Hundreds of Malians waited in line in a village near Bamako, Mali to see doctors with the MEDFLAG team, July 24, 2008.

The village of Droit was one of four villages the MEDFLAG team visited during a series of humanitarian outreach visits.

MEDFLAG is a multi-national medical training exercise designed to enhance medical capabilities and readiness for U.S. and African forces. During the exercise, more than 90 U.S. and African service members reviewed medical information, exchanged information, and administered treatment to local communities.

The pouring rain in Droit that day did not stop residents from standing in the long line at the clinic. One woman, Fatoumata, waited with her son, Daoda, hoping to find out the reason for Daouda's weight loss. Fatoumata, like many Malians in the area, lacks the money and means to see a doctor and relies on humanitarian outreach visits for exams and treatment.

"Because most Malians can't afford to go to a doctor, they try and use traditional medicines," said Malian Doctor, Lieutenant Alhassana Ba. "They try different herbs, plants, trees or homemade medicine to cure their problem. If that doesn't work, and if they can't find the money to go to a doctor, they will usually die."

After signing in at the clinic, patients were triaged and their vital signs were taken. Malaria, intestinal worms, infections and minor injuries were the most common problems.

"When a patient showed symptoms of Malaria, we would give them a quick blood test to rule out whether or not they actually had Malaria," said Major William Reynolds, MEDFLAG 08 chief nurse. "If they did have Malaria, then we would prescribe anti-malaria medicine for them."

Once a patient's vital signs were taken, they would be escorted to a doctor, dentist, optometrist or dermatologist, depending on their problem.

For Reynolds and the rest of the medical team, the language barrier was one of the biggest obstacles.

"French and the tribal language Bambara are what most Malians speak here, but some of our patients didn't know either," said Reynolds. "We had translators help us communicate with the patients, but sometimes we had to get creative to understand each other."

Once a patient received their diagnosis, they were taken to the classroom-turned-pharmacy to pick-up their medicine and multi-vitamins. In anticipation of helping so many people, the pharmacy staff spent the previous week sorting through more than 30,000 pills--$100,000 worth of medicine.

As Fatoumata picked up the much-needed medicine for her son, she praised the work of the doctors.

"If it weren't for these doctors helping us today, I don't know what would have happened to my baby. Everyone here really appreciates the actions of these doctors."

Doctors, nurses, medical technicians and volunteers are expected to treat an estimated 3,800 patients in the Bamako region during the MEDFLAG exercise.