I sat down this week with Gio Lee, (junior, business administration) who went on a mission trip in the winter of 2022.
Where did you go this winter?
I went to Kenya—the specific place where we volunteered was in Eldoret, Kenya.
What organization did you go with?
It’s called BMW; Bicycle Mission World, INC. It’s a mission trip organization that a friend of my parents helps run—so that’s part of the reason why I decided to go with this organization. It is actually quite popular in the Korean church.
What did you do?
It was a medical mission trip. Basically, we had some doctors and nurses that did intake of patients and gave out medication to suit their needs, or give medical advice, or whatever they needed. Many of the patients were parents, and so we also had an area on the side where their children could stay while their parents were getting checked out. Myself and the other young volunteers who were there rotated through several stations as we were needed. Some of us were shadowing doctors—a lot of younger people there were pre-med students—and others helped out the nurses with checking blood pressure, giving medicine, etc. I worked quite a bit in the pharmacy. We danced with the kids and entertained them, we shuttled medication that the doctors needed from place to place, things like that. There were always over 100 people every day, so we just did what we could to make things less busy for the doctors.
If anyone on campus would be interested in doing something like this, would you recommend it?
Oh, for sure. It’s so much fun. It really gives you a bigger appreciation for the people around you. Rather than focusing on the things that we have—like air conditioning, or great beds—the people there were so amazing and it put things into perspective. The environment was so warm and welcoming; once you see that, you also see God, and how He is always welcoming you as well.
So would you recommend it even for people who don’t want to go into the medical field?
Yeah! Not everyone on this mission trip was planning on going into the medical field, but they could definitely do the basics, or hand out medicine, or help take care of the kids. I felt that one of the biggest things that we could offer was a supportive, encouraging environment to help make people comfortable in reaching out for help with their needs.
How can people on campus get in touch with this Bicycle Mission World?
Well, the Andrews Korean Church is very strongly involved with it. They also have a website, and they have an office on the floor above Apple Valley.
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