This is A Personal Touch, a chance to check in with ordinary people making an extraordinary difference in the world. I’m Rebecca Cressman and today our guest is Ellen Thorp who has been making a difference not only in her community but also around the world—recently helping those living in Mongolia. Ellen, how did you find yourself in the country of Mongolia and why?
A: Well I’ve been working with a group called IVUmed, International Volunteers in Urology, and their purpose is to teach one, reach many. That’s their mission statement. They go around the world to Third World and developing countries teaching updated urological procedures, and we bring equipment, and we bring supplies. And then the intention is that by the time they leave the country, whether it’s ten days or two weeks later, the local surgeons are completely hands on. The nurses are very well-versed, and they can sustain what we teach them. Now I’m a layperson. I’m not a medical person, and very few of us who are non-medical are allowed to go and I had the honor of going to the pediatric hospital in Mongolia.
Q: And you were there this last September?
A: Yes.
Q: What was that like for you?
A: It was a very huge culture change obviously. I speak several languages and that’s not one of them, and so for me personally it was really unusual for me to be in a country where I couldn’t figure some of it out. We did have interpreters. As you know, Mongolia was a Communist country that is now experiencing Democracy of sorts. The aspect of it being a Communist country was very apparent in the buildings and the people, but they are embracing Democracy and that’s wonderful.
Q: And you could sense that change in them, that new freedom as you would get to know the families?
A: Yes it’s a tentative freedom. Some of the people still look back towards the Communist regime and feel that it was very comfortable. Of course, now there are more opportunities for commercialism and for tourism, so people should get there quickly if they want to see it as it is. The people there are extraordinary. They are so open and so respectiful, but they have an enormous amount of dignity. They do not have a lot. For example, in the hospitals they bring their own bedding, they bring their own food. Very humble but very, very dignified.
Q: Now you were working in a pediatric hospital, so you mentioned that IVUmed works with bringing the technology and the expertise and the training for more modern urological issues and diseases. So as you were there as a layperson, were you there just to support the medical team or to provide other types of staffing support for IUVmed?
A: Yes it was kind of funny, Rebecca, before we went, one of the things that was on the checklist was two pairs of scrubs, and I had envisioned myself sitting on a nice little chair in front of a nice little table outside the OR. And I saw the demand for scrubs on my list and I said, “Why do I need these? And they said, “Because you’re going to be in the OR. And I was just kind of a deer in the headlights and I said, “Why am I going to be in the OR? And they said, “Because we need you there during surgery.” And I was just flabbergasted. I didn’t actually have any hands on, but I was involved in getting supplies, keeping them organized, handing them to the doctors. I know a lot more about sutures than I ever thought I’d know in my life. And of course, I was queasy at first about the idea of seeing surgeries, but you quickly get past that for two reasons. One, you’re watching it hour after hour; and two; you recognize what a miracle it is for these people to get this kind of help. For these children to have their lives changed. You quickly get past the queasiness and you rapidly enter a state of awe of the doctors.
Q: And this was founded by a number of doctors that saw the need not only in prior Communist countries but I was looking and there are dozens of countries that the organization of volunteers travels to to bring this medical care. And so do they triage the need of the countries before they decide where to go, for example, Mongolia?
A: Yes, yes. As a matter of fact they do site visits. The Founder of IVUmed is Dr. Catherine deVries who is a surgeon and professor at the University of Utah and she’s a surgeon at Primary. She started this non-profit back in 1995. As a matter of fact, she left yesterday for Africa for two weeks and she will do some site inspections there. So we develop partnerships and then we develop teams, and our team members come from all over the world, and then we go on site. And we go back every year until we feel that they are really on the track to being self-sustaining.
Q: I’m curious because there are different choices that everyone makes in their lives in different periods. Maybe in your twenties you are raising your children; in your thirties you’ve got kids who are starting to move on; and then in your forties and fifties we start making decisions about what we are going to do with our time, whether it be work or volunteerism. I know that you have a long history of giving to your community. For over ten years you were actively running in Salt Lake City, the race for the cure to raise money for breast cancer research for the Susan G. Komen, for the Cure Foundation. And now you are also giving of your time to IVUmed. Why would you pull yourself out of the comfort of your home in Salt Lake, and look to see where your help could be tapped into? Because sometimes we think, “Oh, I’m not a surgeon, I can’t give.” But you’re defying death.
A: We can always give and it doesn’t matter how much we give. I do believe that the issue is giving. I’m a volunteer because I can and because I must. I’m a volunteer because as a Jew, I am commanded to do what we call “Mitzvoth” or good deeds. In our religion if we do nothing else but “Mitzvoth” the good deed, then we more or less can qualify to be a good Jew. I do it because I really feel like I get more than I give. So when I’m getting so much it makes me want to just keep giving. I do it because when I am involved in an organization that I feel this passionately about and that does such amazing things, I don’t feel pain, I don’t feel stress, I don’t feel anxiety. I just want to do it. And so I’m blessed. I have had my trials and tribulations just like everyone else but I feel I must do this to achieve any kind of balance in my life because of the blessings I’ve received.
Q: Well and I appreciate that you shared that with us and I know that very often in different church organizations, even sociologist, psychologists who are outside of faith-centered organizations will say that, “When you are struggling with any kind of a personal challenge, the best thing that you can do is to lose yourself in the lives of others.”
A: I think taking care of others is another word for love. Love is another word for taking care of others, I should say, and it really is what lifts us up. And people need to remember it doesn’t have to be big. It can be just smiling at someone. And then maybe another day you take that a little bit further and you help them across the street. Volunteering does not have to mean going around the world.
Q: And I know that you mentioned off the top that IVUmed has projects all around the world and they also have projects here in your community, right?
A: Yes, we are developing programs in parts of Utah that are underserved medically and we are really excited about that, because of course as everyone knows, there is also plenty of need right here. So we are very excited about that and we’re receiving good funding for those programs and we’re moving forward.
Q: Hmm hmm. So do you see yourself, Ellen, now spending the next five or ten years with IVUmed or do you see yourself saying, “Okay, where are other needs? How do you choose where you are going to give your time?
A: It’s very difficult, Rebecca. You know me a little bit and you know that I’m kind of like a person in front of the chocolate bar when it comes to volunteerism. I’m a chronic and a serial volunteer. So I don’t know what’s next, but I do know that personally for me I can be very passionate and very active with one and that one will be IVUmed. And I can be very helpful with others just maybe more on a volunteer for a day basis. And I think that is important for people to understand as well. All of these organizations need volunteers for a day and sometimes just for a couple hours.
Q: Were you thinking that sometimes that obstacle, the barrier that people may have towards volunteerism is that they are thinking, “My gosh, this is going to be a long term commitment or bigger commitment than I can make.” And you’re saying, “It can come in all kinds of sizes.”
A: Exactly, exactly. You can make a difference no matter if it’s for an hour a year or for a week in Mongolia, you can make a difference.
Q: And I want to go back before we wrap up, Ellen, because you do such a great example of serving not only within your community but also serving around the world, you brought up the fact that you are a member of the Jewish faith and that doing “Mitzvoth” is doing good deeds. You say it is also about spreading light that “Mitzvoth” is that: every time you do a good deed, you are also spreading light? Is that the right symbol?
A: Right, I don’t think that we are unique in our belief that Man is God’s light. I think that many religions feel that way and so I’m sure you’ve heard the saying: A candle loses nothing by lighting another candle. And I believe in fact the candles both burn brighter. So that is pretty much what I believe in. That I am put here by God to spread God’s light and that by helping and caring and being with others, I can accomplish that.
Ellen, thank you so much. Ellen Thorp, I appreciate you so much for joining us for this week’s edition of A Personal Touch.
Thanks Rebecca, it’s always a pleasure.
And I’m Rebecca Cressman. Be sure to check your email next week to find out who else is making a difference in our world, like Ellen Thorp, with ‘a personal touch.’
End of interview.
