I plan to support surgical team as an advanced nurse in health intake, physical exams, pre and post operation patient care.
The underserved people of Zambia.
Improvement of quality of life for those suffering from neck masses and other ENT disease processes. I will be able to share the experiences with those in my community to campaign for raising funds and awareness for future trips.
The last few days my mind keeps wandering back to two main themes: gratitude and perspective. Gratitude for being born in a country where for no other reason than that, I have the ability to obtain healthcare for myself and more importantly for my family. I keep thinking about how scared those patients have to have been watching their bodies change ,growing masses(for years) that were not only sometimes physically painful, but emotionally painful as well and NOT have means to be cared for. How terrifying it must be to be a parent of a child, knowing that something is physically wrong with their kiddo and not be able to get them help. I bonded pretty quickly with a girl patient , whose parents were both present in pre-op. The girl was obviously very scared, but I kept thinking about how anxious those parents had to be and how they were trusting in complete strangers to help their daughter. I was privileged to accompany the patient to the O.R. and hold her hand during the procedure and being able to come out of the procedure and tell the parents that the procedure was complete and seeing the relief and gratitude in their eyes was a moment of clarity that this was what and why we are all here.
Traveling to Africa was a fast track lesson to perspective. Perspective of what real need is, what real poverty looks like. Humans are humans no matter what corner of the world we belong to and we all deserve our basic needs to be met : food, clean water, shelter and healthcare when needed.
Advice to any new member wanting to join next year: Be flexible, be quick to problem solve with whatever means are available and don't over think it. Jump in and help wherever you see a need. And don't forget to make real connections with the team and those you are there to serve. Teach when you have the opportunity and learn something new while you are there. Be comfortable stepping outside of your comfort zone.
