Guatemala

Throughout my travels, there have been several places that I immediately fell in love with. One of those was Guatemala. I was so excited when I found out that I had the opportunity to go back! I arrived in Guatemala City almost exactly a year to date since my first trip there in October 2015 with Helps International. There is something about Guatemala that really captured my heart. From the warm-hearted people and rich culture to the beautiful lake, volcanoes, and amazing scenery, it's hard to go there and not love it!

This mission was honestly my favorite Operation Smile mission so far. We had an amazing team comprised of lots of internationals, including volunteers from Brazil, Peru, Sweden, Spain, Italy, Australia, Norway, Bolivia, Venezuela, US, Canada and of course Guatemala. We had awesome team leaders and everyone seemed to come together quickly to accomplish a common purpose: to give the best care to the children of Guatemala. 

Screening flowed smoothly and there was even a special program on the stage to entertain the kids during some of the waiting periods. I was able to connect with several of the kids as they came through the vital sign station. The Spiderman and princess tattoos I had brought were very popular with the kids and they all wanted one before they passed on to the next station. There was one little girl in particular named Telma who bonded with me immediately. I was grateful that we finished the vital signs and registration stations a bit early that day because she was waiting and ready to play. She had brought her own little bag with a kid-sized brush and play makeup. 

The kids were happy to show off their princess tattoos

So we set up her "beauty parlor" in the back and I did her hair and makeup. Then it was my turn. Thankfully, another little girl came along before I was completely decked out in hot pink eye shadow and we we were able to switch over to doing her hair. After we finished with our "beauty parlor," the girls started asking me about my stethoscope and I was able to teach them how to listen to their heart and lungs. I decided to take advantage of their curiosity and the teaching moment and taught them how to check their radial and carotid pulses too. Then I pulled out my pulse-oximeter and taught them how to check their pulse and oxygen level with that fun little gadget. The girls were very fascinated and I told them that they should consider being nurses when they grow up! 

Telma and I 

Learning to use a pulseox

Eventually we had to pack up and part ways, but  I received multiple hugs before they finally left. Screening had been a success and I had the chance to play with the kids this time too, which was definitely a bonus! 

We were very blessed to have such a wonderful hospital to work in with some incredible staff! They even converted an extra room into an OR for us the day before surgery! The head nurse, Rosy, was also one of my favorite people. She was so kind and humble and helped us with everything we could possibly think of that we needed in the hospital.

A few friends with Rosy (far right)

Before long, the operating rooms were in full swing and lots of babies and children were getting new lips and palates. I tried to get a bit of extra rest that first day, as I was getting ready to start my stretch of night shifts. In spite of my efforts, I was pretty exhausted after the first night, especially since the other night shift volunteer was from Peru, so there was only Spanish-speaking. Needless to say, my rusty Spanish improved very quickly. 

My night nurse buddy Ana and our pediatrician Alexie

One of the great things about working night shift is that once everyone gets settled, things slow down and there is more time to talk to the patients and families. Generally, most of them are sleeping by this time, but for some reason, we seemed to have at least one child every night that decided to wake up in the middle of the night who wanted to play. It was sweet to watch the mamas attempt to play with the kids in spite of their sleepy eyes and obvious exhaustion. Occasionally, the kids would want to play with the nurses or let us hold them, but mama always had to be in sight or they would cry. So, in this case, there was no rest for the weary when it came to the poor parents. But in spite of their exhaustion, it was evident that the parents had so much joy that their children had been able to receive their surgeries!

In the middle of the night, as different children would wake up ready to play, their parents would bring them out to the hallway and start talking to the nurses. During this time, I had the opportunity to hear some of their individual stories. One in particular touched my heart. It was the story about David Gomez, an adorable 11-month old little boy who was born with cleft lip. His mother, Adela was smiling as she was watching David play with a beautiful smile and a perfect lip. He had just had surgery that day, but his lip was healing so well that you could barely see the incision line. 

As Adela began her story, her eyes filled up with tears and her voice became shaky. "I had seen other babies with cleft lip before David was born, but I never thought it would happen to me. I had three healthy children and then David was born. It was such a shock when we saw that he had a cleft lip. It broke my heart to see him that way. Every time I looked at him, I felt sad. I just wanted my baby to be healthy." Whenever other children would see her baby, they would ask what happened to him. She would try to explain that he was born that way, but couldn't help but feel sad for her baby. 

Adela started to look into options to get David's lip fixed. There was a surgeon in the area, but he wasn't a specialist for cleft lips. Finally, she found a specialist, but it was too expensive and she knew that she couldn't afford it. Then, a medical group came down for a cleft lip mission, so she took a bus to the city where they were holding the mission in hopes of getting help. But when she arrived, she found out that she had been misinformed and the mission had already ended. Feeling hopeless, she returned back to their hometown of San Marcos. 

Then one day, Adela's 7-year old son called out to her from the living room "Hurry Mommy, come here!" Adela rushed to the room and found her son watching a tv commercial for Operation Smile. "Look Mommy, they can fix David's lip! I want to see my baby brother like that with his mouth fixed. You have to take him to those people." This was the first time Adela had ever heard of Operation Smile. With renewed hope, she took down the information and prayed that she would be able to finally see her baby with a new lip.

As the day for screening approached, Adela said she began to get nervous. "I had heard that they wouldn't be able to do the surgery if he got sick or had a cough, so I was trying my best to keep him healthy." When screening day arrived, David was in good health and ready for surgery! Soon Adela received a surgery date and information on when to bring her son to the hospital. David was finally going to get his surgery! 

David recovered quickly and took his medicine like a champ. "I'm so happy he can have a normal mouth now," she told us trying to hold back the tears. "I am just so grateful." 

David and Adela

It was so great to hear David's story and so many others as each night passed. It was such a great reminder to me of why we do what we do. It is worth all of the jet lag, hard work, night shifts and tired days. Because at the end of it all, we had 99 babies and children with each of their own stories who received their own special miracle and now each one of them has a bright future. I am so grateful that I got to be a part of each of their amazing stories! I hope it's not long before I get to come back and be part of another incredible mission!

Adventure to Half Dome

One of the great things that I love about being a travel nurse is that I get to explore new places all the time! And many times, I also have friends come visit and explore with me! Michelle is one of those people. She is a Canadian dental hygienist that I met on Mercy Ships several years ago. Ever since we bonded on the sail to Tenerife in 2012, we have stayed in touch and had lots of adventures all over Canada and the US. I always know I can count on her for a fun adventure.

So when she decided to come visit me in San Francisco, I knew this time would be no different. Normally, I'm a pretty good planner, but Michelle is so laid back that I know we can always swing something last minute if we need to. We had only loosely planned a few things for her visit and nothing was really set in stone up until a week before she came out. So when a friend at work started telling me about her recent camping trip to Yosemite and showed me pictures, I decided I needed to take Michelle camping there! The only problem was that campsites are apparently hard to come by. It was only a few days away and I wasn't sure I'd get something last minute, but I thought I'd give it a shot. And what do you know, there was one campsite open and I got it!

So then I decided that we should attempt to get permits to hike Half Dome, an intense hike that is listed as one of the "Top 10 Must-Do Hikes in the US." Based on the pictures and stories, it seemed a little bit intimidating, but I had a feeling it would be a lot of fun if we got to do it. Due to the popularity of the hike, only a set number of permits are issued per day to hike it. I prayed we'd get lucky and applied for the permit lottery two nights before Michelle got to town. The next night, I got an email telling me that I was one of the lucky few who had scored two permits for Half Dome! I sent Michelle a text late that night and told her to pack her hiking boots. We were going to hike Half Dome!

Saturday morning, Michelle arrived and we set out for our adventure. The drive to Yosemite was about 3 1/2 hours from Oakland, which was the perfect opportunity to catch up in the car. It turns out we were enjoying our chat a little bit too much...because I missed the signs that tell you to turn off your air conditioning while driving up the switchbacks. It was a hot day and there was a lot of uphill driving on the way. We were chugging along when we heard a noise underneath the car, as if something had broken or fallen off. I pulled off to the side of the road to see what was wrong, but Michelle and I didn't notice anything abnormal. So we got back in and kept driving until I noticed that my temperature gauge was getting hot. As I was looking for a place to pull off, my car started to smoke. There was a parking lot off to the right hand side and I pulled in to see what was going on with my car.

We had no cell phone service and weren't quite sure what to do. Then a few people pulled up next to us. We thought they were stopping to help and then noticed the sign in front of us. It said "Welcome to Yosemite." We had made it all the way to the entrance! I guess if your car is going to overheat, that's not a bad place to pull over. After realizing how close we were to the ranger station, we walked up and used the phone to call my insurance. Basically our options were 1) Try to fix the problem ourselves or 2) Tow my car. I wasn't about ready to let them take my car away. We were within walking distance of our campsite, but the Half Dome trail was miles away and I had my mind set on hiking it. We hadn't come this far for nothing!

The nearest gas station was five miles away, so we had to hitchhike down to buy some coolant for my car. We had no problem catching a ride and jumped in an RV with a friendly British family that was heading out of the park (this was another time I was thankful that Michelle is so laid back). We enjoyed hearing about their adventures driving across the US. Then they wished us luck as they dropped us off at the gas station. We bought the coolant and then surveyed the options for people to hitchhike back into the park with. We met a friendly Swiss couple and they agreed to let us ride with them after they filled up their gas tank. "First I just have to figure out what type of gas to put in my rental car," the guy said. He had the car manual out and was flipping through hopelessly. I smiled and told him not to worry. We may not be experts with car mechanics, but we could certainly help him choose which gasoline to put in his car :) Ahh, I just love foreigners!

After I got to practice a few phrases in French and hear more about Switzerland, the couple dropped us off at our car and told us they hoped to see us on the Half Dome trail the next day. Things were looking up and in spite of the hiccup with the car and Michelle and I were having a great time. Soon enough, we were setting up camp and preparing our packs for the big hike the next day.

On Sunday morning, we woke up early and headed up the road for the Half Dome hike. In the first five minutes on the road, my car started overheating again and my heart sank. "No, this can't happen! We have to hike Half Dome!" I popped the hood and Michelle poured in more coolant. We were starting to get pretty good at this. Then we rolled down the windows and cranked on the heat (a little trick we were taught the day before about cooling down your engine) and said a prayer that we would make it. After that, it was smooth sailing and next thing we knew, we were at the trailhead for the big hike.

The scenery was beautiful all the way up with stunning waterfalls and massive granite walls around us. We met a few people on the way, including a couple named Camilla and Max who quickly became our new hiking buddies. Camilla was from England and Max from Germany, but they had met each other in Tanzania. We all shared stories about Africa and our humanitarian work overseas and after bonding over our love for Africa, we decided that we should all hike to the top together.

Max and Camilla proved to be great hiking buddies and doubled as photographers when we found a great view and wanted to take pictures. After a long, hot, hike we finally reached the cables. Michelle and I looked at each other with big eyes. We had heard it was tough, but standing there watching all the people pulling themselves up the steep incline made us both a bit nervous. "Are you thinking of turning back?" I asked Michelle. "No we came this far. We have to do it," she responded very matter-of-fact. I was glad she was all in because I certainly didn't want to do this alone.

Next thing we knew, we were climbing the cables, slow and steady, one step at a time. One of the challenges of going up was that it was a bit crowded when we started and we had to carefully pass the people who were coming down. So there we were, holding on to the cables with both hands, trying not to slip at the extra steep parts and only looking down occasionally. It was one of those times that I got to experience what the saying "hold on for dear life" really means. It took a lot of upper body strength as well, as you're literally pulling yourself up the mountain.

Finally, we made it to the top and celebrated with a drink, a snack and some photos. We had finally made it! On the way back down, there were a lot less people, so it was nice that we didn't have to worry about passing all the hikers climbing up. Surprisingly enough, I found that going down was not scary at all. We just came down backwards holding the cables and before we knew it, we were at the bottom. After a few miles of hiking, we stopped by the creek for a little while to pump fresh water and relax. Even though we would've loved to stay there the rest of the night, we knew we had to finish up the hike so we headed back down the trail.

As our journey came to an end, we said our goodbyes and parted ways with Max and Camilla. On the drive back to the campground, the stars were so amazing that I had to pull off for a few minutes. Michelle and I had a few minutes of taking in the beauty of God's creation and I silently said a prayer thanking Him for getting us safely up and down the cables in one piece.

Back at the campground, we celebrated a successful day with a small campfire (thanks to Michelle and her fire-building skills) and roasted marshmallows over the fire. It had been a fun adventure and I was grateful to share it with such a fun, adventurous group of people. I don't know if I'll ever make it back to hike Half Dome again, but I can definitely say that it was an incredible experience that I will never forget!

Ethiopia

After almost two years away from Africa, I was very excited when Operation Smile contacted me and asked me to go to Ethiopia this summer. I would finally be going back to Africa! Although I had never been to Ethiopia before, I had friends who had visited and loved it. So I was excited to go see for myself what it was really like.

But it's funny how one experience with the same organization can be so different than the next. I think I expected my mission to Ethiopia to be very similar to the mission in Chiapas, even though they are such different places...simply because I was working with the same organization doing the same surgeries. Obviously that was a bit naïve considering that the locations and cultures were very different.

So I quickly found out that Ethiopia was a whole different ball game. There were many challenges that we had to face that didn't come up in Mexico....like the fact that sometimes there was no running water, which meant there was no laundry services and our supply of clean sheets was low. So we had to improvise and use what we had and find other things that we could use to cover the beds (we settled for the disposable "chux" pads).

Another challenge was the language barrier. I didn't realize how much I had taken for granted the ability to speak Spanish in Mexico. In Addis Ababa, our patients spoke primarily Amaric, which I do not even remotely understand. We also had quite a few patients that had traveled from Somalia to have surgery. So we had to use a Somali interpreter to communicate with them. Unfortunately, we only started with one Somali interpreter, so we had to share him among all the patients until they could get us a couple other interpreters the following day. Thankfully, we had a sweet med student who spoke Somali who I was able to recruit to help us at the beginning of the mission. 

But in spite of all the challenges and lack of resources, we had an amazing team who pulled together to do an amazing job. I was absolutely blown away by the nurses and physicians on our team. One of my favorites was Annemieke, a Dutch pediatrician with an English accent who had a perfect balance of professionalism and fun. There was always a lot of laughter when she was around. And she also took care of me when I got food poisoning, so I owed her big time for that!

In the pre/post team, we had Swedish, Canadian, and American nurses, along with a local Ethiopian nurse who we trained. He was a quick learner and was also a huge help with the Amaric-speaking patients. It was a lot of fun watching him grow in his knowledge and skills through the duration of the mission.

Photo-op with our local nurse Mekuria (left) 

This was my first time working day shift on an Operation Smile mission, so I got to see a lot more of the action this time around. One of my favorite stations was the pre-op play area where our child life specialist, Alex would prep the patients for surgery. She would explain the anesthesia on a kid's level and let them play with the masks and other medical "toys." There was always a lot of fun and laughter going on in this part of the hospital. I can genuinely say that Alex is one of the most energetic, gifted specialists I have ever worked with in my nursing career. She did such an amazing job with the kids and helped us keep a smooth flow with all the pre-op patients going into surgery.

There were definitely a lot of moments where I almost felt like I was back on the ship again. It was mostly the controlled chaos and the many "TIA" moments when you just have to go with the flow and accept that things are different in Africa. I think that the 2+ years I spent in West Africa definitely helped me to be more laid back in that type of working environment.

Along with the controlled chaos, it was also just nice to be back in the African culture. While we didn't have drums and dancing in the ward like we did on the ship, we did have the warm African culture. And of course, you can always break through the cultural barriers with bubbles and toys! 

One day during the mission, I had to go down to another unit in the hospital to borrow some blankets (because once again, there was no running water or laundry). When I got to the nurses' breakroom to ask them for blankets, they were having their afternoon coffee break. Now you have to understand that in Ethiopia, they are serious about their coffee. They actually roast the beans right there, make the fresh coffee and serve it with fresh popcorn (a little strange, I know, but it makes for a pretty good combo). So I walked in and saw that they were pouring the coffee and being the warm-cultured people that they are, they asked if I wanted to join them for coffee. Never mind that I was in a bit of a hurry to get the blankets so I could go back to the ward and get some things done. None of those things were urgent and this was an opportunity to soak up the Ethiopian culture. I knew I had at least ten minutes to spare and these were the kind of moments you do not pass up.

Preparing for the traditional coffee ceremony 

While I sat and drank coffee with these friendly people, I had the chance to get to know them a little bit better. A few were shy with their English, but one of the head nurses had actually trained in Cuba so she spoke perfect Spanish. So there I was, sitting in an Ethiopian hospital, speaking Spanish and drinking coffee with perfect strangers. It was one of those moments where I had to stop and think to myself "My life is so crazy and I absolutely love it!"

After a nice coffee and chat with the nurses, I thanked them and headed back to finish up my work upstairs. I was a little nervous that I would be regretting the coffee later on (they don't always use purified water), so I said a little prayer that I wouldn't get sick and headed back to the ward. Thankfully the post-op area was not very busy and the other nurses hadn't even noticed I was gone while I was making new friends in the L & D unit. After a few hours of no stomachache, I also thanked the Lord that I didn't get sick from the coffee.

But unfortunately, a few days later, I was not so lucky. My roommate had shared some fruit with me and even though I had washed it with bottled water, the next morning, it decided to come right back up. It is never fun to start a day on the mission with your head hanging over the toilet, but sometimes that's just how life goes. I knew I couldn't stay back at the hotel because another post-op nurse had a fever and was staying back. So I sucked it up and went to work.

But after only a few hours of being at the hospital, I found myself with my head over the toilet once again. I finally decided I couldn't hide it anymore and told my friend Annemieke (who happened to be our team doctor) that I had been vomiting. After a little bit of scolding, she loaded me up with some zofran and told me that if I vomited again, she was sending me straight to the hotel. But our post-op team was already short-staffed, so I decided that I wouldn't take my chances and would just lunch and hydrate myself as much as possible so I could get through the day. I felt miserable and it was physically one of the hardest shifts I've ever worked, but I made it through and collapsed on my bed when we got back to the hotel. Needless to say, I slept really well that night.

The rest of the mission went pretty smoothly and before we knew it, the trip had come to an end. As usual, we had our final party the night before everyone flew out. Our team leaders surprised us with a live band and performers who did some of the local African dances in the traditional outfits. By the end of the night, we had all joined in the fun and dancing. It was a great end to a long week.

Kayaking with Jamie on team day

While I have to admit that this was not the easiest mission I've ever been on, I am so grateful that I was able to be a part of the team. I felt challenged and stretched on many occasions, but it was a great growing experience for me. And we all know that difficult situations provide great opportunities to build stronger character! I was so blessed to work with this team of volunteers and I hope to see many of them again on future Operation Smile missions!

Another new adventure

Sometimes the dreams in our hearts take a long time before they finally comes to pass. For a long time, one of my dreams was to be a part of the work of Operation Smile. I heard about it several years back and was intrigued by their work in providing cleft lip and palate surgeries all over the world.  I had thought about signing up with the organization for awhile and then finally decided to apply at the end of 2013 after finishing up with Mercy Ships. But the process of becoming officially "credentialed" and accepted for a mission was much slower than I had anticipated. After submitting my application, months of nothing but silence followed and I started to lose hope that I would ever have the privilege of serving with them.

I had almost completely forgotten about my application when I saw an old Mercy Ships friend at a wedding last summer. He informed me that he had plans to go to Malawi with Operation Smile a few weeks later. He assured me that he had lots of connections who would be able to help me with my credentialing process and get me signed up for a mission. So the process finally started moving along as my friend connected me with several key people within the organization. Before long, I was officially "credentialed" and asked to submit my mission location preferences.

But the only problem was that each mission only allows one first-time nurse to come. The purpose for this restriction is to provide a strong team that has plenty of experience with the standards and expectations of Operation Smile. However, it makes it a bit more challenging for the first-timers, as there is only one slot per mission for the newbies.

A few months went by and then one day, out of the blue, one of the team leaders wrote to me saying that they needed a Spanish-speaking nurse on their mission to Chiapas, Mexico in April. I was excited for the opportunity to finally go on my first mission! Things came together quickly and before long, I had my plane ticket and was all set to go!

Having grown up near the border of Mexico and visiting many times before, I expected Chiapas to be very similar to all the other places I had been in Mexico. But both the city and the mission itself exceeded my expectations! The city center was very quaint, with cobblestone streets, restaurants, live music, and some amazing coffee shops (they grow the beans nearby and  everything is fresh). Not to mention, there were lots of great places to experience the culture, including one of my favorite activities...salsa dancing!!!

Chiapas at night 



We had phenomenal leaders who made sure everything was perfectly organized and ready to go when we all arrived. Our entire team was amazing, with a mix of international and local volunteers. My roommate was from Italy, our pediatrician was from Russia, and we had several other team members from Spain. And obviously we had lots of volunteers from Mexico! But in spite of the team's cultural diversity, everyone worked well together to give the patients the best care. The screening went smoothly and before we knew it, the surgeries were in full swing.

Our amazing leaders (in orange) and a few of our translators 



I was on the night shift with another nurse named Kristi, an experienced volunteer who did a great job of teaching me the ropes of OpSmile. It was great to have a little bit slower pace on the night shift to have time to get used to everything without being overwhelmed and also to spend time getting to know the patients better. The patients and families were so grateful for the work we were doing and endlessly thanked us.

One night, one of the mom's who was very intrigued with the international volunteers began asking me questions about how we all had come together in Chiapas. She asked me what it was like to be on an airplane up in the sky, as she had never had that opportunity before. Her eyes got wide as I described what it was like to be up in the clouds looking down on all the cities that seemed so tiny from up above. Watching her intrigue over the experience of flying reminded me of the privilege it is to be able to travel as much as I do, which I often take for granted.

Another night, Kristi came back to the nurse's station with a big smile on her face and told me to go to the room where one of the older patients was awake. It was the middle of the night and most of the patients were sleeping, so I was curious as to what could be going on. I went out to investigate and found an older boy, sitting at the edge of the bed, holding up his mirror, in awe of his new smile that he had been waiting for all of his life. While everyone else was sleeping, he was too excited to close his eyes and lay down. He just wanted to sit there and look at his beautiful lips and new smile.  It was a very sweet moment.

Kristi and Elena (our pediatrician) 



The trip was full of precious moments that have made for some very special memories. I may not remember the names of each and every patient, but I remember their smiles and the joy I saw in their parents' eyes as they admired the transformation of their little ones. I am so grateful for the opportunity to be a part of this mission and to work such an amazing team! I will forever cherish the memories I made in Chiapas and I look forward to many more missions in the future. It may have taken a long time to get on my first mission, but it was definitely worth the wait!