On Caring

The question has been proposed at times, "How can a temporary mission like this really make a difference?" Even worse, how can 1-3 week whirlwind missions really provide any permanent medical change to communities and countries?
Do the medical visits, surgeries, preventative measures done by the USNS Mercy team really help anything?

The following story does have a point:
After the church service yesterday, one of the community announcements was regarding one of the Navy officers who had just lost her brother, and must return home.
At the end of the sermon, we sung a song about how we are cared for. Some lyrics:

And He walks with me, and He talks with me, And He tells me I am his own,
And the joy we share, as we tarry there,
None other has ever known.

After the song, she stood up, tearful, and shared her story:
Growing up, she lived on an island 2 miles by 16 miles long, much like some of the small islands we have been visiting. Her parents would be at work all day, and she and her brother would stay with her grandparents. There was no electricity, no television, a small handheld radio.
One day a "big American" came, and at their local school provided some basic dental work, pulling teeth, handing out toothbrushes, as our dentists during this mission have been doing.
And even though they didn't do any fancy surgeries, their visit changed her life and affected all the people on the island.
What made the difference wasn't so much the medical assistance, which was minimal, but was the knowledge that someone out there cared about her. The knowledge that there are people in another country who would travel such a long distance to come help their little island.

And so she said, even if you think you didn't do anything, even if you think we didn't make any grand changes, I am living proof that you did make a difference, by coming to help because you cared about these people.

In the end, it seems that I've been thinking about this all wrong. It's true, sometimes we can make a medical difference, and sometimes we can't. But there is isolation and hopelessness everywhere you look in the world. And perhaps one of the roles of a physician can be to bring some caring and hope to people who may have neither.


-ryan