Medicine that can Touch the World

It was an early Sunday morning, the second day of my missionary journey, and I kept telling myself, “Keep walking. I know it's been at least five miles, but just keep walking." We were following a little girl, around eight years old to find her mother, who was said to be very ill with her little sister. After about six or seven miles, we finally made it to a small community village in the town of Atenas. Since we were strangers, the villagers surrounded us, curiosity flashing across their face as though they had never seen Americans or “white people” before. They whispered to their families and friends around them the questions on their face seemed apparent: who are you and why are you here? 

The little girl escorted us to her home: four pieces of tarp to make four walls, and a ripped tarp overhead to act as a roof. In their home, they had wooden bowls on a clay mound (that I assume was their table), dirty rag dolls on the floor, and several clothing items hung across a metal rod. As I reached the mother, I noticed that she was wearing clothing that was very worn in comparison to what her children were wearing. I examined her and her one-year old infant and came to the conclusion that she either had some sort of harsh bacterial infection or a viral infection. I had only been in nursing school for a year and I did not know how to identify different infections and diseases quite as quickly as many others back at camp could have. 

 The doctor back at camp had refused to walk this far because he did not think that an eight-year-old child would understand what medicine is and brushed her off. He told me good luck and that he hoped I had some band-aids because the walk we were about to make would leave blisters on my feet for weeks. I pushed his comment aside and did what I thought was best. The reason I was down there was not for my convenience, but for the people of Costa Rica. So once we arrived, I and the translator with me had to make the decision to give this woman and her child the best medical care that I could give that was also in my scope of practice. I gave small prayer that I was doing the right thing and that I wouldn’t cause more harm to this lady and her baby. The translator gave her my instructions and we sat and talked about Jesus for the remainder of the stay.  

It amazed me that this community had never heard of Jesus Christ or ever touched a bible. I was trained to teach the little children how to sing “Jesus loves me” in Spanish, and I sat with the little girl and sang with her and the translator taught her and her mother a small piece of the Gospel. Right before we departed, I looked down and saw a coin in the dust and picked it up and saw that it was on heads. I smiled and gave it to her and told her that if we find a coin on heads in the United States, it means we have good luck and gave it to her. I turned and headed out to start my six mile trek back. It was hard to leave them and not know how things would end up and leaving them in the conditions that they were living in was beyond heartbreaking. But I knew God was with me and that somehow, I knew I was doing the right thing.  

Two weeks after my encounter, it was my last week in my country and I was out in a rural market area by myself looking at all of the different tourist gifts that I could buy. I wanted to bring something home that would be cool to share with my family and friends that would also remind me of my journey. I knew that when I went home, I would be upset about leaving and if I had something physical to remind me of what I experienced in Costa Rica, it would give me happiness on the days that I missed it. I always remembered that when I went on trips back at home, buying something special always made me feel like I was bringing back the happiness I had felt when I was there. 

 And as I was looking around, I saw a lady with a baby in her arms smile and wave at me. I didn’t know who she was, but I figured it was one of the thousands of people I had worked with for the past three weeks, so I smiled, waved and turned back around. I found what I wanted and went to the front of the market to pay and out of nowhere, I got the biggest hug from behind that I had ever felt. It was the little girl from two weeks prior. She had tears in her eyes and pulled my hand toward her mother, and indeed, it was the lady with the ill infant from earlier. She knew I couldn’t understand her and so she just pointed to her mother and hugged me again. Her mother took a complete turn around in her health, making it known to me that the care I gave had worked for her. I then remembered that I had a Spanish bible in my bookbag that I wanted to take home with me. But at that time, I knew that it would be in much better hands with this family, who could appreciate it and use it.  

I knelt down and gave it to the little girl and she had a question on her face and began singing the song I taught her as if she was asking if this was what we had talked about. I smiled and nodded and her mother gasped and hugged me, saying “thank you” over and over again in Spanish. She then reached in her back pocket and handed me a coin, the same coin I found in her home, and said in English, “Good luck”. Her and her little girl both hugged me, and they made their way back. It was only then that I realized that even though I helped that family medically, they also helped me emotionally. They gave me what I needed in life, a change in heart to recognize that we don’t need something physical to make us happy. I wanted to find something to take back home to remind me of my happiness in Costa Rica but hope, love and appreciation was the best thing I got from my experiences and the reminder of the people I helped was the best thing I could bring back.  

^{Stephanie Drake is a junior Nursing major. At Lander, she is a member of the Honors College, Alpha Chi Honors College, Lander University Student Nurses Association, and she is on the curriculum committee in Lander’s nursing school. Stephanie plans on graduating spring 2019 and her goal is to become a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist. Stephanie went on a medical mission trip in Costa Rica during the summer of 2017.}