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In our world today, more than 122 million people have been forcibly displaced from their homes. It’s a large number to wrap your head around. It’s even harder to wrap your head around the experience those millions of people had to go through. The prayers they whispered. The factors that led them to the decision. A decision that although you’re the one making it you might feel is being made for you.
When I try to imagine the experience, I wonder how I would see God’s love in those moments and can I be that love. I’m grateful to say I work for an organization that aims to show that kind of love, boundless and unconditional. The mission of Medical Teams International is to bring life-saving medical care to people in crisis. This care ranges from shipping supplies to countries in need to medical staff on the ground making sure babies are delivered safely to healthy mothers. Our work in Tanzania has resulted in a zero maternal mortality rate for the last four years.
Working in seven countries, Medical Teams operates with five values: courage to break barriers, accountability and integrity in everything we do, tenacity, selflessness, and faith that we are never alone because God is always with us.
In August 2023, I had the privilege of traveling with Medical Teams International to one of our clinics in Uganda. As we arrived at the Kyaka II settlement, the sun shined brightly against a cyan blue sky. A marker indicated the direction to different areas of the clinic, including a maternity ward, radiology unit, and an inpatient department. Staff bustled around, discussing potential care plans for patients or supply needs in the pharmacy. After making our own plans, my communication team and I split off to collect stories. I was tasked to head to the malaria ward. Most beds were filled with young children, resting following their treatment. That is where we met Neama and Sarah Wambaye.
Neama brought her daughter, Sarah, 6, to the clinic for malaria treatment. She learned about Medical Teams thanks to our community health workers, who made visits to her neighborhood as a way to inform them of our services.
“Without Medical Teams, it would be really hard to access medical care and medicine. It is very easy for me to get treatment now because it’s free, and they encourage it,” Neama said.
When Medical Teams examined Sarah, they realized her treatment would be further complicated by her anemia. She received medicine and a blood transfusion. By the next day, Sarah was more energized as a result of the medicine and rest. Neama was relieved to see her daughter improving thanks to treatment and the care Medical Teams provided.
“I just feel happy, and she knows she is in safe hands because they really care and are understanding.”
Neama, a single mother of three daughters, fled Congo due to insecurity. She walked long distances for two full days. With no money and her eldest daughter (her only at the time), she made her way to Uganda. Every day she works hard to provide for her girls.
“I love caring for my children. When I get food for my children, I become the happiest,” Neama shared. Despite her circumstances, Neama still dreams.
“I dream for my children. For them to get an education and become someone, become professionals.”
When I first found out I was traveling to Uganda, my friends were excited for me and asked if I was doing missionary work. While it was a trip with a mission, I’m proud to say Medical Teams is a faith-based organization that offers free medical care to anyone, unconditionally, no matter what. I can’t think of a better way to love like Jesus than to love and care for people without exceptions.
What I also saw is that if anything, I learned more about God and his love through meeting and seeing this part of the world. I saw Him in the moments of happiness, hope, laughter, and kindness regardless of their circumstances. By walking through this clinic, I saw passion for healing, joy in community, and love everywhere. A colleague put it so well recently, saying, “The people we serve know they have challenges, but their challenges are not who they are or what defines them as a person. Their challenges are what they are experiencing.”
In the day-to-day, it’s easy to get hung up on a circumstance. A sickness. The loss of a job. Heartbreak. But that circumstance isn’t who you are, and more importantly, it’s definitely not who God is. As I read patient stories as one of my daily tasks, I see the pain they’ve carried in their journeys. But, I also see people filled with pride, confidence, sass, humor, and, above all else, faith. Faith that God will provide. Faith that there is still hope and reason to dream, like Neama does. Faith that there is always a light in the darkness. They not only have faith, but they depend on it.
As someone who tries to show God’s love in every interaction, I do my best to make sure people are seen, heard, and loved. What an honor to say that’s part of my role at Medical Teams International, an organization that strives to take care of the whole person, physically, mentally, and spiritually through life-saving and loving care.
Marysabel Cardozo, based in Texas, serves as a Communications Specialist with Medical Teams International. She specializes in training staff and organizing and disseminating a wide range of content received from Medical Teams’ seven country programs.
For more information visit medicalteams.org
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