Spreading Saint Mary’s Mission Overseas
Over winter break of their junior year, Lauren Burnett ’18 and Melissa Montes ’18 traveled to Tanzania for a week with MEDLIFE, a non-profit organization based in Lima, Peru. The acronym stands for Medicine, Education, and Development for Low Income Families Everywhere. Thankfully, both students were able to make this trip happen with the help of MEDLIFE’s fundraising program.
Along with other college students from across the country, Burnett and Montes set up mobile clinics much like a pop-up doctor’s office within a small village. There were volunteers in different stations to take vitals, run the pharmacy, and to teach kids how to learn how to brush their teeth. Later that week a small group went to a project site to build a sanitary bathroom for a school.
Although this was not the first time both students traveled abroad, their prior experiences left them with wanderlust and a desire to serve. Burnett traveled to Rome, Italy fall semester of 2015. She became president of the Saint Mary’s MEDLIFE chapter.
Burnett revealed what she took away from her recent travels, “I loved the whole experience. I made new friends and [loved] working with the kids. [And] being able to go out to see the rural side of Africa not many people get to see. The people were so welcoming and friendly.”
Montes traveled to Puerto Rico fall semester of 2015. As the trip coordinator for the Saint Mary’s MEDLIFE chapter, she expressed the most rewarding aspect of her trip, “My favorite part was being hands on with the community. I loved watching the people get the care they needed and how appreciative they were and such joy in their hearts despite their poverty. Seeing them open their hearts to us helped me open my heart.”
Burnett, a business major with a concentration in marketing, now considers the possibility of working for a non-profit. “Saint Mary’s advocates independent women and by traveling to Africa myself has given me more confidence to step outside of my comfort zone.”
Montes, a biology major, spoke about how her studies helped her understand the patient diagnoses and what it means to be a Saint Mary’s student, “While shadowing doctors, they specified different symptoms and I got to utilize my knowledge with what the doctors were doing. In a spiritual aspect, I think that Saint Mary’s mission embodies service and being able to go to a different location offers me the opportunity to live out that mission.”
Burnett and Montes want the Saint Mary’s community to know about the enriching experiences Saint Mary’s has to offer not only through study abroad programs, but also through various clubs and organizations.
Montes said, “I want people to know about the organization and the work that MEDLIFE does. They are a small organization that helps thousands of people with their healthcare needs. MEDLIFE is culturally sensitive to the people they are caring for and seek to provide lasting care beyond volunteer weeks.”
Burnett stressed that becoming involved with MEDLIFE isn’t just for biology or nursing students. “MEDLIFE is not only for people in the medical field, and it’s a good way to gain cultural experiences.”
