FLAMBOROUGH - A little thing like a live volcano didn’t get in the way of a recent mission trip for Greensville resident Amber Kosubovich.
The operator of Waterdown Physiotherapy recently returned from Ecuador, where she spent a week with Medical Ministry International (MMI) assisting upwards of 20 patients each day. Originally, the team was slated to work in the Amazon region, but Mother Nature had other ideas.
“Where we were supposed to go, the volcano started erupting and caused a landslide, and so they had to quickly scramble to change the location because they didn't think it was safe for us to go there,” explained Kosubovich.
The team was redirected to La Merced, which is about a 45-minute drive from Ecuador’s capital city, Quito. There, they stayed at a base camp where the clinic was held on one of the days; on each of the other days, they travelled to a different village in the region.
“That way, we got to see as many people as possible, because it was different communities,” said Kosubovich.
This was Kosubovich’s fourth mission with MMI, and her second trip to Ecuador - the first time, in 2016, she was joined by her daughter Natalya. She’s also done MMI missions to Peru, and she and Natalya participated in a Youth with a Mission (YWAM) trip to El Salvador in 2018, where the focus was on helping children and youth.
As on previous trips, Kosubovich packed most of her own belongings in a carry-on; her checked bag was stuffed full of medical gear and other items she had collected to distribute in Ecuador.
“You're allowed to have up to 23 kilograms. I had like 22 and a half kilograms of donations,” she said. “It was all gently used braces that people gave, and over the counter medication and some little toys. I left all of that with them. And I was able to personally give out more than 20 braces that people had donated, knee braces, wrist braces, elbow braces, that kind of stuff.”
In La Merced, the MMI team was small; Kosubovich worked alongside a local doctor and an American nurse, a couple of interpreters and a small team of volunteers.
“They call it integrated health,” she explained, noting she would write her physio instructions on the patient’s form and they’d then take it to another volunteer for further information.
“When they show up, there's a volunteer that registers them, gets their name and age and why they're coming. Then they go to the nurse who does their vitals,” said Kosubovich. “And then they see either the doctor or myself, or both.”
If medications are prescribed, the patients waiting for their prescriptions can learn healthy practices like proper handwashing and nutrition, or get counselling from a pastor or psychologist, if needed.
“The children will get a fluoride treatment, and then they'll leave with their 30-day supply of whatever medication was prescribed. It's pretty well organized,” said Kosubovich.
In addition to the usual travel woes, such as racing to catch a connecting flight, being careful to stay healthy, or rain that lasted for days, working on a mission trip poses some additional challenges, says Kosubovich.
“The hardest thing is sometimes there's very sad stories,” she said.
While in La Merced, she met a family caring for a young man in his 20s who was assaulted and suffered skull fracture about 18 months ago.
“Now he requires total care by his mother and sisters, and they have to carry him. He's in a wheelchair and they live on the third floor with no elevator,” said Kosubovich, noting they brought the young man to her to make sure they were doing the proper exercises.
“They just wanted to know if there was anything else they should be doing,” she said. “And that was hard, because he would have probably had better care here in Canada and gone to rehabilitation. And there wasn't a lot that I could offer, other than to reassure them that they were doing a great job.”
But all of those challenges are offset by the highlights, says Kosubovich, including the chance to connect with professionals from other parts of Canada and the United States.
“I met this nurse from the U.S. for the first time, and he and his wife have done a few trips together, and they're planning to do more when they retire. It's great, because you get to meet a lot of different people. And we just didn't talk politics at all.”
And then, there are the personal benefits.
“I feel like I'm giving back, but also it fills my cup,” said Kosubovich. “I come home feeling like I made a difference. So that's why I like to go.”
