As a member of the largest group of
Kaiser volunteers to join the Honduras ENLACE trip since its inception two
years ago I am particularly impressed by one aspect of this group that sets it
apart from other volunteer projects I have worked with: the number of children
on our team and their enthusiasm. We had approximately fourteen kids in our
group ranging in age from 7 to 18 (there is a lovely 6 month old as well, but
for the purposes of this post I will focus on those old enough to walk J);
I have volunteered for a variety of projects in the past, but have never worked
with such a large group of children. I enjoy interacting with kids but have
never considered them to be particularly helpful when it comes to clinical
work.
However, I was proven wrong by the
youth on this trip. Their laughter, their exuberance, their eagerness to help
out in any task no matter how menial, was so impressive. The laughter, spirit
of collaboration and excitement made this week both meaningful and fun. It was
loud and at times chaotic, but overall these kids, in my opinion, contributed
more to the project than the medical providers. They were running the pharmacy,
interviewing patients, assisting the dentists, doing art with the local children,
hauling luggage, building latrines, basically anything that had to do with the
project they were involved with in some capacity. They also collected soccer
cleats in the US to hand out to the local children in Las Lajas. And all of
this on their summer break, when most of their peers would just want to be
hanging out with their friends or playing video games. I heard very little
complaining despite a vastly different diet and living conditions then most of
them are accustomed to. Additionally the enthusiasm was still present even
though a vast majority of the group fell sick to various GI ailments that tend
to greet visitors to the tropics with vigor!
I remember being around 10-12 years
old and wanting so badly to feel useful. I couldn’t wait to be a grown-up when
people would actually take me seriously and I could contribute something
meaningful. Now that I am technically a grown-up with grown-up
responsibilities, I long for the freedom and silliness of youth. Working and
living alongside 14 children and teenagers this week was an excellent reminder
to me that even though being a physician is a very demanding and extremely
serious profession by nature; one should always strive to find joy in your work
and daily life, no matter how menial it can seem. Alongside this special group
even counting out pills into small plastic baggies felt like fun! This week was
a great reminder to me that without joy, work can lose its meaning, and begin
to feel more like indentured servitude. Lately my life has felt like more of
the latter as I am going on my fourth year of residency, and am about to
celebrate my 10th anniversary of starting a career in medicine.
Applying for jobs and thinking about exceedingly boring (sorry financiers!)
adult things like 401(k)s, variable interest rates, and mortgages is the part
of adulthood that my twelve year old self neither knew much about nor looked
forward to.
That being said, I am going to try and remember the lessons I
learned from my young colleagues this trip as I have a lot of adulting to do
this year:
1) An excellent way to blow off
steam at the end of a long work day is to play a pick-up game of soccer
2) Glove balloons never get old
3) Knowing a couple of goofy jokes
is a great way to fire up the crowd
4) Everyone has something meaningful
to contribute, no matter their age or education level J
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