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A simple conversation inspired Lisa Trujillo, RRT, to travel from her home near Odgen, Utah, to the west African nation of Ghana to provide medical care and supplies to the people there.
That talk was with Albert Ncancer, one of her respiratory students at Weber State University in Odgen, where she has taught for the past six years. "We were standing outside my office one day and he was telling me about Ghana. He said, 'You should come to my village and teach,'" Trujillo said. "So I said, 'OK, let's plan it.'
So without any knowledge about Ghana other than what Ncancer told her and what she researched online, Trujillo planned an African trip that included seven students, her husband and her two sons. The group arrived in June 2006.
"I was stricken by the beauty of my surroundings," Trujillo recalled. "It is a very lush, tropical country. Coming from Utah, it was a stark contrast."
The environment wasn't the only difference. The infrastructure was problematic. "When the water was running, we filled our water barrels in the guest house so we could bathe and cook later. The electricity was erratic," she said. "The humidity and heat were something we definitely had to adjust to."
Trujillo and her group of volunteers, guided by Ncancer, helped out for three weeks at various health clinics around Ghana.
For almost a year prior to the trip, Trujillo had collected more than $100,000 worth of supplies, including durable medical equipment, respiratory and nursing textbooks, and four ventilators.
However, as the trip was wrapping up, she encountered a serious problem. The supplies she had shipped three months earlier still hadn't arrived. Trujillo knew she couldn't leave just then, so she waited an extra two weeks for her treasures to arrive. The package finally came, and she dispersed many of the supplies across the country.
The worry the supplies went astray or weren't being used properly propelled Trujillo to return to Ghana in 2007, with friend and fellow teacher Janelle Gardiner, RRT.
"I told Janelle, 'Ghana comes with a disclaimer: When you go, you're going to want to come back,'" Trujillo said.
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