I met Melissa Friesen in 2011 when she participated in the INMED International Medicine & Public Health Intensive Course in Kansas City. Like most INMED students, I found Melissa to be a person highly motivated to serve the world’s most undervalued people. Just six months later Melissa, a nurse practitioner from Xenia, Ohio, said goodbye to her many friends in order “to follow God’s leading to Togo, West Africa, where I desire to use my skills to improve health and build God’s church alongside a team in the city of Mango, Togo in West Africa.”
One of the most inspiring elements of Melissa’s career is the launch of nurse aide training: “We have 18 students, most of whom have no exposure to the world of health care prior to now. For many ‘washing your hands’ meant little more than dipping your hands in a bowl of plain water, so we started with the very basics. This past week they learned how to take vital signs, and in the afternoons we had some fun with skits about maintaining patient confidentiality, which can be a huge challenge in this community where everybody knows everybody else’s business.” One of our best nurses, a native of Togo, moved here to help us train the aides. He is an excellent teacher, and I am praising God that he will be with us for the remaining course of instruction.”