Hellooooo!! Remember me?? :) As usual, I've been living life in high gear, constantly telling myself "You need to write about this! Why aren't you writing about this?!". As I sit here, after spending a good 10 minutes trying to recover my password, I cannot believe it has been almost 10 months since I have shared my Monkey Brain with the outside world. I will try to hit the high points and catch everyone up... I returned from Honduras in July, and promptly hit the road for my contract in Vermont. What a fantastic contract, for many reasons, snagging a New England contract in the Fall was like winning the traveler lottery! My coworkers were wonderful and the scenery was breathtaking. Shortly after starting my contract, I found out that I would not be able to return to Haiti in March, as planned, which was very upsetting for me. There were multiple volunteers on the trip that I had been communicating with, in anticipation of seeing and working with each other again, and just the though of returning to Terre Blanche fills me with joy. It was not my decision, which was a big part of the difficulty, and I really had to think about how I should respond. I am constantly working on what kind of person I want to be in this world. How I want to truly live my life, what I want to put into it and get out of it.(It's a work in progress, I'm not nearly as successful at it as I want to be.) One of many favorite mantras of mine is "Is this the hill I want to die on?" No. It wasn't. I decided this was another great opportunity for me to stop fighting the universe and open my mind to other opportunities. The universe responded in the most incredible manner, as she often does. While working in Vermont, at the University of Vermont Medical Center, I had the great honor and pleasure to meet with Dr. Kristen DeStigter, the Vice Chair of Radiology, Co-Founder and President of Imaging the World. www.imagingtheworld.org
To directly quote from their website:
"Imaging the World™ specializes in integrating low-cost ultrasound programs into remote health care facilities where there is a lack of radiologists, technologists and the usual infrastructure required of imaging systems...To date, we have focused on the needs of ultrasound in low-income countries and have been highly successful in making ultrasound available in rural areas of Uganda."
Dr. DeStigter and I spent an hour together, where I was given the opportunity to talk about the work I had done in Haiti and Honduras, and what I was hoping to accomplish in my future volunteer endeavors. I was also able to learn all that ITW had accomplished and how they were hoping to grow, as an organization. It was exciting to find that ITW and I had similar goals, and that we might make an exceptional match! I was then put in touch with their Program Director, Jane, another kindred spirit and incredible woman. After my usual 13 weeks of contract, and a few more meetings with ITW, I left Vermont with plans to help ITW expand their training program by developing an Ultrasound Curriculum. YIKES. To be honest, this has been my dream project, hoping to design a very specific curriculum for the type of volunteer training that I offer. I honestly felt like my decision to roll with the universal tide, asking "Now what?", was rewarded with a huge "Here ya go!" So, I drove back home across the country, stopping off to visit some of the most wonderful people I know, recharging my soul. I spent the month of December back in the PNW, at my home base with my folks, working locally, then headed off for a winter contract at my old stomping grounds, in Billings, MT. Yep. You heard me right. I spent the winter in Montana. On purpose. Silly me. ;) I took a contract at the hospital where I used to work, before I became a traveler, and I had a great time (even though it was -17 degrees the first week I arrived!). I started working on my curriculum outline, the first training module, and managed a conference call with Jane in spite of the challenge of our time zone difference. I headed home again at the end of March, and have been working Per Diem at 2 facilities nearby, which keeps me home for the spring and summer. It's hard to beat the summer in the PNW! I have recently finished the first full module of my curriculum, in the form of an 80 slide Power Point Presentation. The benefit of PP is that the presentation can be used from a computer, without the need of the internet. Most facilities that are obtaining Ultrasound Training have fairly consistent access to electricity, but not always Internet. My plan is to find a middle ground between the 2 years of Ultrasound education I had, along with countless hours of Continuing Education, and the fast and furious 5 day training course that I was using in Honduras. It's more of a challenge than I imagined, but I really love working on it! The plan discussed before I left Vermont, was that I will start working on the curriculum immediately, and hopefully be able to go to Uganda in the fall, for at least 1 month. Just thinking about it makes me so thrilled. The work, the travel, the people I will work with. It's almost unbelievable. And as if that was not enough to keep my Monkeys busy, I was recently contacted by HFH about a possible future training conference back in Terre Blanche. I met with Joe and Linda last weekend, along with another Dr. they are close with, and we discussed the increasing demand for Ultrasound Training in Haiti. When it rains, it pours. So, there ya go. I think you're caught up now! I can hear owls chatting with each other outside my bedroom window, and feel a cool night breeze. It's after 10:30 pm, my alarm will go off at 5:15 am, and I will have another day to try to be the best Sonographer, and person, that I can be. I will start the outline for my next training module. I will thank the Universe, again, for this amazing opportunity, and I will try not to let another 10 months go by without sharing it all with you. Thank you for listening, and as always, thank you for your incredible support on my journey! I'll leave you with a few shots from my home in Washington. Much love, MB/Jo
To directly quote from their website:
"Imaging the World™ specializes in integrating low-cost ultrasound programs into remote health care facilities where there is a lack of radiologists, technologists and the usual infrastructure required of imaging systems...To date, we have focused on the needs of ultrasound in low-income countries and have been highly successful in making ultrasound available in rural areas of Uganda."
Dr. DeStigter and I spent an hour together, where I was given the opportunity to talk about the work I had done in Haiti and Honduras, and what I was hoping to accomplish in my future volunteer endeavors. I was also able to learn all that ITW had accomplished and how they were hoping to grow, as an organization. It was exciting to find that ITW and I had similar goals, and that we might make an exceptional match! I was then put in touch with their Program Director, Jane, another kindred spirit and incredible woman. After my usual 13 weeks of contract, and a few more meetings with ITW, I left Vermont with plans to help ITW expand their training program by developing an Ultrasound Curriculum. YIKES. To be honest, this has been my dream project, hoping to design a very specific curriculum for the type of volunteer training that I offer. I honestly felt like my decision to roll with the universal tide, asking "Now what?", was rewarded with a huge "Here ya go!" So, I drove back home across the country, stopping off to visit some of the most wonderful people I know, recharging my soul. I spent the month of December back in the PNW, at my home base with my folks, working locally, then headed off for a winter contract at my old stomping grounds, in Billings, MT. Yep. You heard me right. I spent the winter in Montana. On purpose. Silly me. ;) I took a contract at the hospital where I used to work, before I became a traveler, and I had a great time (even though it was -17 degrees the first week I arrived!). I started working on my curriculum outline, the first training module, and managed a conference call with Jane in spite of the challenge of our time zone difference. I headed home again at the end of March, and have been working Per Diem at 2 facilities nearby, which keeps me home for the spring and summer. It's hard to beat the summer in the PNW! I have recently finished the first full module of my curriculum, in the form of an 80 slide Power Point Presentation. The benefit of PP is that the presentation can be used from a computer, without the need of the internet. Most facilities that are obtaining Ultrasound Training have fairly consistent access to electricity, but not always Internet. My plan is to find a middle ground between the 2 years of Ultrasound education I had, along with countless hours of Continuing Education, and the fast and furious 5 day training course that I was using in Honduras. It's more of a challenge than I imagined, but I really love working on it! The plan discussed before I left Vermont, was that I will start working on the curriculum immediately, and hopefully be able to go to Uganda in the fall, for at least 1 month. Just thinking about it makes me so thrilled. The work, the travel, the people I will work with. It's almost unbelievable. And as if that was not enough to keep my Monkeys busy, I was recently contacted by HFH about a possible future training conference back in Terre Blanche. I met with Joe and Linda last weekend, along with another Dr. they are close with, and we discussed the increasing demand for Ultrasound Training in Haiti. When it rains, it pours. So, there ya go. I think you're caught up now! I can hear owls chatting with each other outside my bedroom window, and feel a cool night breeze. It's after 10:30 pm, my alarm will go off at 5:15 am, and I will have another day to try to be the best Sonographer, and person, that I can be. I will start the outline for my next training module. I will thank the Universe, again, for this amazing opportunity, and I will try not to let another 10 months go by without sharing it all with you. Thank you for listening, and as always, thank you for your incredible support on my journey! I'll leave you with a few shots from my home in Washington. Much love, MB/Jo
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