Wall to Wall Madness

This past weekend, the team spent Friday evening and the better part of Saturday at Katie's parents' house painting the family room upstairs. Her parents had been kind enough to offer us the job in exchange for making a contribution to trip fundraising efforts, and so began twenty four hours of wall to wall madness!

While our collective array of artisanal acumen might not leave us with any jobs as home contractors, we had a grand old time stripping the wallpaper, priming the wall, and--after much anticipation--actually painting the wall. The amateur craftsmen among the readership will be interested to know that Katie's parents opted for an ecru color scheme with a textured finish-- très magnifique! Whilst painting, the team enjoyed the special talents of Wade's ability to remove entire sheets of wallpaper without tearing them and Nishina's trowel strokes of genius. We learned that Josh has an obsession with moonlight. We even filmed a montage scene where we laughed and flung paint all over one another while the song "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" played on the radio. OK, that last part was a joke!

For our efforts, Katie's parents contributed a monetary donation to our trip fund--thank you! Special thanks also go out to UTHSCSA Haiti trippers Krista, Tiffany, and Matt, as well as Ethiopia friend Shushan, for their generous donation of time and labor over the three day weekend.

Myra

Hey everyone and thanks for visiting our page! I’m excited to be a part of the team this year and hope that you’ll keep following us here. My name is Myra Liu. I was born in Houston, TX; raised in Arlington, TX – conveniently the home of the ORIGINAL Six Flags, Ballpark in Arlington (Texas Rangers), and now the Cowboys Stadium. I graduated from Princeton University, additionally the alma mater to Woodrow Wilson, Brooke Shields, and Michelle Obama (and Ed!). After several years of enjoying the Northeast, but wondering why I was so far from home, I came back to Texas and have been fortunate enough to begin my studies this year at UTHSCSA’s medical school.

Although I have never been on an international missions trip, I am looking forward to the opportunity of providing health resources and care to the people of rural Ethiopia. One of the reasons I chose to become a doctor was simply to help others. “Others” does not merely mean the people within my community, but rather people everywhere. Furthermore, I believe it is important that I, coming from a wealthy, resource rich nation, help those in less developed nations. At the same time, I know there is much to learn from them, especially how to improvise with what little is available. I believe that what I learn, see, and experience in Ethiopia will be things that will help me better care for my patients in the future.

After a year of sitting in a classroom and learning through books, it will be exciting to be able to apply my knowledge to real world situations. Right now, medical school is filled with listening to lectures, cramming details, and staring at PowerPoint slides. At times, I find myself zoning out during class and wondering why I’m putting myself through seemingly endless hours of studying, but then I remember the real goal of becoming a doctor: service to others and making their lives better. That’s what makes all of this worthwhile.

Matt!

Hey Yall!

Thanks for choosing to help support our team's effort in providing healthcare to underserved Ethiopia. I really don't do much in the way of blogs or even facebook for that matter so I hope this comes out well. Well....my name is Matt Murrell and I am a native San Antonian. I went to high school at Health Careers, undergrad at UTSA, and now am blessed to be attending medical school at UTHSCSA. Before coming to med school, I worked for a year as a high school teacher at Reagan.

Medical school has been a challenging yet fun experience. One aspect that I love the most about our school is all the wonderful service opportunities provided to the students. Going to Ethiopia is just one of many places that our school reaches. Out of all the possible trips I could apply to be apart of, Ethiopia was my top choice. I am so blessed I was picked to go on this and can not wait to spend 3 1/2 weeks with 7 other awesome classmates. One of the reasons I want to go to Ethiopia is because I believe that as a future physician I must learn to share my knowledge, skills, and compassion with those who are in underservered areas.

During our trip to Ethiopia we will get to put to use all the countless hours of studying. Not only will we utilize our skills learned in lab but we will also get to experience what it is to truly care for the patient and the joy of a patient's smile and laughter. I hope that ya'll will follow as we continue to post more information on important fundraisers to help us to treat as many people in Ethiopia as possible. From the mission trips I have done before, I know that by the end of this trip that we will have learned and gained much, MUCH more than we will have given to the people of Ethiopia.

Edward

Hello friends!

Thanks for visiting the Ethiopia 2010 web log. While I have dabbled before as an amateur writer, this is my first venture into the blogosphere as an author, and I am excited to share with you all what promises to be an amazing experience.

My name is Edward Shipper AKA Shredward, and I was born in the District of Columbia. Within months, my family moved to Houston, TX, and that is where I spent my formative years growing up. Upon graduating from high school, I matriculated at Princeton University, alma mater to James Madison, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and David Duchovny, and convenient launch pad to the Jersey Shore. In college, I majored in history, concentrating especially on the early American period from the ratification of the Constitution up to the Civil War. Despite my passion in the pursuit of a true liberal arts education, I managed to make time to complete my pre-medical requirements, and thus I write to you now as a member of the first year class at the University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio (UTHSCSA) Medical School.

I am especially grateful for the opportunity to go to Ethiopia as a first year medical student and provide care to an underserved population. Fundamentally, I hope that I can leave Ethiopia knowing that I made a difference in someone's life. As an aspiring physician and also as a human being, I also think it is important to make efforts to become a cultured individual. I have never been to Africa, and to be honest, it is a place that I really don't know too much about. I would like to change that. I feel that being able to see how other people experience life is the best way to learn about the full range of the human condition.

Annie!

Hi everyone! Thanks so much for visiting our blog. As we prepare for this medical trip to Ethiopia, we are so excited that you are able to share this experience with us.

My name is Annie Lu; I was born in Taipei, Taiwan and moved to the US when I was very young. I grew up in Arlington, Texas and completed my undergraduate degree in Finance at Texas A&M University (whoop!). For a few years, I worked in a neuroscience lab at A&M, and though the experience was an amazing opportunity, I realized research was not in my future.

During the summer before medical school, I went overseas to Asia on a mission trip. This was an life-changing experience for me. Not only did I get to share God's gift with college students from another country, but He was also able to show me how mightily he can move and how much we need Him in our daily lives.

Now, I am extremely blessed to begin my first year in medical school in San Antonio! Although studying for classes can feel like torture, the best part of it has been getting through each day with God's strength. Because of Him, I have been able to meet the most caring friends at school, find a good fellowship and church, and have started to really enjoy my life as a medical student. Most importantly, I am constantly reminded of the main reason why I came to medical school - and that is to serve others. This is why I am excited to travel to Ethiopia this summer to help one of the most insufficient and lacking health care systems in the world.

I believe that all of us are here because of a specific purpose. Once we find that purpose, we should pursue it as hard and as passionately as we can. Our team is passionate about improving lives of our future patients, and for this summer, it will be the patients we will see in Ethiopia.

We thank you for spending the time to get to know our team better and for any help you are able to provide.


"Then the King will say... ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’

Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ "
- Matthew 25:34-40

Wade

Hello everyone,

Thank you so much for coming to check out our blog and showing your support. My name is Wade Murray and I also will be going to Ethiopia this summer. I spent the early years of my life growing up in Seattle, but moved to Pflugerville (just north of Austin) during my freshman year of high school. I attended UT Austin for undergrad and I am now lucky enough to find myself here in Medical School in San Antonio.

Medical School has been fun... and extremely challenging so far, but I am enjoying every second. A couple months ago the 1st year students were presented with many opportunities to pursue over the summer such as research programs, preceptorships, and many volunteering opportunities. Any of these would be a great experience and help me farther my medical experience, but the reason that I chose this trip to Ethiopia was because I believe the work we will do over there will greatly help those who need help the most. I know we will not be able to change everyone's life or circumstance during our short trip, but to me, any life that I can affect in a positive way is an awesome opportunity. I am truly looking forward to the chance to provide healthcare to those who would otherwise receive none.

Many of the other members on the team have done medical mission trips like this to other parts of the world during there undergraduate careers and have had wonderful experiences doing so. Unfortunately, I did not get to. I think that is another reason why I am so excited about this trip. I am ready to head out there and start learning as much as I can about practicing medicine, the Ethiopian culture, traditions and way of life. I know that it will be the experience of a lifetime.

Nishina

My name is Nishina Thomas and I am also one of the eight MS1's heading to Ethiopia in just a few months. I was born in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, raised in Sugar Land, Texas and graduated from Boston University with a degree in Human Physiology. I am glad to be back in the great state of Texas for medical school here in San Antonio!

First of all, I feel honored and blessed to have this opportunity--the opportunity to serve a community rich in culture yet lacking in healthcare resources, to travel with seven inspiring classmates, and to integrate my expanding medical knowledge with practical use. My interest for participating in this outreach project stems from a unifying factor within our group, that is, the need for healthcare in underprivileged communities. There is no doubt that underprivileged communities exist within our own cities and towns here in the United States, but I believe that witnessing the insufficient care available in a developing country will enable us as first year medical students to get outside of the clinical exposure restricted to our "backyard." I have been to Nicaragua for a similar medical mission trip in the past, but as an undergraduate student trying to figure out if and why I wanted to be a physician (photo above is our first patient Santiaga). Now that I am on my way to becoming one, I feel a greater sense of responsibility to sustain the drive that led me to choose this profession.

As I spend endless hours studying textbooks, attending lectures, and dissecting cadavers I find the need to keep the big picture in mind--serving people with healthcare. I look forward to our Ethiopia trip because we will be doing just that. Ultimately, I hope that this experience will allow me to provide unbiased and compassionate care when I do practice as a physician in the future.