Lydia Resnik University Honors Reflection October 9, 2012 MedWish My passion is to travel.

Exploring exhilarating new cultures and places- what could be better? My passion started at a young age. I have been very fortunate to grow up with a family who has shared this very passion, giving me the opportunity to travel to the Cayman Islands, Jamaica, England, Kauai, so much so that upon deciding my college major, I looked into what career paths could incorporate my passion for travel with another interest- caring for people. I want to be able to go home every day knowing that I have helped someone and made a difference in anothers life. This is when I decided that Nursing was for me. Not just any nursing, but traveling nursing. With the opportunity to travel and explore other cultures and peoples as well as being able to help those in need, I couldnt think of anything better. There is a part of the article discussing the inadvertent negative vibe that could also be given off from helping others. I think there is a fine line between being open and as helpful as possible, to making someone feel patronized and insecure in their situation. It is difficult to balance, because the person most likely already has insecurities in their situation. It is our job, when we are trying to help, to be sensitive to this. We have gone over this sensitivity in nursing school this year, a connection that I made through my El Salvador experience and through reading this article. Patients in a hospital are in a very tender state, both physical and mental. As a nurse, it is out job to, throughout any situation, make sure the patient feels as comfortable as possible this includes when a patient could go to the bathroom on themselves, or be completely naked during an examination- both compromising situations for people even in the best health. Going through nursing school, this point is stressed continuously, and I know now the importance of maintaining the safe space between helping and patronizing. Starting early on in life, I have been avid in volunteering to help other people. It was one of the standing morals built by my parents. As a family, we volunteered for the Homeless Stand Down in Cleveland, where we distributed food, clothes, shoes, and services. Through my temple, there were multiple opportunities to take advantage of, such as delivering food to the elderly who were homebound. I volunteered teaching third graders in Sunday school. When I came to Cincinnati, I joined the Childrens Hunger Alliance, where I educated children in city elementary schools about proper nutrition and physical activity. Helping others is something that is ingrained in me, something that I cannot imagine my life without. During discussions with my father, a Nurse Anesthetist, he mentioned working with a doctor who started a small global healthcare organization called MedWish. This non-profit supplies clinic in various underdeveloped countries, and once a year, has a medical brigade to set up small clinics throughout these countries. Anyone can go on these adventures, from doctors and nurses to families, lawyers and artists. This makes for quite a diverse group of thinkers- something that this trip holds unique. Needless to say, this small Cleveland-based organization had me

hooked. How could I not take complete advantage of this opportunity? It sounded like exactly what I wanted to with my life- to travel and discover other countries while delivering care to peoples. I signed up immediately. What started out as an opportunity to travel to El Salvador turned into so much more... it was a chance to see a less obvious side of a country. There are multiple faades of a country, one that is seen, and one that is tucked away, for one reason or another. For El Salvador, it is the rich and developed resorts and fancy countryside mansions that overshadow the majority of the peoples- those who live in poverty and dirt. I had experienced something similar to this on visits to Mexico with my family. We would board the Apple Vacations air-conditioned bus and drive down the road, gazing at the fountains and expensive, exotic signs for the allinclusive resorts along the way to our destination. Yet, gradually, these resort signs would turn into crumbling walls and the tin roofs sitting on the top of them. There were people walking along the side of the road with no shoes. When we finally approached our resort, I didnt feel like I deserved to sit in a lounge chair and sip on a virgin pina colada when there were citizens starving just a mile down the road. This inspiration to help people started Mexico, and is not finished with El Salvador. Nervous and excited, I packed my bag and grabbed my assigned MedWish suitcase full of medical supplies for our temporary clinics in El Salvador. I entered the airport to meet the rest of the Medwish crew for the first time- mostly adults in there thirties to fifties, a few teenagers, and children with their parents, and a few older adults. There was one thing we all had in common besides the overtired looks from being at an airport at 6 a.m. We all had a glint of excitement in our eyes. We were all activists seeking adventure. During the six-hour flight, I had the opportunity to sit next to a middle-aged pediatrician named Anne. This woman was a blessing. After experiencing hardship over her husbands illness and tragic death, and her sons moving out of their house, she was going to El Salvador to put herself out there. She was using her skills to improve the lives of other people, people she didnt even know. I was already inspired by this womans perseverance, but little did I know this perseverance was apparent in every MedWish volunteer. When we first arrived at the convent where we would be staying, I was breathless. We were on the side of a mountain, full of tropical trees and flowers. The convent was very well kept, with slate patios and gardens throughout the property. In an effort to organize for the first day of clinical, all of the MedWish volunteers spent the night sorting our supplies into separate bags. Next, we created a forty person circle and, as a group, decided what each volunteers role was in our goal- to deliver care. During this discussion, I gained a lot of insight about what MedWish does for this El Salvadorian community. You see, looking at our supplies, I noticed we had mostly first aid supplies, some common pharmaceuticals such as ibuprofen, Tylenol, and cold/cough medicine, and parasite remedies, art supplies nothing to that could cure anything drastic that these people, who lack adequate health care, could have. Josh, the MedWish Executive Director, explained that we didnt have the resources to change the more complex and life threatening diseases that we might see. I was really disappointed. I thought we were really going to make an impact on

these peoples coming to the clinics, and now that didnt quite seem like the case. Josh continued, explaining that even with this lack of resources, we were there to deliver care and human touch. That is why people travel from miles away by footthey want to feel the compassion of our brigade, our experience, and our attention to their personal health. At this point, I realized I had previously overlooked something extremely important- psychological care. We woke up to hustle of traveling to site number one. Upon arrival, we discovered that we would be setting up the clinic in a school. There would be a group in front, checking patients in. The groups of doctors and medical professionals were to be split up into three different classrooms, and there was a specified room for the El Salvadorian dentists that met up with us. I was sitting next to the doctor I was to observe and help, a little overwhelmed, when the first of the 1,600 patients we would see that week began to stream in. Before going to El Salvador, I knew my Spanish abilities I had none. Nevertheless, it was not a concern- I knew I would still have a great experience. Not to mention, generally every time I was in a foreign country, the people knew English to some extent. The first day in that clinic I realized- this was going to be a struggle. Very few patients had knowledge of English besides the words hello and thank you. I still tried my hardest to communicate, with body language and gestures, but it proved to be frustrating when there were MedWish personnel all around me, able to communicate in at least broken Spanish. I felt as if my abilities to make a meaningful connection were hindered, which I did not fully anticipate before my trip. Because I could not pick up Spanish in a few days, this was something that I could not change while on the brigade. I feel as if Ive learned a valuable lesson- I cannot assume that people will be familiar with something that is common in my life, such as English. I consider myself well traveled, though now I realize that I have been sheltered while traveling if the majority of peoples that I have interacted with could speak English. My experience in El Salvador is a more realistic vision of certain parts of the world; especially those that I will see when I become a traveling nurse. I maintained a smile and observed politely, helping out wherever I could in clinical. There was one certified RN on the trip, Deb, and she took me under her wing, showing me skills I would need in Nursing. At the beginning of the MedWish clinics, I started out sterilizing stethoscopes and thermometers, and by day three, I was able to auscualte respiratory and heart sounds by taking blood pressure. I was thrilled at this one-on-one experience with Deb, and basic skills turned into more personal skills as I watched her interact with the patients. In my first Pre-Nursing class beginning freshman year, I had an unforgettable professor: Devon Berry. Berry claimed his only goal for the quarter was to brainwash us into viewing patients as people, not just our obligation as nurses. We werent really sure how to react- of course we thought people were people, but we listened regardless. This vivid memory of class came back to me in El Salvador while observing Deb, my nurse mentor. A patient came into the clinic with an abscess on her finger, which was very exciting among the headaches and parasites that wed been seeing throughout most of our clinic days. The surgeons and doctors went crazy with excitement, arranging dressings and scalpels. Once they were prepared,

the main surgeon began the small incision. I watched as the patient cringed, biting her lip. Soon my eyes were drawn back to the bleeding abscess, where the professionals were hard at work, digging up the extra fluid and pus out of her finger, while blood dripped onto the dressing. I started to feel light headed. The woman began to cry, and thats when I realized- she had absolutely no anesthetic or numbing medication what a brave women. Among the crowd of people that sat and watched this small surgical procedure, most of whom were doctors, Deb was the only person to go to the woman- to rub her back and stroke her hair, saying that it will be over soon. It was at this moment that I realized Devon Berry made complete sense. A patient is a person, not a work-in-progress, and as a nurse, it is my job to bridge the gap between the patient and medical treatment with personal care and comfort. I have never been more proud to be going into Nursing than I was on that day. Our group tended to notice a few things about the culture in El Salvador, even from only driving from our convent to the sites each day. The most obvious observation was that there were a lot of people of poor socioeconomic status - so poor that they barely had a tin roof over their head. In contrast to seeing a lot of this poverty, we also saw large mansions with great gardens and scenery on this same twenty-minute drive. Something was definitely not right. Our confusion and disbelief in the gaps in socioeconomic status brought up a lot of questions to Magda, the main coordinator of MedWish in El Salvador. Since she was hearing so many similar questions, Magda decided to have a talk about what was going on in her country with our MedWish group. During this discussion, my knowledge of this small country grew exponentially. There are a lot of problems with drug wars, so much so that gang violence is everywhere. In fact, during one of the previous years, some of the MedWish volunteers saw a dead body while on an early morning run right outside of the convent. The government is also not supportive of evening out the two extremes of rich or poor. Being so used to the American government, where intervention with government support is fairly common, this was definitely a reality check. I also learned that the government in El Salvador is tied with the Catholic Church. I didnt think that this mattered much, until I noticed the large numbers of young girls with babies who came to our clinics. I thought that maybe in their culture families were started when girls were fourteen or fifteen years old: but what did I know? One of the other MedWish volunteers brought to my attention that birth control is actually not allowed in El Salvador because of the government and church relationship. After that moment it was difficult to not feel empathy for these young mothers who came to see us. Obviously they were struggling, and I couldnt help but wonder if they chose to have children early, or the choice was made for them. During the Medwish Brigade, I helped over 1,600 people of several communities and made them feel more confident in their personal health, and delivered the gift of human touch. Yet it is more than what I did for them- as it often is with volunteer work. I feel that the El Salvadorian people taught me more about myself than I could have ever learned on my own. I now appreciate my own country and government whereas before I was more skeptical. I now appreciate the duties our government performs and the freedoms it provides; those in need can receive

support in their lives, and we have the personal freedom to navigate the future of own lives, whether that be career, family life, or travel opportunities. These people of El Salvador also made me discover the passion that I have for traveling nursing, which was honestly a great relief. I have been planning on becoming a traveling nurse and envisioning my life around this, goal and finding out that my passion had been misplaced would have flipped me upside-down. Upon returning to the U.S., I read the suggested article Citizen Leader: A Community Service Option for College Students. This article made me realize that my actions are similar to the actions of other college students- the desire to participate in service-related activities was growing on college campuses. This brings me hope that more of my peers would be interested in going abroad with me, for more worldwide service. I feel that volunteering brings great learning and awareness into anyones life, but especially at this time when most students tend to be focusing on their own life and life goals, to take time and realize that there are bigger issues in the world- as I have done myself. Returning to my academic life, Im getting more involved in global health during my college career. I joined a student organization called GlobeMed, where a group at the University of Cincinnati is helping to support refugees in Thailand. Our goals are not only to make a difference in this group, but to also to become more educated on global health. Im ecstatic that I can get involved in global health while still a student, which is the most obvious way to get involved in my future passion, but was something that I completely overlooked before going on the MedWish Brigade. In addition to that, I feel that each day in my nursing courses is more meaningful. Thanks to my experiences in El Salvador, Ive seen these skills at work in the field, and I m anxious to learn and perform these skills. The most meaningful part of my worldwide excursion: were all just people, and sometimes the simplest caring touch is enough.