Community and Volunteer Service - Florida Academy of Family ...

IT MATTERSTO THAT ONEby Kimberlee Brown, MD, Ormond BeachApproaching the shores of Honduras yielded green mountaintopssurrounded by an azure sparkle as the waves lapped the shore. Insidethe plane were volunteers from the United States arriving to prepareand participate in a three-day health fair at a mission school in theremote countryside. Doctors, dentists, medical and dental students,nurses, translators, a pharmacist, spouses and grown children of theparticipants converged in the airport to begin a journey that, by theend of the week, would result in self-reflection and humility thatwould stay with them forever.Volunteering was not new to me. I started in Girl Scouts, mendingbroken toys and taking food and clothes to the needy for many years.I worked on many projects in college and for the Junior League inDaytona Beach in different capacities, always trying to improve programsfor our community. As a physician, when president of theVolusia County Medical Society, I had helped to develop a healthclinic for the non-insured and worked there gratis every Mondayevening after a full day of work at the Veterans Clinic.This particular trip was different. Remembering my days of flounderingSpanish trying to play doctor on little Mexican children outin the country while I was in medical school in Guadalajara, I wasgenuinely looking forward to seeing how much medical Spanish Ihad retained. When confronted with the smiling faces of the dearchildren living in the dirt — some with no shelter, no running water,and few clothes — it did not take long to gain their trust with smilesand hugs and colorful stickers.The Luke World Mission had established a school and health clinic,with this particular clinic being built and the plan of care for theindigent people being overseen by family physician David Yoon,MD, of Ormond Beach, Florida, and his wife, Florence Yoon, DDS.Half of the clinic was for the medical care, and the other half wasequipped for dental. The Yoons had made arrangements to start havingdental students rotate at the clinic, and a new physician, who hadjust graduated from medical school in Honduras, would work to seethe patients with medical problems.However, they could not take care of all the medical and dentalneeds in this area of the country, which is why volunteers were“recruited” to help during the health fair. Each of the doctors wasgiven a room with plenty of light from the tall windows, but noscreens. Flies, flies and more flies, but only the Americans battedthem away. The little children thought it quite amusing to see usflailing our arms in the air trying to squash those pesky critters.My room did not have water, although I had a nice sink. The waterpipe was not hooked up, so I used antimicrobial hand wash. Itserved the purpose.The patients started arriving, and for three days, I did not think theywould stop. Most of them were women with four or five children.They almost all had the same problems — parasites and rashes. Wesaw a few men and some older women who had never seen a doctorbefore. I had two exam tables in my room, and by the third day, mydaughter Brook, a first-year medical student at the time, finally hadto play doctor like I had so many years ago. At least she had takenSpanish in school, and, being younger, the little children really tookto her while she said funny things to them during examinations.We toured some poverty-stricken areas that only are found in thirdworldcountries, and, yes, you come away from such an experiencefeeling so grateful for all that our country has to offer. We felt veryhumbled by what we had experienced that week, and the nightbefore we all left, we had a testimonial session explaining to eachother how we had been affected.Upon return from our mission, I overheard someone say to a memberof our group, “Why bother? There are so many poor people allover the world, and you can’t help everyone.” True, but my daughterand I reflected on one of our favorite stories we read in the ChickenSoup for the Soul series. As a child picked up one of the numerousstarfish washed up on the beach, a passerby inquired, “Why does itmatter? There are so many.” To which the child replied, “It mattersto that one,” as she tossed it beyond the breaking waves.14