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Nursing the Tsunami Wound

Tamela Pugh would have never guessed that a normal Sunday church visit would have ended in a life-changing mission... but it did. On a travel assignment as a critical care nurse at Loma Linda Hospital in San Diego, Tamela attends service with a rather large congregation. Large enough that her pastor felt he had the resources to organize a relief mission to the Tsunami stricken areas of India.

The announcement was made one morning after 9 o'clock mass that medical professionals were needed for this two-week mission and anyone interested should call the church for more information. Tamela made the call and let her interest be known, but she knew there was one issue that had to be resolved before she could fully commit - work.

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Letting the pieces fall into place
Realizing that she was in the middle of a 13-week assignment, the fate of Tamela's relief mission rested in the hands of her nurse manager. Still, Tamela asked for the time off and before she could reconsider her request, her supervisor was telling her to have a safe trip.

With the time-off approved, next came the drive for funds. Being this was a completely voluntary mission, Tamela had to pay her own way. So out went the e-mail to all her friends and family asking to help in anyway they could. When she raised every dime needed, the signs became apparent that she was meant to be on this trip.

Doing good on the down low
Posed as a basic do-good assignment of helping those that need helping, volunteers were let in on the full details once they signed on the dotted line. As it turns out, it wasn't quite that simple... the problem being that India had closed off its borders to Tsunami medical relief. It was determined that the incoming medical aid was affecting the country's pharmaceutical industry and ultimately hurting the overall economy.

As a result, the church's efforts had to be labeled as aid to a bible institution and orphanage. Of course this wasn't a lie. The bible institute and orphanage was the first stop of the journey and it would serve as the volunteer "base camp." But selling this as their sole purpose for being in India would require a lot of convincing along the way. The group knew higher powers would have to be at work to make this mission a success.

As the saying goes... ask and you shall receive
As it turns out, Tamela and her colleagues had more than luck on their side. Carrying 16 large, 3ft x 2ft tubs of medical supplies, the first miracle of miracles happened before the group of volunteers ever left LAX. All 16 bins not only cleared customs unquestioned but they also got tagged to go straight through to India avoiding the standard customs check in Singapore.

Arriving almost two full days after leaving from Los Angeles, the group landed in India travel beaten and prepared for the worst. When they reached customs the tubs were waiting for them and the first six cleared almost as quickly as they did in the states. The remaining 10 were stopped at the door.

Before leaving for the mission, every individual making the trip was coached on what to say if this very incident occurred (being stopped by customs). But the customs agents keyed in on the weak link in the group and appropriately questioned the most timid traveler. She instantly forgot her instructions and in a panic, informed the military looking agents that she was unsure of the contents of the bin and that it could contain medical supplies. The group saw their mission going up in smoke.

Enter miracle of miracles number two. After several minutes of conversing amongst themselves, the leader of the customs agents requested the group's India contact. The group gave them the name of the pastor at the bible institution and orphanage. Upon calling the contact the customs leader discovered his own cousin was a member of the congregation. Once the common bond was established the remaining bins were cleared through customs without question.

Now for the hard part
Facing the intimidating customs agents turned out to be the easy part of the trip. What lay ahead on the groups journey was poverty and sickness that would humble the most hardened hearts. Tamela explains, "We witnessed a wide variety of medical problems from leprosy, appendicitis, an infant that quit breathing, aches and pains from sleeping directly on the sand. These people are living in tents without a floor and grass huts. A few still have their block houses standing but most lost their homes to the tsunami. Those fortunate enough to have had shoes, glasses and books, lost them to the huge waves. The fishermen are out of work because their boats were washed away."

The team of 20 volunteers saw 3,000 patients in five days, visiting 12 different villages - yet another miracle! For Tamela, it was one eye-opening experience after another. From the two hundred shoeless orphan girls that first greeted her to the children and adults she met in the villages she visited. Tamela shares that it's hard to take anything for granted anymore after seeing such devastating poverty.

Every day reminders of the privileged life we lead
Visiting the tsunami stricken areas of India will have Tamela re-examining the facts of her life for a long time. Like the fact that there are 20 million orphans in India - that's more people than in the entire state of California.

She'll be thinking twice of complaining about lacking a fashion trendy wardrobe or about not having enough shoes to wear. Remembering being swarmed for Tootsie Roll Pops(r), will have her stopping to enjoy her meals a little more often. And she won't even begin to describe how fortunate she feels to have running water and air conditioning. No, the images she has stored in her mind will serve as a friendly reminder of just how blessed she truly feels.