Blog | One Nurse At A Time

5 Best Places to Volunteer Abroad in Medicine

Sadly, there are too many communities around the world in need of healthcare support and a few of them are desperate for the medical expertise that the modern world can offer. Some nations are actually struggling to keep their populations in basic good health. Most of these distressed countries gratefully

See the World, Change the World with Health Volunteers Overseas

What if your volunteer assignment could save lives and improve patient outcomes long after your service ended? Health Volunteers Overseas (HVO) ensures that short-term volunteer assignments have long-term impact. HVO is a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving the quality and availability of care in resource-scarce countries by providing education, training

Donna McVay reports on her recent trip to Guatemala

This is Mike. He is the person who made the bowl that I sent and will be up for auction at next years fundraising celebration. He makes a lot of wooden items. He said it took about a week to make the bowl. It is sanded and treated to enable

Measles in South Sudan by Sue Averill

Imagine this is your home, your ‘hood, your life. You struggle to get by, to find or grow or be given enough food. You carry water for miles from a pump (borehole) some organization has drilled to let you have potable water instead of drinking from a nearby river where you also bathe, wash clothes

Malaria, Measles and Knee Bone Soup

Another hectic week trying to make some big project decisions, read the hundreds of daily emails (I’m trying to stop the flow), and solve the problems of the world My day typically starts about 6 am, cold shower, coffee and a bit of yogurt in my room (well, it’s

What a week! An update from Sue in South Sudan

What a week! On Monday I visited the field project in Agok – if you recall, in May of 2008 I went when the village of Abyei was burned down, team evacuated, and restarted mobile clinics for the 30,000 displaced south of the River Kiir. Agok is now a real town and our project is

“It’s good to be back” by Sue Averill

Eight years ago, I never thought I’d say that about Juba, South Sudan. I was trashed – burned out and exhausted, feeling like I’d failed my team and myself. 5 days ago I arrived to ever-present chaos, heat and crowds but at the office to warm welcomes from national staff

Kathleen Kenny and Midwives for Haiti

Overall, the trip to Haiti went well. I worked with Midwives for Haiti which is truly an amazing organization. I was planning on helping to train the Haitian midwifery students. My knowledge is the most valuable thing I have to offer, and from a sustainability perspective, I felt this would

Sue is in South Sudan

Wise man once said, “Don’t stumble around barefoot in the dark.” Eight years ago South Sudan left me a burned out, sad, exhausted mess. I’m back for two months in the same role: Medical Coordinator. The situation in the country is no less dire: epidemics, tropical diseases not known in the Western world, inexperienced

Guatemala Village Health by Glenn Buck

Going to Guatemala with Guatemala Village Health was a very rewarding and challenging trip. We had the coordinator, Jennifer Hoock a Group Health physician here in Seattle, we had a local MD, Terecita for half of the trip and then another physician, Gil who is also a physician in the