Oregon Public Broadcasting

The decade-long war in Eastern Africa has been one of the deadliest in human history.

The International Rescue Committee says the conflict between African ethnic groups has killed around 5.4 million people, most of them by preventable medical conditions such as malaria or pneumonia. 

That’s why Tigard-based Medical Teams International is sending volunteer doctors to the Democratic Republic of Congo to help.

Doctor Steve Boyer is one of them.  The retired E.R. physician from Portland is working in a clinic in North Kivu province in eastern Congo and in Internal Displacement Camps where some 250,000 people are living.

He says his safety is all but assured because he is an aid worker, and because he is white.