Jelf (in pink) serves with physicians at a clinic in Honduras as part of CMMSA's 2010 medical mission trip.
Jelf encourages medical students to participate in some type of medical mission work. “It gives you a different level of clinical experience that you don’t always get in school,” she said. “I hope to carry my experiences and my compassion for the patients in Honduras and give back that same level of care to patients locally.”
The following are two excerpts from e-mails Jelf sent from Honduras:
Excerpt 1:
I have had some amazing experiences here in Honduras. I have never been more aware of my selfishness, wastefulness and ignorance. We saw nearly a thousand patients in the clinics, most ailing for months from simple illnesses that can easily be cured by a dose of antibiotics. The Hospital Escuela was heart breaking with the hoards of patients lying in the hallways with what we would consider critical conditions. They were waiting for treatment that might not come for days.
But above all this, the most amazing experience that stuck in my mind was an outreach trip we took. Mitch's Ministry of Divine Mercy (that is doing amazing things for the people in the mountain villages) identified some of the needy families in a small mountain village in San Matias. We took food in a small tub, drove as far as we could, then hiked the rest of the two miles up the mountain.
Through someone’s yard, past a chicken coup and through a small corn field, we found Jorge, a self sufficient 85-year-old man with a heart of pure gold. He was so happy to have visitors and someone to share his faith with. Upon leaving he tried to give us a bunch of bananas as a parting gift. Although he had no food except some dried corn kernels, the food that we brought and the bananas, he wanted to share them with us.
The sheer generosity of the people of Honduras is something I will always carry with me. They welcomed us with open arms and were truly grateful for the work we did not only in the clinics but also in sharing our faith with them. I could go on. There is so much more I want to say and share about this tiny country forgotten by many people in the United States and tucked away between a somewhat unstable El Salvador and Nicaragua. However, pity is far from what they want or deserve. I have learned to be compassionate in ways I never knew.
Excerpt 2:
I was very nervous to be in the hospital. I was wondering how the Honduran orthopedic surgeons would take to being taught by American doctors -- like we were being pushy or presumptuous in thinking they needed or wanted our help. But I was very wrong. They welcomed all of us -- doctors and students -- with open arms. They were so eager to learn new techniques and skills to improve their level of care and reduce risk in invasive procedures. Not only that, but they were also more than happy to teach us as students along the way.
For more about the medical mission trip, visit http://medschoolwatercooler.blogspot.com/2010/05/medical-students-traveling-to-honduras.html.
