Upcoming Trips:
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Mexico February 20 - March 2, 2020 *All positions filled |
Guatemala March 26 - April 5, 2020 *All positions filled except interpreters |
Minnesota Doctors for People
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...an excerpt from an April 2019 blog post
by Ben Lee traveler, writer, pharmacy assistant At the clinic, it certainly took Rob and I a hot minute to adjust to the names of oral and topical medications, many of which were just as foreign to me as some of the native languages that have spurred around us the last two days. But, as patients began to trickle into the building, I watched in awe as every other medical professional took to their element like real-life superheroes. The scene was like nothing I had ever witnessed before; interpreters carried out translations without pause, and providers never faltered in their amiable yet professional demeanor. It was as if a groove had clicked––health professionals employing their skills across languages, cultural barriers, and geographic borders. The challenges with each case and the amount of information I was lucky enough to take in made me even more eager for the work to come.
I knew nothing about Nueva Vida prior to that morning, and––by the end of the afternoon––one of my biggest takeaways was this: the hills there are STEEP. Hauling our luggage down what appeared to be a 70 degree incline did not appear to be a problem on the first trek out. But watching Cathy struggle to drag another colossal bag up the cobblestone path with two six-year-old girls on either side of her and one pushing on the back, I could tell that reloading our materials would not be a simple feat. But, other children and community members quickly followed suit, and soon MDP members and citizens of Nueva Vida alike carried table parts and medical equipment over the valley bridge and up the slope. In truth, it had been a long time since I had experienced any sense of community comparable to how I felt in that moment. |
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