By Jeanne McKinney – Contributing Writer
‘Everything about America is what Hospital Corpsman Second Class (HM2) Harrison Mwanzi dreamed of, starting at a young age. The son of peasant farmers, he grew up in a remote village in Kenya, where healthcare was a luxury. At the tender age of seven, Mwanzi and his dream nearly died when he contracted leprosy.
Mwanzi remembers, “For about 6 months, I couldn’t sleep, couldn’t dress up or take a shower. The climate was too hot to play, [it was] so painful and there was no pain medicine.” When missionaries arrived, bringing with them Mwanzi’s cure, he had to hike for miles on bare feet to the site where they had set up a small clinic. “It’s the only time I remember being sick. You cannot afford to get sick in the villages, because there are only local herbs (mwarobaini) to cure you.” He remembers getting some ‘potion’ and within days began to feel better. For Mwanzi and his people – wealth had arrived in the form of immunizations and preventative medicine. “I was inspired by the providers who left the comfort of their homes and countries to help heal the world. I vowed I would make the world a better place.”
A loving father mentored his son towards ‘performing well at school’. “I was blessed enough, defied all odds, and by grace, got admission to Moi University in Kenya, where I graduated with honors, with a Bachelor’s in Business Management.” He moved from the countryside to Nairobi City to seek employment and after a year of not finding a meaningful job in the big city, he landed a position at a leading bank.
With America still in his sights, he finally ‘won’ a green card. Mwanzi compares how it felt to ‘winning a multi-million dollar jackpot’. When he broke the news to his cousin, his cousin advised him to join the U.S. military, saying ‘being a member of the U.S. military would make me successful and bring back pride to our village in Kenya’.
Eager to see what was on the other side of the horizon, Mwanzi jumped on a Navy Recruiter’s offer for a readily available job. For the next 19 weeks, Mwanzi would train at “A” School in Fort Sam Houston, Texas, to become a Hospital Corpsman. After signing up, Mwanzi was on his way to entering the ranks of the sacred and revered. From those who need treatment for everyday ailments, to those who scream ‘Corpsman’ on the battlefield, a young boy from Kenya would become a best friend to a cultural array of people suffering from sickness, ailments, and injury.
Mwanzi was first attached to Naval Medical Center San Diego managing appointments for doctors and utilizations management (how best to use resources). His first deployment was aboard the USNS Mercy (T-AH 19) hospital ship, attached to the Directorate for Administration (DFA), Pacific Partnership 2015 (PP15).
During PP15, Mercy visited Fiji, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, and Vietnam. Mercy provided healthcare and surgical procedures, community health engagements, engineering projects, subject matter expert exchanges and community relations events in coordination with host nations, non-government organizations (NGOs) and regional partners that included Australia, New Zealand, Japan, Republic of Korea, Malaysia, Canada, Timor Leste, and Fiji.
Lieutenant Miranda Williams, Public Affairs for PP15, explains PP15’s shift to ‘Subject Matter Exchanges’. “In Fiji – that was the first time a Navy ship has been there in nine years. We were discovering a lot working with them – figuring each other out. How would we do things…say, respond to a natural disaster?” In Arawa, the Autonomous Region of Bougainville, PNG, there had been civil war. They had one doctor managing during that war, and he claimed retirement just before the Mercy arrived. With no doctors, states Williams, “We wanted to know, ‘How are you doing what you’re doing without the medical professionals and the equipment we have and still provide some medical care?’”
Subject Matter Exchanges revealed how the Philippines deal with natural disasters, such as Typhoon Yolanda. In Vietnam, PP15 doctors worked side by side with their medical professionals on surgical procedures. “We were teaching them, but they were also teaching us,” states Williams.
Aboard the USNS Mercy, Mwanzi did data collections, and processed necessary paperwork to get patients on board. ”We did pre-surgical screening and ultimately I was teaching Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS).” He explains that a medical team goes out in every country and works with the host nation to identify patients. “There are too many people who need healthcare, and when it’s free…we don’t have enough manpower and resources to fix the whole village or city. We prioritize patients according to need and if we can support the heathcare we’re providing.”
The USNS Mercy was in each port around six days. Mercy doctors have to ask themselves, ‘Do I have the time to not only do this procedure, but to stabilize them’? “They need to be finished with the care or passed on to someone for follow up,” says Williams, stressing, “It would be completely irresponsible to start a procedure and then send them back with no follow-up.”
It’s sometimes heart-wrenching for Mwanzi, “How can one un-see a sickly mother with a sickly child standing in the rain and mud with no shoes, waiting for a lucky chance to get health care?” He’s seen boils that make a head grow big from so much fluid retention. In Papua New Guinea, “There was this girl who had 3rd degree burns. Her whole face was burned and her eyes were burned leaving just deep sockets. She was there, waiting for care.”
“Burn patients have to go through multiple surgeries over their lifetime to restore them back,” states Williams. “In this case for the little girl, they would not have had enough time to do the surgery, or to have the follow-on….In places like Vietnam, who has this type of procedure and technology, the Vietnamese would continue care after we leave.” They were able to give the girl some pain medication and Mwanzi hopes, at some point, she’ll be able to get some plastic surgery.
“Basic primary care is the biggest need,” says Mwanzi. “I’m a firm believer in prevention. If you can prevent ahead of time, you eliminate the need for advanced care.”
The PP15 medical team performed surgical and healthcare procedures both on and off the ship, performing nearly 700 surgeries aboard the Mercy; the PP15 dental team provided dental care to more than 3,800 patients; and PP15 engineers worked side-by-side to complete a total of 10 renovation and new construction projects including school buildings, community centers, medical facilities and a disadvantaged youth center, which also double as disaster shelters.
“No matter how many years since almost dying, you always remember when you go through an emotionally-breaking confrontation. I know how they feel. You could see the appreciation. You can see the effects. The effects tell you that you are doing something. You don’t have to be paid enough, you just see the satisfactions you are providing. I mean, you are touching someone’s life,” says Mwanzi.
“The Navy has helped me accomplish so much of my childhood dreams. Being all over the world has been my motivation. On July 30, 2010, I joined the delayed entry program and swore my allegiance to the President of the United States and the Constitution. I fight tears every time I think about the sacrifices made by those who have gone before us, who created a foundation of values, like honor, courage, and commitment. This is what made me leave my birth country and make the U.S. my home.”
The missionaries who saved HM2 Harrison Mwanzi spawned an American dream…A dream that has led to second chances for thousands, as the USNS Mercy travels the world’s oceans, with charity in her wake.
