OUR STORY

Healthcare that Reaches a World Away

"The Middle Eastern Virtual Clinic (MEVC) began after a service trip in the Summer of 2021 to Egypt, where my parents are originally from. While there, our entire family volunteered at an orphanage for a day in one of the most impoverished places in the world, Garbage City, right outside of Cairo. This city takes in all garbage from Cairo since there is no proper sanitation system. Disease and sickness are prevalent due to inadequate sanitation management and healthcare being scarce. Many children throughout Egypt's slums have little or no access to healthcare. Throughout the pandemic, virtual health became a helpful tool. So, to get these orphans healthcare, I started a non-profit virtual clinic for orphans and children in Egypt who do not have proper healthcare, MEVC. I connect volunteer American Arabic-speaking doctors with children throughout Egypt, from Cairo to rural southern cities. Local service workers help us to connect with these patients using Facebook Messenger, a widely used app throughout the Middle East. Our doctors have virtual consultations with patients, and we meet the doctors' prescriptions and recommendations while financially supporting the entire process through donations made here in the US. MEVC acts as the clinic's front office, sending patient charts and following up with patients afterward. While this process is still used for complex cases, MEVC has transitioned into a traveling walk-in clinic, Ramzy Farag Pediatric Clinic (RAFA). Named after my late grandfather, whose passing fuels my passion for medicine, RAFA hosts 3-5 walk-in clinic sessions weekly, seeing an average of 80-120 patients each session throughout Cairo. This would not be possible without our highly-trained volunteer physicians. These services are completely free to our patients, and we have committed to both short-term follow-up (medications, tests, and procedures) as well as long-term follow-up (physical and behavioral therapy and medication)." - Elijah Boktor, Founder and Director