Jacqui's Malawi Trip

I’m going to Malawi, Africa!!!!

The last six weeks of nursing school, which I will graduate from in May, are typically spent in the clinical setting and is called practicum. At NDSU, however, we have the opportunity to go on a global trip instead of being in the hospital! This will be the first year the trip has been offered since covid, and I am going with 21 other classmates!

About Malawi:

Malawi is one of the poorest countries in Africa. It is also one of the safest countries, rating safer than America! Malawi is known for its welcoming people and vibrant culture; I hope I will fit right in! It is a very diverse country with numerous tribes; Christianity is the most prevalent religion, which I also look forward to being able to experience.

What we’re going to do:

The trip will be 2 ½ weeks at the end of April, and while I do not have the exact itinerary yet, this is a general idea. 3-4 days out of the week will be spent in their hospital, which will be open style with one big room and multiple patients. We will practice with limited supplies, pushing us to think outside the box and test our creativity. We will work with all patients: critical care, women and children, gerontologic, etc. We may even deliver a baby if one is born that day. We get to do a wider variety of skills than nurses do in practice here because in Malawi nurses are trained to do more; they deliver babies as their schooling training, which the providers do here. On the other 1-2 weekdays, we will be doing pop-up/traveling clinics in remote villages with limited access to medicine/hospitals. We will dive more into the culture in this experience and see how they live daily.

To prepare for the diseases and conditions not typically seen in the US, we will take a class with Abigail, our phenomenal advisor/teacher taking us on the trip. She will teach us the signs/symptoms of the diseases, what to teach the patient, and how we will treat it. We will have all the smarts

Of course, we have to fit in some fun, too, which we will do on the weekend. We plan to take part in a safari tour to see wildlife, hiking near the great Lake Malawi, and "glamping" (glamorous camping).

Why I’m going:

I have wanted to go on a mission trip to Africa for a long time, but I didn’t ever think it would really be happening! I couldn’t think of a better group of people to go with: my AMAZING peds professor (Abigail Burkett Vetter) and 21 classmates. Almost all of my classmates have been with me for 2 ½ years (that’s every class), and we have all worked so hard to get to this point! To say we’ve worked hard is an understatement!! With all that hard work, we had to have drive, determination, and, most of all, love for what we do! I have found my love for Nursing in the NICU, which has truly motivated me to keep pushing! Okay, enough of the gushy stuff, back to the trip!

I could go on and on about why I’m ECSTATIC to be going to Malawi, but I’ll keep it (kinda) short… Growing up in the small town of Benson, there was not diverse culture. On this trip, I look forward to really learning and experiencing their culture. I look forward to this because I know I will grow immensely as a person, which is priceless. I will also be able to practice clinical skills with limited resources, testing my creativity.

Now, this is where you all come in! As this is a costly experience, I wanted to make a go-fund-me, so I can continue focusing on school and not allow finances to hold me back from this once-in-a-lifetime experience. With that being said, if you've ever wanted to get me a birthday (Dec. 16th), Christmas, or graduation gift, lucky you, this is your chance!! :) This experience will push me to grow my heart, faith, culture, clinical skills, and so much more. I could not be more excited about this trip of a lifetime! Ready to start packing!!