Volunteer Story — Jenn McLaughlin
Hello, my name is Jenn, and in 2022 I traveled to Peru with Ed and his group to provide medical care in the jungle villages. I am an emergency nurse practitioner with a master’s in family medicine from the University of South Alabama. In my personal life, I love traveling and experiencing new cultures, with a goal to visit every country. The trip with Ed-Ventures in Missions and Amazon Promise gave me the opportunity to give back and explore.
In the emergency department, it becomes easy to lose the love of “caring for others.” You experience so much abuse of the system and resources that it can easily jade you. This trip to Peru was a huge eye-opener and allowed for a refresh and reset on why I became a nurse and nurse practitioner. The wonderful people of Peru were unbelievably thankful for our clinics and wanted nothing more than to be heard — and to receive vitamins.
It was amazing to see how close each village was and how they cared for each other. We set up our clinic in a new village each day, and every single one was so welcoming to our entire group. There were many memorable moments during our trip, but the children stand out the most — from the long lines to get their nails painted by our nurses, to kids running around with our sunglasses and glove balloons. These kids don’t have clean water, electricity, or any privileges of modern life, yet they were the happiest and most thankful children I have ever been around.
This was my first mission trip, so I didn’t know what to expect. It set the bar very high for future trips. I spent hours researching how to treat things like piranha bites, only to find that what they really needed was to be seen, to be heard, and to have our time. We were not rushed through each day or each family.
As the only female provider in our group (other than the Peruvian physician who accompanied us), I provided as much women’s care as I could. Many of these girls had never had pelvic exams, sex education, or someone they could ask personal questions to. I felt privileged to be that person for some of them. I was able to use a Doppler to let them hear their baby’s heartbeat for the first — and sometimes only — time during their pregnancy. While some exams revealed unfortunate findings, this allowed the girls to be referred to Nauta or Iquitos for further testing and possible care in larger cities. Without these exams, conditions such as cancer might not have been discovered until much later, if at all.
You learn quickly on these trips how much of a difference you can make, and it is incredibly rewarding.