LACKLAND AIR FORCE BASE, Texas, Feb. 7, 2006 — Lt. Col. (Dr.) Kirk Milhoan, a pediatric cardiologist with the 859th Medical Operations Squadron, rarely takes a routine vacation. He devotes almost all his leave time to humanitarian service.
He and his wife Kim, a pediatric cardiac anesthesiologist at the University of Texas Health Science Center, just returned from a trip to Zambia where they opened an AIDS orphanage.
“This is the second AIDS orphanage we’ve opened in Zambia,” he said. “We opened the first one in January 2003 that houses 16 children and the second one, about five miles from the first, opened Jan. 30 and will house 30 more. Each child has at least one parent who has died of AIDS and about one-third have HIV/AIDS themselves.”
Approximately one-third of the 11 million people in Zambia are HIV positive. The average lifespan for a man there is between 33 to 36 years of age. This statistic has resulted in about 650,000 orphans and the country anticipates the number will rise to 2 million by the end of 2006.
“When a child is hospitalized in Zambia, family members are required to bring food for the children and feed them daily,” said Milhoan. “There is no nutrition service provided and orphans are in a difficult place if no one is watching out for them. There is no other place for sick children to go in the area so our orphanage was started with the mission of caring for the infants and children that no one else would take.”
“The cost is higher for infants as formula is very expensive in Zambia and caring for them is more labor-intensive,” Milhoan said. “Many children in Zambia are lucky to eat meat once a year. Our kids get protein in their diet daily, including meat four or five times a week. One of our big problems is people stealing food from the orphanages because our children are fed so well.” The Zambia AIDS orphanages are only the beginning of the colonel’s humanitarian work. During the last five years he has traveled to Uzbekistan, Sudan, Kosovo, Tibet, Kenya and Mongolia to perform pediatric cardiology screenings and surgery.
All these trips were at his own expense, either on permissive travel orders or during leave status.
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