Elin Raimondi has been caring for sick children as Maternity Float at Women and Children’s Hospital of Buffalo (WCOB) for many years. But she says some of her most rewarding work has come in her many trips to Africa to work with an organization called Medical Outreach and Community Assistance (MOCA) of western New York. The group’s Founder, OB-GYN Emme Nylander, organizes fundraisers throughout the year to take a team of upwards of 30 people to provide medical care and infrastructure work in remote villages in Ghana.



“The first time I was overwhelmed by the beauty of the people. We work in some of the most remote villages and these people have nothing,” said Raimondi before her 2013 departure. “This is my fourth time to Ghana and each time the people have opened their hearts to us.”



The team of medical professionals, students and lay people, perform surgeries including Cesarean births, hysterectomies, and fistula repair in the course of their stay. “It’s hard work but we are able to provide lifesaving and life changing care to hundreds to families that just don’t have access to it,” said Raimondi.



Debbie Smith works in Labor and Delivery at WCOB and this is her third trip to Ghana with MOCA. “I enjoy it. We provide GYN surgeries that so many woman who don't have access to. Last time I helped deliver a baby. Everyone is so appreciative it feels good. This has become my passion.”



Not everyone provides direct medical care. “We do a lot of different things during the time we are there. We’ve helped rebuild and repair orphanages and schools,” said 17-year LPN Rose Wray. Wray has been to Ghana three times and also traveled to the Dominican Republic with MOCA on the same type of endeavor. “The first time I went I was really shocked at the level of poverty. Kids have no shoes and some walk around naked. We help to change lives while we are there, but they change our lives as well.”



Thanks to a number of individuals and organizations in western New York, MOCA delivered much needed supplies and equipment which may be of minimal value in the United States, but are invaluable in rural Ghana. Members of MOCA took 30 military size crates full of various supplies and many members sacrificed their own luggage space and personal supplies to pack more medical supplies to leave behind with local medics.



The 1199 Purple Gold Buffalo Chapter donated book bags to give to the local school; and 1199 members contributed enough money to give 210 children health insurance for a year. “I appreciate everything I have a lot more. It becomes a passion. I've been very blessed, this is how I give back,” Raimondi said.



For more information on traveling with MOCA or to make a donation please visit www.mocaofwny.org or contact 1199 retiree Jim Crampton at 716.882.7885.