In the dead of the night, I was packed into the back of an unfamiliar vehicle with a driver, an American doctor, and three other global volunteers from the USA, Germany, and Taiwan. As each of us volunteers drowsily bid our hellos, our “international” van and the rest of the car procession headed towards our first destination—the breakfast restaurant. As the thirty plus volunteers swarmed towards the aroma of eggs and dumplings, I realized that I was not alone in my hunger, nor was I alone in my background as I was one of the two Americans and one of the four volunteers from abroad. I was afraid that being an international volunteer would make me an outcast and unhelpful to the rest of the crew. Instead, what I found in the 48 hours that I spent together with TRMPC was that there was no individual, only a team whose members, despite work and family obligations, will take their free time to assist those in need of medical attention--which was exactly the medical mission team I was hoping to join.

 

Throughout the six villages we visited, I experienced so much that I cannot possibly fit them all into this article; thus I present you with two moments: (1) a mother’s explanation and (2) an old-fashioned shower.

 

 A mother’s explanation

 

At one of our village destinations in Yilan, a middle-aged lady came to see the doctor. She was a mom of four and complained of sleeplessness. When jokingly asked if her sleeplessness was caused by obsessive rice wine drinking, she nodded and said that she drank a lot. When asked why she drank so much, the mother of four sat up and seriously said, “I need to drink to keep the worries away. If I don’t drink, I can’t sleep and if I do drink, I can’t sleep.”

 

This explanation for why she cannot sleep seems absurd and even funny at first, but at second glance, I see how serious the matter is. Not only is this drinking habit detrimental to her sleep cycle and liver as well as overall health, the drinking and lack of rest could affect her attitude and care towards her four children. In fact, a good fraction of the patients complained of sleeplessness and another fraction had possible liver damage all potentially contributed by their drinking habits. I was surprised to see that the population we were aiding had similar habits and the same root of their problems. To me, it seems that the patients desire to change their habits based upon the doctor’s advice for the good of their health, but habits are hard (not impossible) to break.

 

An old-fashioned shower

 

The team had finally arrived at our third village which was refreshingly cool as the earlier part of the day was stiflingly hot. Everyone had sweated to the point of needing a shower, and we had more volunteers than available showers. Hearing this, a local woman graciously invited us to use her “modest shower,” as she described it. Three of us internationals trekked down the hill with the lady towards her house. As we talked, I learned that she had tens of dogs for keeping the dozens of mountain pigs she kept in her backyard that extended into the open mountainside. Upon asking her about what she will do when the Phoenix Typhoon arrives, she responded with a simple “What can we do? Perhaps some houses will fall down but we’ll just have to rebuild. That’s life. We’re used to it.” I was shocked at her mild tone of voice and amazed at her strong will to continue on with life.

 

Arriving at her house, I saw all three generations in one glimpse. The grandpa and grandma who received our medical care were watching TV at one end of the living room while their grandchildren hovered over the one outdated computer at the other end. The mother showed us the indeed modest shower which had no running water and rather just an empty bucket and half-filled bathtub. The grandparents were so welcoming and even provided us with drinks while we waited our turn to shower.