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| Dr. Rene Loyola |
The experience of going on a surgical mission is, at the
same time, overwhelming and empowering.
It overwhelms you because you realize how desperate some people’s lives
are and how much there is to do for those that are not as fortunate as we
are. It empowers you because you feel
uplifted as a human being when you willfully donate your time and skill to go
and try to change people’s lives.
Most of us that give of ourselves understand the feeling;
that ability to, in a short period of time, impact positively on people’s
lives. The good that you do allows you
to tolerate the sensations of helplessness that you are exposed to.
Those feelings themselves are enough to keep you going back
for more. Sometimes you feel like there
is not enough you can do for these poor souls.
However, another reason to return is to discover that special moment
that each trip seems to have. The
personal situation impacts you so powerfully that it stays with you
indefinitely.
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| Jerry Glattfelt, CRNA |
This trip to Haiti had it poignant vignette. It was in the form of a poor homeless man
whom we helped in many more ways than just fixing his medical problems. I do not know who found him or how he found
us, but he showed up to our small hospital wearing dilapidated, filthy rags,
and he had a huge inguinal hernia. He
lived on the street around the market where he performed menial tasks helping
lift crates of food and performing whatever task was required of him. He apparently was very well liked by
everyone, and other people cared for him in the streets. The hernia was totally incapacitating to
him. I think one of the things that
affected me most about him was the fact that he did not even know how old he
was.
He got cleaned up, had his surgery, and had some very nice
people look after him that night in the hospital, and the next day, we got him
all dressed up in new clothes and most importantly, a spot in a halfway
home. Maybe his situation will be
short-lived, and he will wind up again on the street, but at least he will be
able to function without pain. He will
have had at least, for a short while, food and a roof over his head; he will
always have a special place in my heart.
Sincerely,
Rene Loyola, M.D., F.A.C.S 