We Are Not Alone

Volunteer nursing students help out with Nueva Vida Clinic health fair September 20th.

I hate feeling alone.

For me, feeling like I’ve got no one to help me is the worst feeling in the world.

But when I’ve got people by my side, I feel like we can face anything together.

Maybe that’s why I love health fair days at the Nueva Vida Clinic so much. Because everyone is in it together, and there is a solution for everything.

Last Friday we had 35 staff members and volunteers working to treat hundreds of patients in general medicine, gynecology, dentistry, dental hygiene, psychology and nursing; doing lab exams, PAPs and EKGs.

Our staff, health promoters and nursing students were in all-hands-on-deck mode. giving out numbers, checking in patients, pointing them in the right direction.

When someone was missing a piece of equipment, another would rush to get it to them. When there was a question, a quick volley of voices found the answer. When the dental room began to flood, a temporary fix was improvised to get through the day until we can move the dental chair and dig up the floor to figure out where the leak is coming from.

Each time I walked through the waiting room or enter an exam room I saw smiles, laughter, a hand on a shoulder, a comforting word. Our patients know that they are not alone, we are in this together to help them get what they need.

This is also how I feel about our first-ever Fall Fundraising Campaign: We are not alone. YOU are in this with us.

Over the past few weeks, we have been writing emails, scheduling phone calls, posting and blogging about our work and where we want to be in 5 years…and you’ve been right there with us:

·         Former student leaders from generations of Bucknell Nicaragua Brigades have written and called their fellow alums.

·         Leaders from Lopez Island, Washington to Anchorage, Alaska have sent out pleas to their delegations over the past three decades.

·         Y’all have shared and reposted on Facebook & Instagram.

·         So many of you have gotten in touch! We are thrilled to talk with old friends, we’ve teared up reading emails, and feel honored that the people of Nicaragua are so important to you.

We are not alone. You are with us.

This week is the exciting conclusion of our fall fundraiser…As of today, we have raised $39,695 = 79% of our goal!

With help from a generous supporter, your donations up to $10,000 are matched through midnight on Monday September 30.

With your help, together we can reach our goal.

Thank you for being by our side!

-Becca, for us all