Amazing, overwhelming, blessed - these are just a few of the words nurse Kiran Kaur uses to describe her experience on Equiscript and OneWorld Health’s medical mission trip to Nicaragua last December.
This month’s Mission Monday, casts a spotlight on Kiran Kaur, Nursing Supervisor for California-based Ampla Health. When Kiran applied for the mission trip, her contacts at Equiscript felt she would be a perfect fit to attend the trip. When Kiran was chosen by OneWorld Health as a trip participant, her Equiscript team actually cheered with excitement for her. Kiran’s Equiscript client relationship manager (CRM), Vivian Suarez says, “She (Kaur) is one of the most amazing people and a CRM’s dream site champion.”
“I feel as if we get so caught up in our lives, and sometimes need to just take a pause,” said Kiran. “This life is so blessed, and you don’t need all of the little gadgets to keep you happy. It was an honor to be able to sit down with patients, and simply hold their hand and pray for a better day.,” she said.
Photo by Kiran Kaur
“I asked if I could take a picture of them after the visit, and she responded yes of course. I was about to take the picture, and the little girl placed her hand on her grandfather’s leg, he looked down at her, and they both smiled. I have this picture hanging on my wall at work, and whenever I look at the photo it makes me smile.”
One of the most memorable and inspiring moments from Kiran’s trip involved a little girl who was about 9 or 10 years old, who came into the clinic with her grandfather. Given the economic state of the country, most patients walked several miles to get to the makeshift clinics that were held in community churches. Upon arriving to the clinic the girl stated, “I’m not here to be seen I’m here to take care of my grandpa.”
The girl’s grandfather is deaf and was not able to speak well, and relied on his granddaughter to communicate with the clinic staff. Kiran said, “I was this person for my grandfather, and I really admired this little girl. When we take on these roles to help our parents or grandparents out, it forces us to become responsible at a younger age. She played the role of an adult but I got to see the child in her when she played outside with the other kids.”
Back home in California, Kiran has already been planning for her next mission trip. She continues to think about the OneWorld Health and Equiscript trip and how she can improve and impact the care of those around her, the way they did for the people of Tola. Her experiences in Nicaragua added fuel to her fire for providing needed and sustainable care to not only her community, but to communities abroad.
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Erika Pfeifer, Marketing and Client Success Coordinator
Erika Pfeifer is the liaison between Marketing and Client Success at Equiscript. She works with both teams to collaborate and come up with ways to better reach and serve our patients, clients, and communities. Erika is a graduate of the University of Arkansas where she studied communication and marketing.
