Sharing is a big part of caring, according to MEDLIFE.
Students from MEDLIFE, an organization that organizes international trips with students to bring mobile clinics to low-income areas, will share their experiences about their trip to Ecuador during MedTales on March 31 at 8:30 p.m. at the Commons pagoda.
Twenty-eight students from MEDLIFE, an acronym for Medicine, Education and Development for Low-Income Families, went to Ecuador over spring break.
MEDLIFE brought a clinic to several different villages in Ecuador during the trip, providing free healthcare to the residents. Students assisted doctors, dentists, obstetricians and gynecologists at each clinic. They also renovated a clinic.
Sujay Kamisetty, junior biology major and president of MEDLIFE at NSU, said that some patients he helped on the trip to Ecuador had never taken medication or were never seen by a doctor.
“It’s a privilege to be able to witness that for the first time and help them go through that experience,” Kamisetty said. “That, in itself, is an enlightening experience.”
At MedTales, MEDLIFE will collect donations for the MEDLIFE Project Fund, which supports community development projects, patient follow-ups and educational programming.
Kamisetty said that a big part of MEDLIFE trips is educating the volunteers about circumstances in other countries.
“We want students to be enlightened as to the poverty and healthcare struggles that are everywhere and come back as different individuals who want to make a difference in their local community, knowing what it’s like everywhere else in the world,” he said.
Nadia Siddiqi, sophomore biology major and fundraising and events chair for MEDLIFE, said hearing stories from peers has a powerful impact.
“On the news, you’ll hear stories about poverty, but hearing someone telling personal stories affects you more,” Siddiqi said.
Siddiqi said that parts of the trip hadn’t felt real to her.
“All the problems that I had before, everything that I would complain about, doesn’t even compare to what I saw there,” she said. “It’s very distinct that there are two different worlds: one of poverty and one of privilege. It’s easy to brush off.”
Kamisetty said that the number of students going on MEDLIFE trips has increased. He said that MEDLIFE isn’t just for medical students, even though a lot of people think that it is.
“We weren’t going for spring break,” he said. “We were going to become people driven to make a change in their own communities. The people who came back on that flight from Ecuador were completely changed individuals.”
Kamisetty said that he plans to share some of his experiences at MedTales, but his main goal is to initiate conversations.
“At MedTales, we want to share our experiences with everyone, reflect on what’s happened, find the moment that clicked inside of us and made that difference, and share that with as many people as possible,” Kamisetty said.
Kamisetty said he believes that it’s almost an obligation to go to other countries and provide help.
“Here, everything is given to you,” he said. “In all these other third-world countries, everything is just a dream.”
For more information about MEDLIFE or MedTales, contact Kamisetty at sk1046@nova.edu.
Photo Credit. S. Kamisetty
