Mission Medicine

Katherine White With Children From The Village Of Calleria, Peru

Resource: Blue Ridge Now
By Amy B. McCraw

Before she went on a medical mission trip to Peru earlier this year, Katherine White never had an answer when people asked why she wanted to leave the country to help others.

The answer, she said, became clear once she reached the Amazon and met the patients who needed the care she could help provide.

“They have no sense of entitlement,” she said. “They come seeking help. They didn't expect anything other than our best effort.”

White, who is a member of Grace Lutheran Church in Hendersonville, North Carolina works as a surgical technician at Mission Hospital in Asheville and is a certified athletic trainer.

She will discuss what she learned in Peru and her experiences in the country at 6 p.m. Wednesday in Stull Hall at the church. White was part of a 17-member team from all over the United States who offered their time and gifts to provide medical and surgical treatment to Peruvians and resident missionaries who have limited access to needed orthopedic treatment.

White, 35, said she became interested in participating in the mission trip through the Scalpel at the Cross ministry after a doctor she works with mentioned he was going to Peru with the organization.

“He mentioned it at work,” she said. “I expressed some interest. I've just always been interested in that.”

Scalpel at the Cross is the realization of a long-standing dream of a Christian orthopedic surgeon and his family. It has developed through many experiences and friendships in the lives of those who want to reach out to people.

White said she thought it would be interesting to travel with doctors, nurses and other medical professionals to offer treatment to people who might not otherwise receive the medical care they need.

As much as she wanted to go, White thought her work schedule and a lack of money needed to travel to Peru would probably prevent her from making the trip.

But to her surprise, White said her supervisor had no problem giving her the time she needed away from work, and her mother stepped in to help with her expenses.

“I mentioned it to her. I never asked,” White said. “A few days later, she came to me and said, ‘This is something you need to do.' The next thing I knew, I was on a plane to Peru.”

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