Helping Others

“I’ve always wanted to go on a mission trip because I love helping people,” says Amanda Kline a junior from Hughesville, who went to Peru over spring break in March with MEDLIFE, a campus organization at Bloomsburg University. “I knew this experience would change my perspective on healthcare and life in general. I know there are so many people out there that are in desperate need of help, and sometimes it’s easy to forget when you haven’t seen it firsthand.”

MEDLIFE is an organization whose mission is to build a worldwide movement empowering the poor in their fight for equal access to healthcare, education and a safe home. The MEDLIFE project fund helps MEDLIFE to construct development projects like staircases, schools, and safe homes for the poor.

MEDLIFE went to Lima, the capital of Peru where club members offered medical care to Lima residents. “MEDLIFE’s goal is to provide opportunities for improvements medically, educationally and developmentally for low-income families,” says Kline. “MEDLIFE is an organization on campus with a medical focus. However, you don’t have to be in the health field to be a part of MEDLIFE or to go on this trip so I would recommend this for anyone who is interested in traveling and helping others.”

MEDLIFE chose Lima, Peru because there are so many people living in extreme poverty. “Thousands of people are moving into the outskirts of this city daily because of potential job opportunities and a chance at a better life,” says Kline. “The city areas are packed with millions of people that lack the necessities we take for granted such as clean water, electricity, and healthcare.”

Compared to the United States health care, the Peruvian health care system is basically nonexistent. “They have no access to any type of health care,” Kline says. “Even where MEDLIFE established mobile clinics, we were set up in garages or outside under tents. I couldn’t imagine being treated in a place like that with how unclean in appeared,” says Kline.

hile the group was in Peru they helped in different ways every day. “Each day we brought in a mobile clinic to a different community with doctors, dentists, pharmacists and nurses. As volunteers, we assisted these professionals by taking vitals, teaching children how to brush their teeth, handing out medications, and more,” says Kline. “The doctors were so patient and made sure to take the time to explain everything.” Along with assisting these health professionals they also assisted in other ways. “We also had a developmental day and built stairs for a community so they can safely get to their homes and provide stability for earthquakes.”

When it came to a language barrier, Kline said it made things a little more difficult. “The best way I can describe trying to interact with the people in Peru was like a giant game of charades. While this was a challenge at first, everyone is very nice and worked with me to translate or help communicate,” says Kline. “However, after being surrounded by their language for a week, I picked up on a lot of words and phrases fairly quickly. Most importantly, I learned how to interact with them nonverbally.”

While there was a language barrier, connecting with the people of the community didn’t seem to be a problem for Kline and the rest of the MEDLIFE group. “Although we come from very different backgrounds we are the same in many ways,” says Kline. “When they cried, I wanted to cry. This was the first time many of the children received dental work and you don’t have to speak the same language to see the fear in their eyes and understand what they are feeling. I couldn’t comfort them with words but a simple smile or offering a hand to hold went a long way.”

“This experience gave me a greater appreciation for the healthcare we have in the United States, and I will be going back to help in the near future,” says Kline.