4 JUNE 15, 2002
Smoke Signals
Kindness On Tour Northwest Medical Teams Travel To South America
Tribal member Teresa Bailey used her skills as a registered nurse to spread goodwill.
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Kind Tribal member Teresa Bailey, the daughter of the late Elaine Dolly Smith
and the granddaughter of Tribal Elder Mabel Gaston, recently traveled to Parnaiba,
Brazil as part of a team of medical professionals Northwest Medical Teams
who cared for local residents for a week. Bailey and the team saw 300 people in all
and performed 49 surgeries.
By Peta Tinda
For Tribal member Teresa Bailey,
49 is an important number.
After a week of nonstop ear, nose
and throat surgeries - 49 in all
in the primitive conditions and
sweltering heat of Parnaiba, Bra
zil, the host wanted to take the vol
unteers from the Northwest Medi
cal Teams on a boat ride to show
gratitude.
"When I saw the boat, I wasn't
sure I wanted to go," said Tribal
member Teresa Bailey with a
laugh. Bailey, who is a registered
nurse, went with the team as the
surgery coordinator. "But, it was
fine and they took us down the delta
on the Amazon side.
"Parnaiba is right next to the
equator," said Bailey. "So it was
pretty hot the entire time. How
hot? Dang hot, that's how hot it
was."
For Bailey, who works at Wil
lamette Ear, Nose and Throat in
Salem, the recent trip meant the
fulfillment of a life long dream.
"I've wanted to be a nurse since
the third grade," said Bailey. "Even
when I was in nursing school, I
went with the intention of someday
doing something like this."
Bailey, who lives in Grand
Ronde, received her Registered
Nursing degree through the Tribal
Adult Education program in 1990.
"The Tribe really helped me," said
Bailey. "I wouldn't have been able
to go to nursing school, especially
with three kids, without their help."
She feels that if you get some
thing, you should give something
back in return and this is her way
of doing that.
The Spirit Mountain Community
Fund sponsored Bailey, paying for
the cost of her trip. The eight
Northwest Medical Team members
arrived in Parnaiba after two days
of travel and immediately went to
work at a furious pace.
"We had patients waiting for us
as soon as we arrived," said Bailey.
"We did 49 surgeries in two and a
half days. We saw about 300 people
altogether."
Most of the surgeries the team
performed were ear, nose and
throat type surgeries, such as re
pairing cleft palates or putting in
ear tubes.
Each time a child had to have a
surgery, they were given a beanie
baby-type stuffed animal.
"As it turned out, the stuffed ani
mals were about as important as the
medicines, because we couldn't talk
to the kids, so they were a real ice
breaker. They helped the kids feel
more comfortable and less nervous.
We also used them to show the kids
what we were going to be doing,"
said Bailey.
The kids were also given a care
pack with candy, gum, pencils, pa
per, dental floss and toothbrushes
donated by the Tribal Dental Clinic.
One little girl who had surgery
made Bailey a thank you card from
the supplies in the pack, which has
since become a cherished souvenir
of her trip. )'
One of the things that struck
Bailey was the condition of the hos
pital that they worked in.
"The difference between a hospi
tal in America and one in Brazil was
shocking. There's basically noth
ing there. No beds, no wheelchairs,
no sheets and everything that was
there was very old. There were
hooks on the wall, so people could
hang their hammocks to sleep.
There was a chalkboard for us to
write patient information on, but
there wasn't any chalk."
Another thing Bailey noticed was
the divide between the rich and the
poor.
"There's a real class difference in
Brazil," said Bailey. "There's not a
lot of middle class. Either you have
money or you don't. People don't
realize how good we have it here.
If you need health care here in
America, chances are you'll get it.
In other countries, if you don't
have money, you don't get care,
you just die."
Knowing that the patients she
was helping wouldn't get cared for
otherwise made her volunteer ser
vice especially meaningful, said
Bailey.
"The people we were seeing were
the poor, those who couldn't pay,"
said Bailey. "In Parnaiba, there's
another hospital for people who
have money. But there's no hos
pital for the people we treated - poor
people. We certainly improved the
quality of people's lives.
"I used to think that there's too
much poverty and too much suf
fering in the world for anyone to
make a difference. But we made a
difference in 49 people's lives and
I feel pretty good about that."
It Is All About Making Connections
Tribal newspaper welcomes new staff writer.
By Peta Tinda
Ron Karten, the new Smoke
Signal's writer, is originally from
New York, but has lived in Oregon
for 20 years.
He is a long-time freelance writer
and brings a wealth of experience
to the newspaper. He lives in Day
ton, with his wife Cathy, who is an
English and second language
teacher.
He has a daughter in high school,
Sarah, and a son, Joe, who is in
college. He also has a 12 year-old
cat named Peaches.
"I really like my work," said
Karten of his new job. "I really like
talking to people and writing about
people. I'm just floored by the
people I meet. Everybody's been
wonderful - the people are kind,
considerate and generous with their
time. It's been a wonderful experi
ence." Karten has written for several
different magazines, including Fea
ture, Oregon Business and Inter
view. He also worked at the Or
egon State Legislature from 1993
to 1997, writing for State Senator
John Lim. He also runs a small
business from his home making
business cards.
Karten's freelance
writings have taken
him all over the world,
including a trip to
Burma, where he wrote
about civil rights activ
ist Aung San Suu Kyi.
Kyi won the national
vote in 1991 by a 90
percent margin, but
was put under house
arrest by the military
dictatorship that was in
power in a an effort to
silence her. She won
the Nobel Peace Prize in
1990.
"We had to pose as
tourists to get into the
country to do the inter
view," said Karten.
Karten said his favor
ite piece of all was a
'story he did for Feature
magazine about a series
of killings in Queens,
N.Y. Disputes between
low-level gang members doing hits
on each other had left a wake of
dead in their path.
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"I talked to the police and they
told me where some of the killings
happened. One of the places was
this little bar in Queens. I was
standing outside of the place tak
ing pictures when suddenly this
huge guy comes out. It was at that
point that I thought 'uh oh, Ron,
you've gone too far.' But it was
okay. That was one of my first sto
ries." Karten has had many adventures
in his life - a key to making a well
rounded writer.
Karten said the best part of his
job is making connections with new
people.
"You know that picture in the
Sistine Chapel of God and man
with the fingers and they're about
to touch? I always think of that. I
live for making connections. And
it happens in all different places."
In what little spare time he has,
Karten likes to do woodworking in
his garage and enjoys hanging out
with his family. He also plays golf.
"But I don't keep score," he said.
"I always look forward to getting
to know people," said Karten. "I
want to be a specialist in the people
I work with. I look forward to re
ally understanding what's going on
and being an informed writer."