We are pleased to present to you this tied third-place essay from the 2024 Holy Cross Missions Student Essay Contest, which invited students to reflect on the ways an encounter at an international Holy Cross ministry drew them “to completeness” as understood by the person of Jesus Christ.

Noelle is a Physician Assistant student at King’s College in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania. She participated in the 2024 Medical Mission Trip to Peru, where she experienced the Congregation’s diverse ministries in the impoverished neighborhood of Canto Grande while offering her medical training to treat patients at Br. André Clinic. Noelle’s essay caught the committee’s attention because of her Christ-like attentiveness to the needs of her most vulnerable patients.

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“Beyond the Condition: Providing Care for the Whole Person”

I had the privilege of experiencing a medical mission trip to Holy Cross ministries in Lima, Peru this last June. When I signed up for the trip, we had a scheduled meeting with our school about the culture shock that I would experience while visiting a foreign country. An advisor spoke about how we could potentially feel both positive and negative emotions when arriving and leaving another country. After hearing this, I truly believed that I would never be someone to have a “freak out” about being in a new country. I pride myself on being independent and adaptable. I am flexible and open to new experiences, or so I thought. 

When we arrived late in Lima, I thought we flew into the wrong country. There were lights, streets, cars, and whole cities. The country was dramatically NOT what I was expecting. While the streets were not American by any means, the city was more established than what I thought. As we drove further into Lima, I saw people on the streets, eating dinner, getting haircuts, and hanging out. 

On the first day, we went to Br. André Clinic in a place called Canto Grande. We pulled up to a bustling street, stray dogs and a gated clinic. Just outside the gate, a line of fifty people staggered back. All the people were there to receive medical treatment from us. 

When we opened the clinic, we had over 200 people on the first day. There were very few translators and even less medical knowledge that the people in Lima understood. Seeing patients and explaining diseases required simple, but concise education. It was a process that I rarely encountered. However, the people of Peru were unconditionally kind and grateful for what we could offer them. Most encounters with elderly patients usually ended with them saying something about how we are angels to them and to bless us for our service. Most times, I would offer a kind smile and a hug back.

The last day, a patient came in which we didn’t expect. It was a young man with a limp. He was clearly sick and very skinny. Both his left leg and left arm were atrophied, with just skin and bone. He was littered with tattoos and appeared disheveled with dirty clothes. 

I was set to see him, for I was next in line to take a patient. One of the translators pulled me aside. She told me she was sure that based on his tattoos that he was a gang member and immigrant from Columbia, most likely involved in drug trafficking. She told me to be careful and to hide my valuable things from him. I accepted her warning and continued with my duty. 

I greeted this man and started a conversation with him. He explained his chronic pain from a previous injury. He had me feel the bullet embedded in his skin and other gunshot wounds, which causes his severe muscle atrophy. 

He told me that he moved from Columbia and does not have citizenship. He spoke about how without legal status, he has been without a job and healthcare for years. He told me that he sells pieces of candy on the street corner to be able to eat every night. 

Hearing this story made me stop. I looked at him. I really looked. I did not see a gang member or a homeless man or even an immigrant. I saw a patient. Someone who, regardless of status, deserves love, attention, and sincerity. Given the severity of his symptoms, I offered to allocate some funds to help him see the clinic’s neurologist free of charge to him. Once I explained the process and educated him on the next steps, he kindly thanked me. 

He then reached into his bag and grabbed my hand and placed four candies in my palm. He offered me his way of living right now, possibly forfeiting his dinner or a place to sleep to thank me. I wonder if that is the first kindness he received in a long time or the first time someone cared about his health. I think about this gentleman almost every day, whenever I see new patients. I see how his kindness is entirely the most profound understanding of humanity I can comprehend. 

The culture shock that I got to feel wasn’t about the differences that I saw in the Peruvian people versus life in America. Rather, I saw the similarities. I saw how that man lives in every single one of my patients, past and future.

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Published: December 24, 2024