Carol Obenour

A Teacher's Experience

Why volunteer at the Vancouver Free Clinic of Southwest Washington (FCSW)?  I suppose there are as many reasons as there are volunteers.  As for me, I became aware of what the FCSW offers during my years as a middle school teacher in the Vancouver School District.  There were many occasions when the FCSW offered assistance to my students and their families when they believed they were out of options.  One particular situation involved an eighth-grade student who had just arrived in Vancouver, Washington from Sierra Leone.

This student and his two younger brothers had recently been reunited with their father in Vancouver.  His father had come to the U.S. a few years earlier to prepare the way for his family.  Meanwhile, civil war broke out in Sierra Leone.  The boys' mother died of kidney disease and a grandmother hid my student in her home to keep him from the Army, who at that time was seizing children and forcing them into submission through drugs and other abuse to become child-soldiers.

The boys' mother died of kidney disease and a grandmother hid my student in her home to keep him from the army, who at that time was seizing children and forcing them into submission through drugs and other abuse to become child-soldiers.

The reality of this student's journey was beyond imagination.  The miracle was that the family was eager to move forward with opportunities within the Vancouver community.  The father found employment and worked closely with McLoughlin Middle School to make the most of the support there.  As well as learning to function in English and adapt to the differences in their adopted culture, the boys were eager to participate in athletics.  The obstacle preventing that was the necessary sports physical:  it appeared to be a financial and logistical impossibility...nearly!

My brother was called to the rescue.  He was able to provide transportation during the school day and the Free Clinic of Southwest Washington provided the physical.  Among other achievements for the boys during that school year, my student excelled in sports.  The day he wore his District Track Meet medals to school was one his peers and school mentors will always remember as testimony to the good that is possible when a community remembers what is important. 

Many unsung heroes allowed this remarkable child to take his place in celebration and a reason to believe that in spite of all he had witnessed and survived in his life at that point,  he owned a future with enormous possibilities.

I have first-hand knowledge of what it means to have access to basic medical care and what it means to have that care unavailable.  I would consider it to be a privilege to join other volunteers and contribute in even a small way to keeping the Free Clinic of Southwest Washington thriving. 

Carol Obenour