It may not be everybody’s idea of a dream vacation, but for two weeks in October, Dr. Krystian Jaschik left his orthopedic practice in his native Germany to volunteer with Humedica, an organization that sends medical practitioners to serve in developing countries. 

In partnership with Prison Fellowship International, and with technical support provided by UNMIL Corrections Advisory Unit, Jaschik and a team of seven doctors and one nurse visited Liberia to provide medical care to inmates at Monrovia Central Prison. The doctors came from Germany, Austria, and Côte d’Ivoire.

“It is my eighth time in Africa,” said Jaschik. “I spend my vacations here. It is another world here. They need it. The level of health is not high here, especially in prisons. These people are at the border of society. So I try to give to the worst part of the world something back.”

During their two weeks in Liberia, the medical team will see more than 250 prisoners and disperse more than 400 kilograms of medicine that they brought with them. 

Francis Kollie is the Executive Director of Prison Fellowship Liberia. This is the fifth time his organization has partnered with Humedica to bring doctors from abroad to prisoners in Liberia. 

“Inmates here have not seen a dentist, for instance, since the last time visiting doctors came in 2011,” said Kollie. “Right now, one of the biggest health problems here, besides malaria, is dental problems and also tuberculosis. We try to do this type of programme every year, but it is very costly.”

Poor infrastructure remains one of the most pressing challenges facing Liberia’s health care sector today. The problem is more acute in prisons, which are all overcrowded. Monrovia Central Prison is almost three times over its holding capacity.

That is why UNMIL’s Corrections Advisory Unit partnered with the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare to support the Bureau of Corrections and Rehabilitation to enhance prisoners’ access to health care. This has resulted in the inclusion of prisoners’ health into the 10-year National Health Policy and Plan 2011-2021, and the construction of five health outposts at prisons in Sanniquellie, Kakata, Monrovia, Tubmanburg and Zwedru through Quick Impact Projects. 

For the visiting Humedica team, UNMIL provided vehicles to transport the doctors as well as other technical support. 
Eric J. David is the Acting Superintendent for Administration of the Monrovia Central Prison. With over 1,030 inmates, it is Liberia’s most populated prison.  

“The prisoners are suffering from malaria, from pains, from dental pains,” said David. “Today’s medical outreach is important because it’s one of the basic rights of the inmates in terms of medical care.”