To learn more about medicine in developing countries and to expand her medical knowledge is what made Jenna Cosentino, 20 years old from the USA, to volunteer in the Philippines through Projects Abroad.
She was a medical volunteer in the Cebu Provincial Hospital-Bogo City. Like any other volunteers, she also assisted the doctors and nurses and worked with volunteers in the hospital. In the morning, they made rounds, taking patients vital signs: blood pressure and temperature. Projects Abroad volunteers increase the productivity in the hospital as the volunteers are able to do some tasks while the doctors and nurses are still busy attending to the patients. She noticed that Projects Abroad helped in fixing the hospital to make it more appealing and clean. “While I was there Projects Abroad was working in the Pedia-ward and they re-painted some walls and ceiling and also replaced the doors of the comfort rooms. Many volunteers also donated supplies to the hospital. Two of my fellow volunteers and myself bought and donated 4 fans to the OB ward as there were no fans in there prior to that day , with the new babies and suffering from heat”, she said.
Jenna worked at the hospital starting from eight in the morning to three in the afternoon. Upon arriving in the morning, she accompanied a nurse or a fellow volunteer and took all of the patients’ vital signs. They checked if the patients’ blood pressure and temperature have change much from the day before and try to advise them what to do to try to make them better. She was able to assist in many departments at the hospital too. She enjoyed being in the delivery room as she was able to witness many deliveries, and also liked to be in the emergency room as it was always a surprise what she should see.
For her, she learned an immense amount of information during her short stay in the Philippines. From the way things were run in the hospital, to the way that the locals lived, to the stories shared over dinner with her host family. “From my first day in the Philippines, my host family made me feel right at home and as if I was a part of their family. My host brothers and sisters always made sure that I had everything that I needed and if there was anything that I needed they would accompany me into town and show me where to go to get what I needed”, Jenna said.
“One of my most memorable experiences in the Philippines was watching a mother gave birth and assisting the doctor and nurse in this process. I stood with the nurse while the baby was born and after the baby was born, I remember being the first to tell the woman that it was a little boy and the smile on her face was priceless. I was then able to assist in cleaning the baby and giving him his vaccinations and then carried him over to his mother. Seeing her face light up when she saw her son for the first time was priceless and a moment that I will never forget”, she added. Another one of her favourite moments was donating the fans to the OB ward with two fellow volunteers and seeing how happy the mothers were by being given by simple little fan was amazing and they knew right then how happy they had made them. Jenna loved how every single member of Bogo City community was so kind and welcoming and they all helped her to make Bogo feel like home to her. “I will forever miss the heart-warming smiles that I saw every day on the streets of Bogo and from my host family. For any other volunteers I would advise them to make most of their time, try new things and always keep an open mind! Your time in Bogo will fly but the memories will last forever”!
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Source: http://www.mytripblog.org/
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