Nashville - Health

On our last day of service we revisited Project C.U.R.E., a non-profit organization that ships donated medical supplies to third world countries. In the midst of all the fun we seemed to have picked up a pattern of going to sleep later each night, with the lack of sleep catching up to us. However, we stumbled into Project C.U.R.E. once again where we were split into two groups.
Group one consisted of five of us who began to prepare for another shipment - this one going to Uganda - by checking each item off of the list box by box (450 boxes to be exact). Rather than loading the crate like yesterday, we prepped the carrier in order for it to be loaded for next week's shipment. Items in these boxes ranged from simple necessities like soap all the way to bed pans and casting. After gathering the boxes we had to harness our energy and haul over larger equipment such as mattresses, gurneys and IV poles.
The other seven members of our group sorted through 15 fully stacked palettes of donated medical equipment. Some of these supplies consisted of syringes, needles, masks, gloves, gowns, surgery kits, and scalpels. This task took up the entire period that we were there! These members were lucky enough to be guided by a retired orthopedic surgeon, dentist, and physical therapist and even got a few lessons on what the equipment is used for. Out of the supplies donated, we were shocked at the number of high-tech equipment received that could not be donated to countries due to the lack of knowledge and resources for them to run the equipment.
Project C.U.R.E. was our first experience with indirect service, an opportunity where we didn't get to see first hand the impact that we were making. However, we were fortunate enough to get to see photos of the medical facilities that the medical supplies were being sent to. The photos made us realize how less fortunate other countries are in terms of health care and showed us how our hard work from one day was making a difference across the world. We learned a lot today, but what stuck out to us the most was that, although it may not seem like it, we can make a huge difference little by little. We will dearly miss the stray, disease-ridden cat that helped us serve these past two days.