On Call For the World

Ruth Mathieson doesn't remember the name of the man who inspired her to become a doctor, but she will never forget how he helped her.  At age four, she was confined to bed for months, lying on her back because she had tuberculosis of the neck.  Ruth grew up in England in the 1940's and this wonderful general practitioner would come and tend to her every day and she decided right there and then that she wanted to become a family physician.  Dr. Ruth has stood firm on that decision and for more than 50 years she has practised medicine all over the world, improving the health of children and families from Canada to Kenya.  And for the past decade, Rotary has helped her do it.   Ruth is blessed by her account as far as family, husband and felt compelled to be giving back.  She thought she could do so much more with Rotary behind her and so she joined the Rotary Club of Belleville.  Ruth was drawn to medicine early, but it was during her medical residency in Bermuda that she fell in love with the notion of practising overseas.  Ruth married and moved to Belleville and operated a family practice but still maintained the desire to apply her skills abroad.

 

In 1981 she went overseas to work in a mission hospital near Benin City, Nigeria.  She spent a month working beside four other doctors to address the serious health needs of a poor village.  That was the first in a series of volunteer trips to Africa.  Since entering what she calls "semiretirement" in 2004, Ruth has made several 3 or 4 week journeys to provide rural populations with the health care they often lack.   Her most frequent destination is a small clinic and hospital in Matangwe, Kenya, run by an Ontario based nonprofit called Caring Partners Global.  Nearly all of the patients she sees are HIV-positive.  The prevalence of HIV is three times the Kenyan national average, because it is a very poor area.  She also treats many cases of meningitis, pneumonia, typhoid fever and malaria.  They serve an area with a 20 km radius and most of the patients have to walk to the clinic so they only come when they are very, very sick.

 

Since joining the Rotary Club of Belleville in 2005, Ruth has been able to do even more for the people of Matangwe.  Every year the Club gives Dr. Ruth $2,000 to buy medications and supplies.  The Club also led the charge to obtain a Rotary Foundation global grant of about $10,000 to renovate the local school.  She also started a solar cooking project in the area after learning about the technology from fellow Rotarians.  Ruth found her niche in Matangwe, says friend and fellow Rotarian Lola Reid Allin.  Dr. Ruth is not ready to make the decision to "retire" again.  She feels she has done what she can but recognizes there are needs, big needs, but every little bit helps.  If we just do it one by one by one, we can achieve a lot.

 

On call for the world is our own Dr. Ruth Mathieson, bringing hope and health to Kenya.  Well recognized in the recent edition of Rotary Canada.