Bridges

The headline picture(above) was from our stay in Oamaru NZ a year ago. It was a working vacation that was a bridge in many ways. It connected our past work with what is to come. It was a chance to connect us to a new world, but not lose our place back home. We gained a unique perspective standing there, looking both ways. Plus, we had a lot of fun and adventure exploring both islands(connected by a ferry, not a bridge) over 4 months of living in that unique country.

Now we are again off to build bridges to another culture, to some of our distant history, to other professionals and patients. We are getting ready to take off for almost 6 weeks in Vietnam.

This time it is Barbara's job that is providing the opportunity to travel while we work. She is in charge of 10 senior nursing students who will study in central Vietnam, in and around Hue. The first half of their training will be in a pediatric hospital. The second half will be in the more remote mountains doing community health work with a whole other culture.

My position is to try to be a support person. As a volunteer, I should have a little more flex time. But rather than let me totally free lance, I am assigned a course in Medical Terminology to give to the Vietnamese doctors. Thankfully, they already speak enough English to understand quite a bit; but they welcome the chance to get to learn more of the meaning of the roots of medical terms. It will be interesting to see how Greek and Latin, along with our profession, brings us together. It will be another interesting bridge to cross.... and hopefully meet each other half way.

So, are we ready? Yes and no. Barbara has another teacher to partner with, and LaRelle has done this work for years. She has strong connections both personally and through her agency's work in this area of Vietnam. Still Barbara has put in lots of preparation time, has been working already with the students, and has attended to the myriad details of how to anticipate all the challenges of living and working in a very different area of the world.

But as we prepare to step away from the comforts and electronics and food of home, there is a part of me that speaks up and says... "you are doing what? you really don't know what you are getting in to." And that is very true. But, just like I do when I cross a bridge that is a bit too high for me... and I really do tend to get dizzy.... once I have started, I try to only look ahead. Don't look down! I can't see that far to the other side yet. But I know there is more than I can fully imagine, or prepare for. And I know there has been a calling and a reason to go that is not yet fully revealed. And I am left to simply trust the one who made the bridge with much care and love.