Lend a Helping Hand

Posted on 08. Feb, 2010 by Janna Vassantachart in Feature

Pacific Union College held its first global medical brigade in Honduras from December 13-20, 2009. As stated by IFAD’s website, Honduras is the “second poorest country in Central America.” Twenty-two students and one physician devoted a week of their Christmas vacation with the mission of providing medical care. The international organization Global Brigades defined brigades as “groups of passionate volunteers who mobilize toward positive social change.” The motto was “students empowering communities.”

The PUC brigade was welcomed at the baggage claim by a Global Medical Brigade (GMB) coordinator. Customs was bypassed, and after a few hours of travel out of the capital city Tegucigalpa, the PUC group was settling into brick cabins. Global Brigades had linked up with local nun Sister Maria Rosa to help impoverished Honduras. The cabins used by the PUC brigade were located alongside Sister Maria Rosa’s orphanage project, Sociedad Amigos de los Niños- Nuevo Paraiso Village.

The first day of the trip was dedicated to visiting the orphans and viewing what one passionate, faithful woman envisioned to help God’s children. The following three days displayed the PUC brigade’s energy, efficiency, and desire to serve. Each day brought the PUC mobile brigade clinic to a different community. Mornings began before the rooster call to account for traveling time. Up to three to four hours a day were spent bouncing through hilly terrain on eroded dirt paths to bring medical service to people whose nearest clinic was a day’s travel away.

On site, three stations were set up: triage, physician consult, and pharmacy. In triage, general information about the patient was noted, including symptoms, blood pressure, and temperature. Common complaints were body aches, colds, and parasites. The patient then moved on for further examination with a physician. Global Brigades provided two additional physicians to assist the PUC medical brigade. USC’s dental group also joined the PUC brigade for a day, setting up three stations as well: cleaning, extraction, and restoration.

A definite challenge was the language barrier. PUC employee Edilson “Chino” Garcia and PUC juniors Jessica Kremer, Katherine McMillan, and Kaileen Yeong, the four bilingual volunteers, were in high demand between triage and the physicians. Many other students also kept Spanish dictionaries on hand and jotted down key phrases onto 3 x 5 cards. Without any previous Spanish background, PUC freshmen Jeremy Lam could obtain symptoms from patients in triage after a brief five minute crash course.

Once seen by a physician, the patients waited for their medicines to be packaged and labeled by the students in the pharmacy. The medicines were donated by various organizations and brought to Honduras by the volunteers. Volunteering in the pharmacy for all three brigade days, PUC sophomore Carissa Kan said, “Working in the pharmacy was a good learning experience. We learned about different medications and what they are used for. After the trip, I was even more convinced that pharmacy was the right choice for me.”

The brigade days flew by, and the patient count was tallied. Day one provided medical service to 250 people, day two to 365, and day three to 250. The mass of people lining the entrance allowed the brigade volunteers only a fifteen minute lunch break. Many learned new skills. Blood pressure cuffs wrapped many of the PUC students’ arms as the procedure was practiced after being taught by Elisha Ilio, Loma Linda University nursing student.

The Honduras medical mission trip was an impactful and meaningful experience for each volunteer. Students bonded over a singular purpose and worked together towards a mission. New goals were set—learn Spanish. Appreciation was renewed for the simple things—fluoride. And, a purpose as humans was revitalized—service.

The need was felt and can no longer be ignored. Global Brigades has developed long-term projects that go to the source of the problems. The international organization offers water, dental, and public health brigades. The brigades are year-round, and can use any skill to benefit the people of Honduras. Many more donations of time, effort, and prayer are needed to join PUC’s medical brigade contribution to help Global Brigades combat poverty.

Jo-ga

Posted on 18. Nov, 2009 by Janna Vassantachart in Campus

We peered into the dimly-lit fireside room.  The torch-like lamp shades opened upwards cast an eerie glow along both lengths of the wall.  Three bodies lay sprawled on the floor.  Were we in the right place?  Stephanie Lao and I had heard about yoga from our history teacher, Professor Douglas.  She had come into class several times commenting on how she could barely move because of “jo-ga.”  Every time she mentioned this, I wondered to myself how that was possible.  Yoga?  You simply held a pose and breathed.  Child’s pose.  Two deep breaths.  Feel the energy in your arms.  Ahh… how relaxing.  Not my picture of a tough workout.

The class began.  Music drifted around the room, and we started with a few “simple” stretches.  Jen Jaia, our instructor, told us to arch our backs and relax.  While saying this, she gently rested her head on her heels, bending her back in half—backwards.  I always prided myself on being flexible.  I can just about get my elbows to the floor in front of my locked legs.  But, I wasn’t prepared for this.  It didn’t seem anatomically possible to contort the spine in such a way.  I continuously glanced at my friend Stephanie through my fogged glasses, and we shook our heads in disbelief.  Next was the “chatarunga.”  This one was preceded with a caution:  The next sequence may be a little more difficult, so just do as much as you can.  Our instructor then proved her expertise.  She gracefully eased her body through a twisting-turning-backbend crawl-like maneuver.  The move went from dog stance (bellies facing the floor) to a backbend (back arch with stomach to ceiling), and back!  For the majority of that exercise, I tried to conceal my laughter at how every movement found me collapsed on the floor.  But, we were informed that it was good to laugh at ourselves and challenge our bodies.  The pace slowed, and we released the tension in our muscles.  Lying down, we took time to think, contemplate, and simply relax our minds; we even got a mini-massage.  Needless to say, I could empathize with Professor Douglas for the rest of the week.

Everyone is welcome to the class, mat or no mat.  Boys too, and you don’t have to worry about being the only guy there.  Come, strengthen some muscles, and relieve stress.  You decide how much of a workout you want.  The lights are dim, and no one is there to judge you.  Bring a small donation (not required) and your friends to “Jo-ga”!

Namaste.