In December 2016, I traveled as a medical volunteer to Uganda, a small country located in eastern Africa. As a premed student at Suffolk University in Boston, I chose to do a service trip on my own as an opportunity to experience global healthcare as well as to get some clinical hours which are required in order to apply to medical schools.

I traveled with an organization known as FIMRC, which stands for The Foundation for International Medical Relief of Children. FIMRC is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing modern medical care to disadvantaged families worldwide. The FIMRC facility is located in a mountainous and remote region called the Bududa district in northern Uganda.

During my month-long stay I lived among locals in Bushika village. Each day I worked to provide free medical care to children and their families. The clinic lacked much of the modern technology we are accustomed to in medical facilities in the United States, but despite the lack of certain technology, the clinic successfully served hundreds of local villagers each day.

Services provided by the clinic included everything from primary care check-ups to prenatal and post-natal care for mothers. Each day I had a new experience in healthcare. Sometimes I would work in the lab, pricking fingers for blood samples to test for diseases such as HIV, malaria, syphilis and even pregnancy. Other days I would help in the diagnosis room doing charting and maintaining patient files. Occasionally I would dress wounds and help stitch severe injuries in the wound care station.

My favorite work was in what we called the MCH, the maternal care station. In the MCH, I did everything from meeting with expectant mothers for check-ups to teaching about family planning options. During my second week volunteering, I was able to assist midwives with the birth of a beautiful baby boy.

Besides working in the clinic, I also went on outreach programs. I hiked up into the mountains with a group of staff to do home visits and spread the word about our services at the clinic. While I was volunteering, FIMRC was in the middle of its cleft palette program which provides an opportunity for children with cleft palettes to receive surgery completely paid for by FIMRC.

I met children who had completed the cleft palette program, talked to mothers who had recently delivered at our clinic and met orphaned children who are cared for by FIMRC staff. The orphaned child program that FIMRC runs in Uganda helps provide food, shelter and clothing to vulnerable children living in the community.

On top of working in the clinic and experiencing global healthcare, I was also able to make lifelong friends and explore the beautiful country of Uganda. On the list of cool things I have done at the age of 20, I can now add that I helped deliver a baby, whitewater rafted down the Nile River and saw some of the last mountain gorillas living in Africa.

I am very thankful for the amazing opportunity I had as well as the incredible support I received from my community, especially the Gorham Recreation Department. I worked for Gorham Rec as a summer camp counselor for four years and the staff has always been a wonderful support system for me, particularly when it came to getting the word out about fundraising for FIMRC Uganda, as well as donating 80 brand new t-shirts in all sizes for the locals in Uganda.

If you would like the opportunity to volunteer or support FIMRC’s work around the globe, please consider visiting their website.