“You can’t just sit and watch”
By Susan Yungbluth, Recovery room nurse
I first decided to accompany my husband Joe, a nurse anesthetist, on his second trip to Bangladesh because his stories from his first trip and the pictures he took were so riveting to me. I had to see for myself; I felt a draw to go and help the mission in whatever way I could.
Joe and I have always gotten more from the giving than the receiving. It sounds like a cliché but when you experience that feeling then you know it is not just a cliché. We have done other types of things like foster care and foreign exchange students and we have traveled a lot of the world. When you travel, you realize that there is a bigger world out there and people who need help. You can’t just sit and watch if you have the means and will to help. Once you do some of these things then the feeling becomes contagious and you want to do more if you can.
Going to Bangladesh makes you understand that there are degrees of human suffering, the likes of which people in the United States have never endured. It also makes you understand just how unimportant some things in life really are in the grand scheme of the world. Perhaps the biggest lesson for me is that you can have nothing and be happy!
There is not just one moment that makes a most memorable experience for me. The best part of the experience in working with Project Bangladesh is the interaction between people who come from such different world views but yet are alike. My most famous quote about my experience there is that “A mother is a mother - no matter in what country she is. I witness this every time we care for a child in Bangladesh. A mother worries for her child in any part of the world. It’s human instinct and we may not be able to communicate with words but we communicate that sentiment somehow.
Making a difference now, not later
By Joe Yungbluth, Nurse anesthetist
Why did I join Project Bangladesh? I felt I was at a stage in my life when I could give back to people something more than just money. I was hoping to be able to make a difference in the lives of those not as fortunate as myself. I had attempted surgical missions in the past but they never happened for one reason or another. I worked with Dr. Sobhan, who had gone on two prior missions using the services of two anesthesiologists from my group. I felt that this was right for me. I asked him about joining a trip, he agreed and I went to Bangladesh for the first time in January 2001 and again in November 2006, February 2008 and this last mission in March 2009. I found it to be extremely challenging and personally and professionally rewarding. To this date, I am not sure who gets more from each mission: the patients I provide anesthesia to, or myself. I guess I will just have to keep going until I can answer that question.