Meet your team coordinator (pt. 2)

Dr. Christine Brody, an Ob/Gyn physician, is the other half of the driving force behind the Med4Nicaragua mission trips.

"The fact that God has given me the gift to heal compels me to try to heal those less fortunate than myself," she said.

One of her sons, Kai, said he had bragging rights about his mom.

"My mom is an amazing individual who puts more hours into these medical mission trips than most know," Kai said. "She is an incredibly talented woman with a heart unlike any other and I am truly blessed to have a mother like her."

Christine currently works at Scripps Encinitas Memorial Hospital and Tri City Medical Center.

She knew she wanted to become an Ob/Gyn at 16 years old. She received her undergraduate in Animal Physiology from the University of California, San Diego. In 1991, she graduated from the University of California, Los Angeles with her MD. She spent five years doing residency in Hawaii, and had triplets in her last year. Her family moved back to the mainland and spent two years in Oregon before returning to San Diego in 1998.

(Christine with her family.
From left to right, her triplets, now 16 years old, Dane, Gabby and Kai.
Her husband John is on the far right.)

Her connection to Nicaragua stems from her friendship with a Tri City Medical Center anesthesiologist, Cairo Salvetierra, who passed away in 2004. Cairo had told Christine stories of his childhood in Nicaragua, and had expressed that his life in the United States was one he would never take for granted.

Shortly after his death, Christine began to sponsor three children at an orphanage in Nicaragua. Six years later, in January 2010, she traveled to Nicaragua for the first time and was able to spend time with the three children, now in their teens.

"It was an incredible experience," she said. "Although Nicaragua is one of the most impoverished countries in the western hemisphere, I found the people to be kind and grateful."

While there, she was introduced to the El Samaritano Clinic and asked to return to give gynecologic care and training to the community.

"Cairo had often participated in medical mission trips to Mexico, and my connection to Cairo and Nicaragua compelled me to lead a medical team back to Nicaragua," she said.

Christine explained that the surgical building was a state-of-the-art center, but was inadequately stocked. Her team needed to bring every medical supply, short of the existing tables, lights and one anesthesia machine.

"While this may seem like a big obstacle, in just three months, I was able to gather $100,000 worth of open but unused or expired medical supplies from Tri City Medical Center and Scripps Encinitas Memorial Hospital," she said.

In 2010, she led a four-person team back to the clinic where they were able to perform seven gynecological surgeries in two days.

"I realized by the end of that experience, I would one day return again with plans to do even more," she said.

(Christine relaxing, which she says is rare.)

She said each trip has been a life-changing experience.

"I know that each time brings a new experience, and with it a new lesson or perspective on life," she said. "My first trip, I left Nicaragua realizing how amazingly blessed we are in the United States, with freedom to do anything and with many luxuries.

I left Nicaragua the second time realizing that receiving a hug from a patient that I traveled 2,500 miles to help brought more joy to my life than most of the luxuries I've taken for granted. I'm sure I will leave a third time with a new perspective on life."

Christine said she is most looking forward to sharing these experiences with her family, all of whom are also on the team.

In her own words, why going to Nicaragua is important:

1) Because I want to heal all people, especially those who don't have healthcare or can't afford healthcare but deserve it all the same.

2) Because I want to give to others, like myself, who have dreamed of helping others in a third world country, the opportunity to fulfill that dream.

3) Because I want to visit my "kids" at the orphanage again, and introduce them to their American family and show them how much they're loved.