'Remote Area Medical' Keeps Hope Alive for Needy Americans in Inglewood, California

While president Barack Obama and his team push for his plan to reform the way health care is managed in this country, another team consisting of doctors, nurses, and other volunteers are on missions throughout towns in America to render medical, dental, and vision cares to those most in need.

Remote Area Medical (RAM) Volunteer Corps is a non-profit airborne relief corps that, according to NursesUnite.org, strives to serve communities through provision of "free health care, dental care, eye care, veterinary services, technical and educational assistance to people in remote areas of the United States and the World." Beginning with its inception in 1985, the mission of the corp. has been solely supported through generous donation of people in terms of money, time, skills, and so on. Doctors, nurses, veterinarians, pilots, and many others working people donate their time and money as well as medicines, facilities, vehicles to give hope to thousands of people who for the most part are on their last limb.

This week RAM LA was held at the Great Western Forum in Inglewood, California, the former home of the Los Angeles Lakers. Since Tuesday of last week, people had been camping around the area, getting registration numbers as early as Wednesday of last week hoping to get to see a doctor over the weekend or by Monday. This one week medical relief ran from August 11 through August 18.

At the moment, they are not accepting any new registrants as they already have many people waiting on stand-by hoping to se a physician. With hundreds of medical professional but thousands of people with unique and sometimes multiple medical conditions, it is impossible to attend to all who drove miles for a chance at some relief.

It is so amazing that this program is supposed to cater to the needs of people in remote areas of the country and around the world. How has Inglewood, California fallen into a remote area? Inglewood is a beautiful city with wealthy people of various races and professions. Yet it is receiving this remote area assistance?

This is a question all Americans who oppose president Obama's health care reform need to ask him or herself. Across, angry citizens react against President Obama's ideas for reform. We need to stop and think about what it all really mean, what we are reacting against.

The fact that Inglewood is receiving relief that should have been spent at a truly remote area is despicable. We Americans ought to reevaluate our claim of status as world power. If citizens are living in dire conditions that they can't even have access to basic medical care, what are we powerful for? A truly powerful and model nation ought to boast high level of healthy citizens, with significant numbers having access to the barest of care. We do not have that.

I have heard people use the word socialism when they speak of president Obama's healthcare plan. What has socialism to do with your fellow humans, your fellow Americans enjoying the same level of healthcare as you? I do not believe in my heart that President Obama is trying to turn the country into anything other than to let every hardworking people enjoy the best of what comes with living in a great nation.

It seems that politics, specifically politics of fear being played by opponents of the president paralyze people from thinking about what good could really come out of healthcare reform being proposed by Obama. At some point, I hope those objecting to change would wake up and realize that saving human lives and providing care for all people is a mark of a great nation. Look at the Switzerland, Sweden, and those small countries in Europe! Even Canada boasts better care than US! It is the one significant difference between a "third world' country and a western power like the USA. If we can't even provide basic health insurance coverage for our citizens, what gives us the right to claim we are better off than those third world nations?

It is apparent that the current health care system needs change. If it didn't' need change, we would not have over 30 million Americans uninsured and without access to medical care. Something gotta give. Healthy and thriving citizens make for healthy and thriving economy to some extent. Wake up people and lose the 's' word when thinking about Obama's health care reform.

As of now, RAM USA is scheduled to continue to provide relief to remote areas and now even non-remote areas of the USA. The week of August 22 through 26 they will be in Duchesne, Utah, followed by other stops in cities and towns throughout the United States.

If you want to support their effort you can go online to www.ramusa.org .