Medical Students Help the Homeless; Haitian Soccer Players in Maryland; Soccer Balls for Africa

By VOA
11 November, 2012

From VOA Learning English, welcome to THIS IS AMERICA in Special English. I'm Christopher Cruise.

And I'm June Simms.

This week on our program, we have stories about students. First, we tell you about medical students helping homeless people in Los Angeles. Then, we meet two Haitian students playing soccer for the University of Maryland.

We also learn how a thesis for a master's degree turned into a project to supply soccer balls to children in Africa.

Healthcare for homeless on the streets of Hollywood
Once a week, medical students from UCLA, the University of California, Los Angeles, work with poor and homeless people in Hollywood. The students bring supplies and medical records in a truck and set up chairs along the street for the patients. The students operate similar clinics in different communities on other nights.

The students provide medicine and offer clean socks and reading glasses to those who need them. Students in law and social work offer assistance in getting long-term aid from the government or private groups. A charity group offers nutritious meals to the patients.

Dr. Walter Coppenrath helped start this street clinic twelve years ago when he was a medical student. He now teaches at UCLA and sees patients at a nearby medical center. He says this mobile care is important for this population.

"Small infections on your foot might be able to be handled by just changing your socks and all that. But when those, quick, being able to wash in a bath or change your socks, they can actually lead to limb-threatening infections."

Charles Brownridge lives on the streets. He goes to the clinic every week, sometimes just to be with the students.