“Short Term”? Not By a Long Shot
Written by Cathy Flanagan
So many of us, in this time of social distancing, are finding ourselves reflecting on the relationships that are most meaningful to us. To nurture these relationships we are reaching out in a variety of ways to the friends we are missing. Our Solidarity Bridge community is no different. Last month, 22 members of our Multi-Specialty Mission teams, from Bolivia and the US gathered together on Zoom.
We know it will be some time before we can see each other again in person. But, the cross-border bonds that we have forged through our shared mission continue to be strong. As the faces of our team popped up on the screen, it was apparent how deep our love and concern for each other is, especially during this challenging time. We were all eager to hear about each other’s safety, the health of family members, and the conditions for doctors and patients in the hospitals where we had previously worked together. It was so good to see the faces of the people who, through our shared experience of mission, have become my friends.
Although our mission trips are short term (just over a week) the relationships we create with each other and with our Bolivian counterparts are anything but! When I joined Solidarity Bridge as a volunteer almost two years ago, I immediately sensed that the relationships between the US staff and missioners and our Bolivian counterparts were something special. I was able to experience the magic of those connections first hand the moment I stepped out of the airport in Cochabamba last September as part of the Multi Specialty Mission Trip. We were greeted by our Bolivian hosts with warm smiles and even warmer embraces. The joy on the part of US missioners and the Puente de Solidaridad staff, social workers and medical student interpreters was palpable. Here was solidarity; here was love!
How did our teams create such incredibly strong bonds? It has a lot to do with the shared mission of caring for those in great need; but it also results from the way in which we conduct our mission. In addition to the time spent together in the hospital, caring for patients, sharing knowledge, and learning from one another, we also shared time together on the bus driving to and from the convent where we all reside together. We share meals, cultural experiences, prayer and reflection. Part of the time is spent in laughter, but there are also tears as we process the intense need among our patients and the frustration of not always being able to heal all the suffering we encounter. As Bolivian missioner and interpreter Maria Eugenia Brockmann puts it, “We become vulnerable during mission trips, and that is our strength as well. People from different cultures are not so different after all when the goal is to serve others in love.”
Kim Stover, a physical therapist and four time missioner agrees, “Our trips start with a shared intention to provide the best care possible to the Bolivian people in the towns that we visit. But, there’s a lot of caring for each other on these trips, too, physically, emotionally, and spiritually.”
After experiencing this love and solidarity, many of our missioners find that they are drawn back to Bolivia again and again. We have missioners who have made, five, ten, even twenty mission trips! One US doctor shared that the mission trips connect him with the love of medicine and service that first inspired him as a young doctor. He returns to Bolivia each year and, as he learns and gets inspiration from his Bolivian colleagues and patients, he is reminded again why he is a doctor.
Dr. Monica Joseph-Griffin has returned to Bolivia yearly since her first trip in 2016 and has built deep and lasting relationships with her colleagues. “With each year I have gone on mission, I am amazed at how quickly a group of relative strangers come together. The definition of our name Solidarity Bridge holds true. We are one in mission, across the continents, across languages. The love I have for the team at Puente bubbles up inside me when I see them. We may only see each other once a year or less but it is as if we don’t skip a beat. We are always connected by our deep and full experience together.”
It was that deep connection that drew 22 of us to our screens, across languages and continents, to connect with our friends in this challenging time. We know those hugs will be stronger and more precious when we are able to see one another again in person. Until then, we remain connected in love and solidarity.