OUR NEIGHBORS: Missions of mercy for doctor

WASILLA — Dr. John D. Boston will make his ninth trip in six years to Mongolia this month with the Alaska Air National Guard’s 176th wing.

In addition to the usual medical supplies he carries, for the last three years Boston also has packed along a selection of handmade quilts, scarves and hats — heartfelt gifts from his patients in Alaska to his patients in Mongolia.

It started when E. Maureen Kelly asked about a box of baseball bats and gloves she noticed in Boston’s office. She inquired and he explained about the patients he sees in Mongolia and how little they have in the way of material possessions, Kelly said.

That conversation sparked an idea for the local quilter. She said the Mat-Su Valley is home to several active groups of quilters who are always looking for good ways to share their creations.

“How about blankets?” the avid quilter asked.

Boston agreed and Kelly set to work recruiting her crafty friends to help.

Volunteer Elverda Lincoln said about a dozen volunteers divide the work of cutting squares, sewing together blocks and stitching together the fronts and backs with batting between. So far, their efforts have produced about 50 quilts for Boston to deliver to Mongolia, she said.

Last year when the quilts were donated to a maternity hospital there, local TV news crews reported the story, Boston said.

“These people work all day for just the food on their table,” he said. “They were touched that people in America would take the time to make such beautiful gifts for them.”

The people in Central Western Mongolia live in traditional houses, called yurts, that are heated using a central stove that burns animal dung for fuel, Boston said.

“You have to realize the people are just terribly, terribly poor,” he said. “We work with the poorest of the poor.”

Boston told a story about a woman who traveled for three days to have her newborn child examined by an American doctor. He said the woman was overwhelmed; not only was she able to see the doctor, but she was able to take home a soft, new blanket that was a gift from the people of America.

“Fleece, fleece, fleece. They love fleece,” said volunteer Sharon Davis.

Boston is among a group from the Alaska Air National Guard that is headed back to Mongolia April 22 for a couple of weeks. In the six years since he first traveled there with the National Guard, Boston said he’s made a lot of friends and grown attached to the people of Mongolia.

He paused for a moment during his Wednesday interview with the Frontiersman to check to weather in Mongolia from his phone. It was 14 degrees around 12:30 p.m. Alaska time.

At the state level, Boston said the project is part of a state-to-state partnership program between Alaska and Mongolia. And at national level, he said the work is part of a federal Nation Building effort.

The project also helps to train doctors about delivering medical care in austere environments and is a means to help train Mongolian doctors, Boston said.

Most of the fabric used to make the quilts comes from donations of material made to the Wasilla Senior Center, Kelly said. Though volunteers do buy some materials, such as batting and large pieces of cloth to use for backing for the quilts, she said.

“People are marvelous about donating in the Valley,” Kelly said. She said the group of volunteers also has donated winter and rain gear to their neighbors in Mongolia.

Kelly, Davis and Lincoln said they plan to spend their summer making a batch of “quillows” to send with Boston when he goes back to Mongolia in August. “Quillows” are cleverly crafted quilts that fold into thirds and slip inside an attached pillowcase to become a pillow.

Kelly said it is a bit overwhelming to see photos of something that was in her home just a few days before bringing a smile to a woman half the world away.

“It’s very satisfying,” she said.

Contact Heather A. Resz at 352-2268 or heather.resz@frontiersman.com.