Mission to Cambodia 2013
from Natalie Heflin
Today I lived the dream to which most Belmont students aspire. I walked into a crowded room of people clapping for me as I was preparing to use my skills. Okay, I’m not as cool as I am making myself sound, so I’ll be honest: Today was the day we went to the local nursing school to teach around 150 students that have been in the program for 6 months some basic nursing skills-including SBAR (nurse to doctor communication), pain assessments, and catheter insertion.
I won’t lie, I wasn’t in the most chipper of moods when I was climbing up the stairs in a toasty building to try and communicate to a group of people that I didn’t share a language with. But as we rounded the corner to enter the room filled with the students, they began clapping like we were Beyonce (Cambodians love Beyonce), and I was hit with an unexpected wave of emotion. These students, who are very similar to our group, were so excited for us to share with them! They were acting like it was an honor to learn from us, but I felt honored that this group wanted to hear us.
Click on photo to enlarge
After splitting up into three groups of 50, three Belmont students went to each room to share the different presentations they had prepared. After patiently listening to our lectures that were translated into Khmer, the students had many questions that some of us had never thought of. After the last presentation, a boy stood up and said he had one more question…”Can we take pictures with you?” It was like Black Friday shopping, and we were the $500 42″ tv. The students swarmed to us and requested pictures with every different Belmont student. We really did feel like rock stars.
When walking downstairs to take a group picture, a Cambodian student asked Morgan D. for her email address so that Morgan could email her updates with American research for better nursing practices and tips to make her as good of a nurse as Morgan was. It was truly heartwarming and really exciting to see the passion these students have to be the best nurses they can be.
After a traditional Cambodian lunch with the director of the nursing school, we had the afternoon free, a first for us! We split in every direction-massages, ice cream, taking a tuk tuk to Beautiful Shoes where they hand make leather sandals custom to your foot, while others just took a well-deserved nap. After our traditional Cambodian lunch, we were granted the delicious surprise of Italian food for dinner. Hallelujah, praise The Lord! I think it revived a lot of the… um… sissies (myself included), who haven’t quite gotten accustomed to the Cambodian food to scarf down a large pizza. The group then headed to watch a shadow puppet show. We were all extremely entertained. However, I’ve always been able to appreciate art, but have never been able to understand it; this show was no exception. In summation, it was traditional Cambodian music accompanied by interpretative dancing with lots of shadows. The shadows told a story about some strange looking men ready for a fight. Although I’m not really sure which of the men won the fight, I can say with assurance that the artists really captivated the entire audience. It was a pleasant ending to a week filled with extremely rewarding hard work. Thanks for reading and good night!