(PORTLAND, ORE. - April 26, 2007) This Friday, two medical volunteers with Medical Teams International depart for Kabul, Afghanistan. The two Portland physical therapists, Carol Williard and Tricia Ianora, will set up the first rehabilitation unit in the country's capital city. A third volunteer, an OB/GYN nurse from New York, will join Williard and Ianora in Kabul.

The volunteers will also will also hand carry nearly $5,000 in PT equipment, including braces, canes and portable crutches for their four-week assignment at CURE International Hospital. The healthcare facility is one of only three hospitals in Kabul, serving a population of nearly three million people.

Williard and Ianora work at Portland Providence Medical Center. This is their first trip with Medical Teams International. Medical Teams International is partnering with CURE International in Kabul, an international aid organization focused on establishing and operating teaching hospitals in the developing world.

"This is a groundbreaking program for both Afghani families as well as Afghani health care providers," says Shukhrat Arifdjanov, Eurasia program manager at Medical Teams International. "Currently, people with severe burns, amputations or strokes have no place to go for rehabilitation services. Our volunteers will help train hospital staff so that patients can learn to walk, gain greater mobility of their limbs and become more self-sufficient."

Afghanistan had undergone decades of upheaval in its economy, government and health care infrastructure. Afghanistan has one of the hightest maternal mortality rates in the world according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control.

Medical Teams International first began working in Afghanistan in November 2001 when it sent volunteer teams to care for families fleeing the Taliban. Medical volunteers also provided specialized health care training unavailable to Afghani medical providers. More than $2.3 million in medical supplies has been sent to the country. For more information about Medical Teams International and its work in Afghanistan, please visit our Web site at www.medicalteams.org.