Harry Goldhagen 
The American Association of Orthopaedic Surgery honored Dr. Steven J. Meyer of Dakota Dunes, South Dakota for his more than 20 years of work in Tanzania, helping to “improve the human condition by alleviating suffering and supporting and contributing to the basic human dignity of those in need.”
Handwashing plays a vital role in reducing the spread of infectious diseases, including Covid-19. But a large proportion of the global population — the World Bank estimates three billion — does not have consistent access to soap and water. Engineers Without Borders USA is a hard-working group of volunteer engineers who partner with local communities to provide solutions to basic problems such as clean water, electricity and safe sanitary systems.
Peru’s coronavirus fatality rate is now the highest in the world, surpassing Belgium and exceeding even Brazil and the U.S. In Iquitos, Loreto Province, where the Amazon Promise office is located, the Regional Health Ministry estimates that over 4000 people have died from COVID-19.
“I remember the tense atmosphere in our time at the border. The patients arrive under great distress. They are still in shock from what they had just witnessed or endured at the hands of the rebels. They are grateful to have survived, but their fear is palpable. I became very familiar with the brutality of war from witnessing their pain.”
“When I arrived in Manaus, the grave diggers were working beyond capacity, all the hospital intensive care units were overflowing with dying patients, and there were lists with hundreds of severely sick patients waiting in health centres for an intensive care hospital bed to become free…”