that the nurses had inserted havetotrav- feeding times of a cereal mixture, like aafeedingtubebyhisnostrils.He eltovariouslarge bowl of oatmeal and high energywas now hungry and ready to eat. It medicalfacili- biscuitswhichwaslikeapacketseemed like a miracle! Desta returned ties around the country. This was notofcrackersthatlookedlikegrahamto our clinic. He now ate anything weDr. Conner surprisingasIwasthedirectorforcrackers.Thisfoodwassurprising- gave him. He gained weight, and ate healthforourchurchmission:Thelyeasytoprepareandanefficientall we fed him.He gained weight and Seventh-dayAdventistChurch.Weandeffectivewaytofeedpeople.Wehis cheeks filled out! He looked like a were in for a surprise however whenhad a small kitchen in the courtyard we learned that we would be separatedtopreparethecereal.Welearnedtodifferent person. It was like a miracle.ContactDr.Conner as a family for a total period of aboutassemblethepeopletoreceivetheirAfter he gained weight he looked well. 9months.Thisincludedtravelingtotwicedailyration.Isawmanythin,Desta and all his family left us after heformoreinformation different sites around the country andand wasted children we tried to feed.got well, and many people returned to theirvillages.Wewererejoicingthat a total of 6 months spent doing famineHowever, there was one starving per- this patient did well. Some others didonhowtopurchase relief spent in the town of Makale inson who stood out in my mind. I willto.the northeast of the country. We had tocall him Desta. (not his real name). We thanked God that we were ablehis$10book,The learn to adapt to the situation. I beganI met Desta one day when the clinic myperiodofserviceinNovemberoftohelpthoseinneedandwewere 1984. workerscalledmefromtheclinictoencouraged to continue our outreach,Face of Hunger.see him. He looked like a child aboutand do what we can to help people by Thiswasonelessonwelearned- 12 to 13 years of age. He was the thin- Gods grace! bec9md@aol.comliving a part with no prior warning. InnestofallthefaminevictimsIhad Judge Bland, 2nd Black Woman to ServeThe Hon. Gary M. Jackson swears in the new Denver District Court judge, Nikea Bland.The swearing in took place on February 13th during Black History Month. Judge Bland is only the second Black woman to serve on a District Court Bench in the State of Colorado.Please call me at 720-337-0822 if you want more details of this historic event. 6 MARCH 2020 BOCNEWS.com"