"Yo tengo un Amigo que me Ama"

"In my lifetime I have experienced few days that I recall as life changing. Monday, March 19, 2012 was a day I will always remember and be forever grateful. The day, location, and mission affected me profoundly and are permanently engraved on my heart. I was a member of a team whose mission was to serve remote villages in central Honduras. Our team representing the Friends of Barnabas Foundation consisted of fourteen North Americans visiting for a week and Central Americans who call Honduras home. We were a mountain medical team. We serve by providing medical services but most importantly we serve with heart.  A team working together to care, teach, and support. We traveled to select communities in need to provide primary and preventative healthcare. The communities welcomed us graciously into their lives, homes, schools, and churches. We set up stations which included anti-parasite, vitamin A, general medicine, eye, and dental. Our medical team was greeted at our first mountain village with a large sign that said “Welcome American Medical Team”. We were not only welcomed; we were embraced by the villagers. With great pride, they smiled, had children present pledges and song, hugged us warmly, feed us, prayed for us, and enriched our lives!  While we were traveling to the first village, we learned a worship song in Spanish. In each village after introductions were made and details of the clinic explained we sang “Yo tengo un Amigo que me Ama” (I have a friend who loves me..His name is Jesus) as a team. Everyone joined in! What a beautiful way to start the day with our newest family members! 

I arrived in Honduras without expectations. Less than three years ago, I completed a career change and became an RN. My desire for my first medical mission experience was to listen, learn, and serve. On Sunday, we prepared the supplies and inventory required for Monday. This preparation sparked a mixture of feelings that I cannot adequately describe: joy, fear, excitement, and the awareness of much needed grace. On Monday morning we left early to provide care to our first village. The drive was beautiful and breath-taking. When I say breath-taking, I don’t just mean the vistas but the road or lack thereof! Our road ended in the heart of the village. I looked out of the window of our trusty school bus and saw hundreds of people smiling and waving.  Off we went to set up our stations! I was assigned to the general medical team. I was supported and encouraged by a nurse who has served on many previous mountain medical teams. She graciously allowed me to set up my station next to her so I could ask questions and learn as I watched her serve the community. My job was to apply nursing skills to access, listen, and provide care. In the US, I provide care to adults who have had general and orthopedic surgery but in Honduras I was to serve all ages. The day was filled with miracles. I was amazed at how a group of virtual strangers became a close team. A team who served with strength and joy among new people, culture, and surroundings. One of the first patients I met was an elderly woman, almost ninety. This woman was amazing! The translator communicated what medical concerns she had but the most important message she wanted to share with me was that she had great faith. She said she knew God would provide healing in her village today and she wanted to pray for me and our team. As she lives alone with no income, she lives her life with the certainty of God’s power, love, and provision. A senora I will never forget.  

Each day we visited a different village. We became faster at set up but nothing was routine. Greeting each person, family, and village was like a breath of life, each encounter remarkable and unforgettable.  We were fortunate to provide care to everyone requesting medical attention in each village. At the end of the week, the medical clinic team had served 998 patients. Many had never seen a healthcare professional. As a team we identified concerns in children that would require additional care. The Friends of Barnabas organization will continue to follow and support patients and communities in need. The generous, organized, and ongoing care provided by the organization greatly increases the value of our mission. We may have provided a drop of service but our drop starts the ripple of hope, love, and care sustained and nourished by many.

My career as a nurse pales in description to my experience as healthcare volunteer. I arrived with a heart to serve and was humbled by the great love and acceptance I received. It was a privilege to explore a new country, fall in love with its people, and learn. 

How does this affect life now? If I could I would be sending this note from Honduras! I count the minutes to return but while I wait my heart to serve has been refreshed and renewed. I am a nurse. I am blessed with the opportunity to serve, encourage, teach, and provide hope daily. As wonderful as it was to serve villages in Honduras, where I am right now matters. I am thankful for One Nurse at a Time for choosing to compassionately serve people and provide much needed resources both financial and informational. The seeds they plant and nurture bring life to lasting change. "


Robin Phillips, RN

The Nine Days I Spent in Haiti Changed My Life!

Beth Langlais, RN traveled with Christian Medical and Dental Association to Haiti March 17 - 25, 2012.  Here is her story: 


"The nine days I spent in Haiti completely changed my life. I went with a team of general physicians, dentists, a pediatrician, chiropractor, physical therapist, pharmacist, and opthalmologist.  In total, there were 34 volunteers. We also partnered with a local Haitian physician and dentist. We set up clinics in a school and church in St. Marc. I worked primarily in triage, routing patients to the proper medical personnel for treatment. I also learned a few Creole phrases by the end of the week.  Over a period of five days, we treated over 1,500 patients. We primarily treated women, children, and the elderly. I saw a lot of skin infections, wound infections, high blood pressure, uncontrolled diabetes, malnutrition in children, gastro-intestinal issues, and blindness. We also treated several patients with active TB.

I most enjoyed working in triage. It was extremely stressful and exhausting, but it was where I had the most contact with the Haitian people. I learned the Haitian people are very kind and that they desperately need access to adequate medical services. I work in labor and delivery in Seattle and in Haiti, I had to use nursing skills that I had not performed in seven years (since I graduated nursing school). The trip really opened my eyes to the grim reality of healthcare services in the developing world. The conditions Haitians live in are appalling. Most people had no access to running water and proper sanitation. Garbage and rubble overflow in the streets. Many of the patients we treated were living in tents or crudely manufactured shanty homes and walked miles to the clinic. Most people were very nice and appreciative of the care we provided, even though they often had to wait in line for several hours to be treated and we weren’t always able to provide the services they wanted.

The hardest part was when we had to turn people away that needed treatment. We were forced to close early two days because the crowd outside they clinic rioted and tried to break down the door. We also saw patients who needed care that was beyond our capabilities, such as severe gangrene and advanced cancer. It was incredibly difficult to deal with not being able to treat them effectively and to provide the advanced care they needed. It broke my heart. I worked with one three-year old boy who had a severe eye infection. His eyes were extremely swollen and full of pus. We were unable to lay him down flat to examine him fully, because the pressure in his head was too great. The Haitian people had pushed him to the front of the line so that he could be treated first. We were able to give his mother antibiotic eye drops, but he most likely needed surgery to have both eyes removed. We provided his mother with money and transportation to Port-au-Prince so that he could be treated properly. I will never forget his face or the sound of his cries.

This medical mission truly impacted my life. I loved the time I spent in Haiti and working with the Haitian people. I can’t wait to go back and do more work there. The trip confirmed my desire to work in international nursing. I plan to participate in several trips a year from this point on in my life. I would never have been able to experience this trip if I had not received the scholarship from One Nurse At a Time. I am so grateful and thankful for the opportunity I had to travel to Haiti."

Beth Langlais, RN

Bethany Langlais is a Registered Nurse with a Bachelor’s degree in nursing from Seattle Pacific University. She has been working in labor and delivery for seven years. This June, Beth will complete her Master of Nursing degree, with an emphasis on global health, from the University of Washington, Bothell. She plans to work in the field of global health and pursue her desire to help improve the health of women and children worldwide. Bethany has volunteered on medical trips to New York and Costa Rica while in nursing school, but Haiti was her first international trip as an RN. She is active locally and has volunteered in her community working with local youth as a mentor and healthy living coach. Bethany's passions include the outdoors, running, travel, and caring for pregnant women.

Allison Godchaux, FNP heads to Ecuador!

Allison Godchaux is preparing to leave for Bahia de la Caraquez, Ecuador with Healing the Children. The group will be performing an estimated 100+ pediatric surgeries. Because Allison is bilingual, she plans on working between operating rooms, assisting with what is needed, troubleshooting problems as they occur, and overseeing the recovery room.


Allison Godchaux is a family nurse practitioner, in Kansas, at la Clinica Medica, and LifeWorks Wellness Center.  She received her Master’s of Nursing degree at the University of Kansas Medical Center,  Bachelor’s of Nursing degree at California State University, Sacramento.   She enjoys her family, outdoor activities, and bicycling.   Every year she rides her bicycle 150-180 miles, to raise money for the Multiple Sclerosis Society.
Allison has been part of a project vaccinating cats and dogs against rabies in Ecuador, with Los Amigos de las Americas;  worked in an orphanage in Mexico,  with Los Nuestros Pequenos Hermanos;  and worked in Ecuador, with Healing the Children, as a recovery room nurse for children receiving cleft lip and cleft palate repair.  
Allison has served in the United States Naval Reserve for 13 years as a Hospital Corpsman, with the Fleet Marine Force, and Naval Cargo Battalions.