USD President's Report 2001

Justice f Rom D awn Elders looked out upon an ocea n of hopeful African faces, and knew there was no way to help every one of them . So she waded in and pulled the most gravely ill from the multitude. Ten hours later, when darkness forced her mobile medical clinic to pull out of the vi ll age in Malawi, Afri ca, the ocean of thousands had shrunk - now it was mer ely the size of a sea. "Leaving is the hardest part, because you can always do more," says Elders, a nurse practition er stud ent at the Schoo l of Nu rsing. "You provid e as mu ch care and comfort as possible, and make a difference for as many people as you can ." When she has to move on, Elders tries to think about what is left behind by Proj ect Compassion, th e Christian medical missionary group she 's worked with for eight years. Last year, as they traveled among five remote villages in Malawi, Africa , medical team member s di spensed antibi otics, eyeglasses, health edu cation, spiritual enrichment and, as always, instructions for a local doctor who fo llows up on the most severe cases. Proj ect Compassion, wruch began with one-day clinics in Tijuana, Mex ico, now makes four international trips a year; Elders has been on nearly 20. The all-volw1teer staff of medical professionals, who pay their own travel expenses, can set up a clinic in less than 30 minutes and treat more than 2,000 peo pl e during each week-long expedition. Patients are assessed, educated about basic health care, examined, treated, and offered optiona l prayer and counseling. On the ,,,vay out , they pi ck up free prescriptions at a portable pharmacy where dosage instructions are written in a universal language-sun and moon symbols indicate when to take a pill. Working with local missionary groups of all denomina- tions, the 15- to 40-person teams go anywhere-the jungles of Columbia, Venezuela 's Amazon rain forest, the mountains of Nepal, refugee camps in Thailand - and car e for the forgotten and neglected. "We service the poorest of the poor, the people who often are unwanted even in their own countries," says Elders, who teaches nursing leadership at Point Loma Nazarene University and is a part-time "P EACF AND JUSTICE EXIST IN ASPECTS OF MOST SOCI ETIES, BUT MUCH MORF HUMANITARIAN AND SPIRITUAL WORK

ueaLINf; HaNDS hospice nurse. "But behind each body is a downtrodd en spirit we can lift up with a hug or a word of comfort. The ability to do that means I always feel like I receive more than I give ." Even so, the suffering sometimes is overwhelming. Eld ers' voi ce quavers as she talks about a r ecent trip to Romania, where young girls imported from Eastern Europe and Asia as prostitutes are dumped on the streets when they become pregnant or sick. The group usually stays out of politics, but Proj ect Compassion met with the country's health minister to push for a solution. "You can't be a compassionate person and not get angr y about injusti ce ," Elder s says. "The key is to put the anger asid e and work to let peopl e know there is hope ." Before Eld ers left Romani a, plans were m ade for a permanent clinic that Proj ect Compassion wi ll supply and staff with a rotating list of volunteers. The group also will pay local doctors' salari es with donated funds. At home, Elders talks up Proj ect Compassio n to everyone she meets , often inspiring others to volunteer. Sara Ojeda , a fell.ow USD nurse practitioner student, has been on several expeditions, including a recent trip to Belize. "Many of the people we treated hadn 't seen a doctor for years," Ojeda says . "The work makes me appreciate what I have and want to do whatever is within my ability to help others." Although the trips take th e place of vacations for Elders and husband Larry, also a Proj ect Compassion volw1teer, she says the experiences and opportunities to help are more r ejuvenating than any resort holiday. "My job puts food on the table," she says, "but the work with Project Compassion feeds my heart."

"BEHIND EACH BODY IS A DOWNTRODDEN

SPIRIT WE CAN LIFT UP WITH A HUG OR A WORD OF COMFORT. THE ABILITY TO DO THAT MEANS I ALWAYS

FEEL LIKE I RECEIVE MORE THAN I GIVE. "

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