Taking Care To Global Proportions : Volunteers: Local medical workers take their expertise to the ends of the earth in Project Concern.

Dayle Chakerian remembers the day last August when she and other volunteers arrived at the Romanian orphanage and were given a tour of its concentration-camp-like setup.

They saw thin, handicapped children in cramped rooms crowded three to a bed, clothed in rags, crying or silently banging their shaved heads against the wall. The deformed and autistic children had been abandoned by their parents and neglected by the staff who, like many workers in Romanian orphanages, felt the handicapped children were hopeless and had no potential.

But today, because of Chakerian and others from the San Diego-based Project Concern International, the orphanage has been transformed into a more humane institution.

The four-member team cleaned the rooms, repainted them in cheerful colors, set up a physical therapy room, bought toys and built a playground for the children who, because they had rarely been outdoors, had to wear blankets over their heads to dim the sun while they played.

More importantly, the volunteers taught the staff how to interact and play with the orphans, some of whom had been at the institution for 18 years without being touched, talked to or even named.

“It was so heartbreaking,” said Chakerian, a the physical therapy instructor at Cal State University at Northridge.

“Most of the children had never been held, never even been out of their beds because the staff didn’t know any better and treated them like they were worthless. They were surprised when we showed them that the children could walk, sit up and even to feed themselves. I think we helped by changing the attitude of the staff by showing them that handicapped kids can lead productive lives.”

Project Concern International is a 30-year-old international development organization that sends medical care workers from the United States to impoverished areas around the globe to teach local health-care workers better ways to care for their children.

Created in 1961 by a Coronado physician, the project has served in 78 countries over the past three decades, including the U.S. itself, by offering services ranging from immunizing children and educating local health-care workers about better medical practices to crop rotation and working with governments to improve sanitation.

It is currently in nine countries around the world, as well as in Indianapolis, because of the high infant mortality rate there.

Volunteers are sent when asked by a country for help in setting up medical programs geared toward children, or because of a need perceived by Project Concern International, said the group’s executive director, Daniel E. Shaughnessy. Volunteers may sometimes also request a specific location, Shaughnessy said.

“The primary criteria for where we send people is based on need (if it) exists in the health area that our expertise and our services can satisfy,” said Shaughnessy. “We serve as a clearinghouse for medical professionals who want to donate their time and services to help people throughout the world and in the United States on a volunteer basis.”

Funded through federal grants, private donations and fund drives, the organization’s main goal is to help local communities set up their own financially independent health-care agencies and take care of themselves, Shaughnessy said.

American medical volunteers sign up with the agency and list their backgrounds, including medical training, areas of expertise and references, Shaughnessy said.

Medical workers may register for stints of up to six weeks and are briefed on the region before they go, Shaughnessy said. Once there, volunteers connect with local contact people familiar with the community to help them get adjusted.

Last year, the agency placed about 300 volunteers around the world to help underdeveloped areas upgrade medical care for the children by teaching the local community how to establish clinics, Shaughnessy said.

Many people volunteer because they feel a need to contribute something to the world community, want a break from rigorous schedules, or would like the challenge of working under sometimes primitive conditions, Shaughnessy said.

Among Project Concern International’s current programs are projects that teach nutrition in Mexico, give measles vaccinations in Guatemala, train midwives in Papua New Guinea, and educate men in the Gambia about medical problems that may affect women and children.

Past U.S. sites have included projects in rural Appalachia, the Navajo reservation and the state of North Carolina--all sites where medical facilities and health care were lacking.

“We have a lot of respect for PCI,” said Nancy Aosser , president of International Medical Corps, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit organization that provides medical workers to developing and war-torn countries.

“They are under tremendous pressure to get up and running because lives are at stake in these countries, but they stand up to the pressure. It’s tough to set up operations in another country, but they have been very successful.”

Future plans for the organization include setting up training programs in Kenya, Vietnam, Cambodia and San Diego--to target migrant workers and the homeless.

Jon Nachison a clinical psychologist, was among the first Project Concern International volunteers to go to Romania last January.

What he saw there moved him to return two more times to help officials set up a new organization for child psychology.

“I wanted to empower people to make a better life for the thousands of institutionalized children throughout Romania,” said Nachison. “I feel our work is done for a while there, but there is still much to be done.”