Sylvia Campbell and Jeanne Hardin-Gres

00:13 My name is Jeannie Harden. Grass. I am

00:18 58 and 9/10 12:10 12th, 1112 and today is January 14th.

00:29 2006 Sarasota Florida at st. Armand's Key and we're talking today with my friend Sylvia Campbell.

00:41 My name is Libby Campbell. I'm 54 years old. It is January 14th 2006 and I'm in st. Armand's Key and Sarasota Florida with my dear friend Jeanne. Congrats.

00:57 So we're here today to talk about our

01:02 Us and how we got here and what we do and like to have you start

01:12 What why did they choose us to come here or why were we asked to come here?

01:19 I think that the story that we have to share the story about how the world is truly such a small place and we're all here together to help each other and I think that the things that you taught me about helping others and traveling around the world to do that. If it's something that I've incorporated into what I try to do and I think the both of us have been to places together and apart that have shown us how important it is that we work together to try to make the world better.

01:48 When you said where we have gone where we're Halfway Gone.

01:52 Well you and I am gone to Mom in car to Haiti to little Hospital in the mountains in the middle of nowhere probably about 14 times. Now, I believe to operate and take care of the people there that are so incredibly destitute and that many times is hell. Yes. It's been 10 years and we also have been to Mississippi after Hurricane Katrina and walk the beaches trying to help the people that were destitute in a different way. I've also been to Tampa Florida and worked in the hospitals here with the people who may not be in quite as physically a destitute place, but sometimes in many ways more destitute of place just because of the life situations that they're in

02:39 And it's been an incredible experience over the last 30 years that we known each other.

02:46 Yeah, the more recent getting together which I guess is now been

02:52 When did we first go to Haiti in 1996? That was when the hospital was first starting to develop its up in the middle of nowhere in the mountains in the northern part of Haiti. Not too far from the Dominican Republic. Probably the poorest part of the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and when we first went

03:15 There is no place to sleep. There is no true operating room. We brought all our supplies and

03:24 Tried to help in any way we could I think part of the lesson was that we thought that we were going to help others and part of what I learned is that we truly went and were helped by the people. We went to help probably for myself. Anyway on more than I could ever help them. We operated we help people we perhaps save some lies I think going there and letting people know that you care enough to try to help them is as important as anything else that you do your teacher learn.

04:04 So

04:06 When you first knew that you were going to go to Haiti. How did you?

04:12 Pikachu team

04:14 And who was all involved in that? Well having had to arrange that trips for every time we've gone. I think that

04:25 I always wanted to go overseas to help people and when I before I finish my residency, I looked around for places to go and it required about 3 years and I couldn't commit to that and then I realize that you don't really have to go away to find the jungle. It can be in your own backyard. And when I found that and realize that and understood that I realize that there were places in our community that needed help just as badly as other places and I started working there but then I always felt the need to go somewhere else to what was the the place locally that are referring to the judeo-christian health clinic is the largest free clinic in the Southeast and it's in Tampa, Florida. It's a clinic that takes care of the medically Indigent those who cannot afford health insurance, but make too much money the Working Poor so they cannot qualify for government help assistance in a trace about 21,000 visits.

05:25 Here now and our community and it's a wonderful wonderful place. It doesn't credible good. But the thing you realize when you go overseas is that there are places in this world that

05:39 For people to not have the ability to find places like the clinic because they're not there and those are the places that at this point in my life. Although I still work at the clinic that I feel called to say to serve me. I had people ask me frequently is why do you go overseas when they're so much need here? Well my specialty I'm your anesthetist.

06:07 You can't do it and you know without getting certificates up the Gazoo and also.

06:17 The funding in the credentialing in the government. You got to have it all to the T in when you're when they're going on a swim budget. Not that you cut corners on patient care. I don't think that but sometimes you don't use the fanciest things and what about the supplies that you have for Haiti as you know what you need that.

06:44 You don't have to have

06:47 The best of everything to be able to help people. I'm a surgeon and I can operate the same as through Jen's operated a hundred years ago just by knowing anatomy and having some basic equipment couldn't do anything without you because you can't do anything without anesthesia, but

07:05 We're so spoiled in this country because we have so much and we take so much for granted that.

07:11 It's hard to think outside the box and understand that you can do things without having all the equipment and everything we have and that's one of the things that I really learned from you is that you can think outside the box you can do things because they need to be done because you realize if you don't do them, even though they might not be done as well as it would be done in our country. Perhaps if you don't just never begin

07:37 The reality that we have in our country is probably not the reality that the majority the world has and it's hard to understand that sometimes when you're here in this world. I remember one of art frequently when we've gone to hate a week the accessory people that are with us they get to go to the market and then get to go down to the schools and you and I frequently

08:08 Stay in the operating room and just do one case after another because that's what we're there to do.

08:15 However, one year we did get to get away and we went to the market and I think this was during the UN sanction and we went down to and walk through there and and you saw like little vials that they had somehow gotten from the hospital that some still had a little bit of medicine in them and they were nothing what are they going to use those for and I guess spices.

08:41 Salton whatever wherever they can people in those circumstances can

08:49 Device to think about that but on my way home, I'll my husband was out on his boat and I was supposed to go get some supplies and I remember going into Kmart Super Kmart.

09:04 And

09:08 Going in there.

09:10 And just seeing the stuff, you know, just you know, 10 varieties of wash rags and soap and toys and

09:21 Pots and pans and on and on and on on but just being so humbled by the

09:29 The awesomeness of it, you know, it was incredible in that, you know, you just thinking all this stuff. They don't even have the stuff to sell if they could sell it.

09:40 So when you have gone to Haiti.

09:48 What are some of the different places that you've worked when you gone are even you know, so what am I trying to say, but we worked in three different places over 10 three different parts of Haiti differences in them.

10:02 And also Africa

10:07 Place in the mountains is so desperately poor and in this particular country. The land has been abused to the point where all the trees are cut down and then all the dirt left. And now what used to be tropical for is just become arid desert almost and it's very difficult even ticket food. We've worked in the hospital near Port-au-Prince, which is much more sophisticated for

10:39 Does the standards in this country? Because it's part of the city. I'm in.

10:46 Robitussin qua, which is a very good hospital but compared to hospital. Probably be about 1950s and then we worked in bone soon, which is at the very southern part, which is a nice little hospital that again is probably about the 1940s or 50s and then and Uganda the hospital there was built that I've been to stop by the British.

11:12 In the forties the 30s or 40s and the equipment that they have.

11:18 Hasn't improved too much since then, for example, when we were there last year, I walked into a little room and there was a kerosene lamp in a wooden box and there were three premature babies in this wooden box with the light bulb underneath it.

11:35 And that was their incubator and we so take for granted the things we have here. We don't appreciate.

11:45 I think the extent of what we've been given by being born in this country and and being exposed to the things were exposed to but part of that I think is because we have that knowledge. We need to try to share it with people that don't have it with the incubator. We came back here and we're able with the help of the hospital and the Air Force and the CDC and countless other people get to incubators that were being thrown out from the hospital here to that little hospital and Uganda and they now have babies in them and you can do those things if you just think the impossible if you dream that Impossible Dream and think while you know, what maybe we can make this happen. I think it's part of part of what stops us from trying to do things is that

12:38 As adults we forget that.

12:42 If you just try you don't know who you might go as children, you just do it, but as we become older and a little more.

12:51 Control in a little less spontaneous. I think sometimes we just think po there's no way that can happen and so you don't try but if you just try you never know.

13:02 What's going to come up the actions that you take?

13:06 One sort of example of that does remember years ago in Haiti when we were taken care of us little burn victim and he was going to be

13:20 Left when we were leaving in a day or two.

13:25 Laying there in the in the beds at night in the hospital when we used to sleep in the hospital section and thinking while he's

13:33 What's going to happen to Walton and tell me?

13:38 What you did to

13:40 He was a 18 month old that had a 40% total body surface area burn up in the mountains in.

13:48 We need that he would die if we left him there because he couldn't get the care that you needed in. This was back when the UN embargo is one.

13:57 There is no cell phone access or satellite phone. All they had was a CB radio in a hurricane and hit the week before So the antenna for the CB radio was that and so one of the nurses had to crawl to the top of this Tower to straighten it out. So we could send a message to the United States to a ham operator in I think it was in Indiana or somewhere so that he could call my office and Tampa to tell my office to contact the missionary group to let them know that we had to get this baby to Tampa and out of that that happened and we were able to get the United Nations to send a helicopter to this tiny village in the middle of nowhere Russian helicopter pilot.

14:45 To fly this baby and you flew with him in the helicopter back to Port a prince for a jet brought him back to Tampa where he went to Tampa General Hospital spring unit and stayed until he was healed and then he stayed with you and your husband and for a couple of days in my house until we could take him back home and his mother the thing that was so poignant about that to me was that when we when we took him we had to get permission to take him and his family let him go not knowing if they'd ever see him again, but when they let him go they brought these beautiful clothes this little white outfit that

15:28 Was so clean and perfect and beautiful friend to wear on the plane because they didn't want him to come to this country not dressed. Right even though they had nothing to report dirt farmers and there's no way we could put that outfit on it. But I remember promising his mother that we'd bring him back to her dressed in that outfit and remember how when we were driving that we put that little outfit on him over is just talking so we could be in that outfit when we dated on the truck. Yeah that that morning it comes back to my mind. It was time for him to go home because he turned into a toddler and I remember the, you know, the plugs at the house and all the cabinets and all the things that you do when you have little babies around your supposed to have taken care of to safety proof your house.

16:19 And

16:20 How to remember him not he didn't how to play with toys and remember bananas how much like the nanny are you like to eat? I remember the

16:33 When we first got them when we went home with him and he would walk by and stand by the chair. I had a little seedy chair in the you know, little infant not a toddler chair that would sit up to the table and he loved to eat and then on the way back.

16:53 On the little plane. I think we've given him a banana and then we got on the big playing outside of Miami rent in Miami. Is it to fly to Puerto Prince and the food cart went by and he had this hissy fit cuz he wanted all the bananas. Well, he from the hospital the food cards cuz I didn't know that he knew that there was food in their butt.

17:21 So I know on some of them mission trips that I've done there's always memorable.

17:30 But I think it's a memorable patient and usually there's a big thing every like waddling was that time tell me some one of the things that I did. I think that the talking about water.

17:44 One of the things that

17:47 Along the line of what what can happen out of something that you don't know what the long-term

17:54 The long-term story will be just turn this my life since we don't know what the long-term story this little baby will be your house his surviving and coming to this country will affect things. You don't know it might it might not certainly it changed his life.

18:09 But the other story that I think is so incredible is the story of Martha who's from Africa.

18:16 And what her story has grown to be a story of just one girl and two story of a whole village and is continuing to grow and she was a 15 year old girl that had a hole in her heart and couldn't get any help her parents have both died of AIDS and she was an orphan living with her uncle and they couldn't find a way for her to get that surgery that she needed and she was getting weaker and weaker and sicker and sicker side of desperation. They sent an email to me.

18:50 Because my email address has been in an article that have been in the College of Surgeons bulletin about Adlon and asking for help and I got this email on New Year's Eve.

19:02 This little girl and just said I am a 15 year old work and I have a hole in my heart. Can you help me and from that she was able to come over with the help of Rotary Club and Gift of Life in the hospital and other people to have her surgery and she and Uncle stayed with us and

19:22 And she just fine and went home, but because of the contacts that came from that little girl now is in college and doing great.

19:31 An association was made with the village many kids have been sent a college from that grew in association with the church and the village to the point that a preschool is napping. 18 homes for the widows and orphans and the child race families have been built by Wells have been built in the village a regular schools in the process of being work. They're building a farm for them to raise their own money so that they can keep things going and not depend upon us and become self-sufficient and it's just continuing to grow and grow and grow and it's amazing how things that happened continue to grow if you let them or how if you just take that step.

20:16 Things will change forever perhaps in ways. You may never have understood when you started to take it.

20:25 Tell me about it like in Haiti where we had a similar.

20:30 Story, you know we when we first went and the hospital was so trashed and

20:37 I'd really nasty and

20:42 We had to

20:44 Think about the philosophy of do we go in there and do it ourselves and we have that continued it was an American scar coming in to take care of everything or do we go in there with a a Bangla show them why we

21:01 I think this is my via a nicer way to do it. The important thing is to understand like that quote that you sent me about how

21:13 Be careful where you walk do not tread on other people that God has walked here before you.

21:21 You are stepping into someone else's reality when you enter their world and you cannot think that you can put your reality into their world. You have to step into their reality and let their reality become your reality. Just like when you come home, you can expect the people at home to understand the reality of the world. You came from and aggressive. Important lesson that anytime you go to another country or another culture. You need to understand that it's a horrible mistake to try to force your culture on another person. You need to step into their world and try to work with them in their world and understand that they have things to teach you just as perhaps you have things to teach them and that together you can both learn and grow one of the big mistakes is if you go in there and try to say this is the way to do it because I know

22:13 They know a lot too and you need to take their lessons and incorporate them with your lessons into where you go from the point. You're at the point you want to be at when you finish and I think that's something that it's really important for people to understand when they go to other countries not only to do Mission work or surgery or whatever it is you do even if you're just traveling are your tourister anything you can't take an arrogance and think that you have all the answers because you don't mean we're all the same no matter where we are where we were born or whoever you were raised or where we come from were all the same. Basically I did.

22:56 To think that one person is different than another better or worse as this a real mistake.

23:04 Share with us when we always get this right we want to share that experience with those we love and you've been able to bring your sister and also your daughter tell us a little bit about that experience and how

23:29 It's helped you in your family situation.

23:36 Heavy duty ha

23:39 It's interesting.

23:43 Having people in your family enter the world that you work in when they've never seen it before and I think what it does is it shows them a different picture of you the one that they have on the day-to-day living of life because we all have different rooms perhaps in our in our personalities and then our lives and sometimes people never go in the rooms that are that part of us and it's I think I'm very

24:14 Liberating and the feeling thing to have the people that you love see those parts of your being I can have a better understanding of your home being like like they knew you was the sister and the play made in the confidante, but they never saw you as the professional surgeon doctor decision maker decision mom maker, but not necessarily the decision for a group.

24:48 And now for you, so it's always a great fun taken out and I had our honeymoon.

24:57 In Nigeria and though he was the Chief Financial Officer and and he went along and he was the the helper in the assistant and

25:13 The deal about having him shave the patient's then I know some instances he had to give demonstrations on how to use the the toilet because some of these people have never seen a toilet before

25:26 He was real proud of himself for never having nicked anybody on the Shaving things. So having visions of him riding off and on a motorcycle to get gasoline or getting the generator going, you know things I never saw him in that role either, but but we learn to do what we need to do.

25:47 Tell us a little bit about the trip.

25:52 From your house

25:55 To Mom and Crush you

25:58 I think any true of the hardest part of it's a first step.

26:02 Deciding you're going to do it and then learning all the steps you have to take to get wherever you're going to go. And what we have to do is gather supplies. We say the things that would normally be thrown away in the operating room and weary sterilize them and pack them and send them ahead. Now, we used to take him with us and that was really hard. And remember that time we had the the box that we we thought it was a great box and it ended up being one of those.

26:37 You know contaminated things for the call that we had to get off the plane and go right down and identify it identify it and that was before September 11th.

26:50 And then we fly to Miami and from Miami, we fly to Puerto Prince and then imported Prince we go to another airport, but we can in a small Mission playing pick up. The first time you saw we're picking up your luggage at the airport there in Port-au-Prince you go through customs and you have to get all your boxes together and it's utter chaos, and there's a lot of noise and it's very hot and there's

27:19 People everywhere and they're all crammed together and everybody's fighting over the bags and then you go through customs and if they find

27:27 For any reason

27:30 They think that they need to teach you something. They'll start opening all your boxes and going through everything. It's an interesting experience, but it's like anywhere if you're just nice to people though, pretty much what you do what you need to do. How about when you walk out of the airport into the city of Port-au-Prince?

27:52 The building the hard part there is that there are so many tests people.

28:00 Who have such need and they feel like the only way they can fill that need is to beg and having to

28:11 Walk by these people who you know are desperate just have food and not be able to help all of them. Are you in one of them? Because if you give money to one person then everybody descends upon you and it can be very dangerous. It's a very hard thing especially the first time you do it, but then when you get finally to a car you go to the other airport and you get a little tiny Mission plane, which is very hard to do cuz you have to pack all your stuff and it's a single-engine plane and then you fly to this field.

28:44 I'm at the first time we flew to the field where you had to buzz the cows to get them out of the way and then the plane lands and these children come running cuz they don't have anything else to do.

28:57 And another just so cute.

29:02 But you can tell they're so hungry. I mean, just tell me what you see when you see little children who have Bragg's on and dirty dirty feet and no shoes and sores and their hair is discolored because they don't have enough protein and their bellies are swollen.

29:30 And they're naked and the older children are usually watching the younger children.

29:43 And you think of your own children, then you think of their full tummies and you think of their toys and he think of all that they have and is he these other children there are hurting so if this is really a big contrast, you know, here are our kids are wondering or whether their iPod is going to be white or whether they're going to have a different color thing and these but this is the reality that our children live in and they have

30:12 This is the reality our children are in and they have different kinds of demons and different kinds of problems that they have to live with with here and to try to stay that one is better or worse. I don't know if we really can do that. I think that

30:28 Wherever you are is where you are.

30:33 I think in many ways.

30:36 Living in a very rich country

30:39 Having everything that we could possibly need having no.

30:46 Hunger having no despair knowing that you you will always be able to get to the next day.

30:54 Somehow because there's somebody somewhere in this country that can help you in some some ways. That's a lot harder to live in a world like that than in a world where all of those superficial things are Stripped Away. And the only thing that really matters is what really matters sometimes trying to find who you are and your face and

31:18 What's really important in life can be more difficult for a rich child covered in material Goods in our country then per child in a poor country. That doesn't mean that a child in the poor country. Has it easy?

31:33 Just trying to survive. It's so difficult, but they're different ways of surviving and their different ways of time.

31:41 And I think the

31:43 Wherever we are as I said as it's where we are and that's where we need to live and grow and try to take the things we can from wherever we are and use them in places where they can help others.

31:58 So what is kept you?

32:01 Wanting to do these kind of trypsin and the work all the work in between time organizing it and getting the supplies. And also you're the taking up the space of your office in your your storeroom and your

32:19 Your house and they're doing when we both experienced that what keeps you in that I think for both of us and I'll speak for you too, and you can speak to that too.

32:30 It's because it feeds you.

32:34 It gives you something that you can't describe in words, really?

32:41 It allows you to touch people and be touched by people in ways that.

32:46 Make you more of what you're supposed to be perhaps in this world. I mean, we're only here a short time what we do with our time. It's our choice.

32:57 We all make choices that direct the past that we walk in for me. And I know for you these choices help us to grow and expand and give us so much back so much more than we could ever ever say that we give least I can say that for me that some of these procedures. I mean, it didn't really seem like a big deal here, but it's life-changing surgeries like the big goiters and the big fibroids and emergency C-section C-sections and also hydrocele. I happen to remember this C-section. We did and on Sunday morning the first one I've ever done since I was a resident

33:44 And knowing that if we hadn't done that that mother and baby both would have died.

33:49 Not that we

33:52 We're so great. But just the fact that we happened to be there at that particular time with skills that allowed us to.

34:00 Change things a little bit for those two people. Well actually the whole family.

34:06 I mean. That's such a gift to us to know that that we were able to be part of that.

34:13 I can imagine.

34:16 And I'm not having that experience one of the things that we both.

34:22 Observed is sometimes we go on these trips and we just keep going and keep going in this passion and it always was to take a break or I can't I didn't I usually do some 30 patients a day. I can't do more than 30 in.

34:40 What about all those people?

34:44 Well, that's it your passion. You know, you got to find your passion in life. I think no matter what it is. If you find your passion in life will be fulfilled. This is our passion other people have other passions and they're filled before us I think this is our passion and we were both very lucky that we've been given.

35:04 Ability in the gift to be able to to do our passion. What more is there? Really?

35:12 So we went we just have a few minutes left. But can I ask you kind of going back to the other end is there and this is for both of you?

35:23 Was there something early on what brought you to this early on? What brought you to this desire? Was there something as a child some experience or something that you experience that let you know that this is what you wanted to do.

35:42 I

35:43 Think

35:46 That

35:49 I remember as I was growing up I used to always.

35:53 Pray, God use me as you can, you know just use me as you can and I guess this is where I was most useful when I was about seven.

36:15 My brother was to

36:19 And he was home.

36:21 Walking in water in the lake. He disappeared and nobody knew pretty wedding.

36:28 And

36:30 We are looking for him and mother was pregnant with my other brother and wanted people tripped over him in the bottom of the lake.

36:39 And

36:43 It was the doctor there. Who was this urologist in? He did the old fashioned CPR on him?

36:50 And he came back to life.

36:54 And he lived.

37:02 And I remember Dr. Talents in line between life and death now.

37:12 The Fragile if it is how you never know.

37:17 What can change which side to fall on?

37:20 And it probably

37:23 Add a huge impact on me.

37:26 It was another time when I was 13, and we were on the lake and I had a friend visiting me and we were in a boat with Boston Whaler with a flat front and one of the boys driving it was showing off and doing figure eights.

37:44 And my friend flew off the front of the boat and the motor hit her arm.

37:50 And the whole leg turned red and she was screaming and

37:56 The guys just for Frozen and I jumped in and pulled her out.

38:00 Took her to the shore and

38:03 Try to stop her bleeding and she did. Okay, but

38:07 I think that probably

38:10 I had a huge impact to because the surgeon Dexter arm and saved her arm and I think both of those things really made me want to go into medicine even though I didn't know that that's where I went into.

38:27 I've been blessed with so many things in my life.

38:32 I

38:35 I am I just feel like the type need to get back.

38:39 My fourth child was stillborn.

38:47 And I'm

38:49 That was very hard.

38:52 You know Genie.

38:54 Sleep in there and

38:58 The loss of a child

39:01 Thomas loss of her brother her friend you realize that there's anything you can do to try to prevent other people from going through those kind of horrible experiences, and you should try to do that.

39:15 Should try to change the world. Maybe leave it just a little bit better.

39:23 When you leave cuz we're only here.

39:27 Very very short time

39:31 What about Eugenie?

39:33 I went in the nursing because I didn't want to be a teacher being the oldest of nine ten children and I I just didn't want to be wiping the noses and all that and

39:49 When I went into nursing I

39:51 Found my passion along the way I discovered. I I love the or and then when I got into Anastasia, and I knew

40:04 When I was young that I I wanted to do some kind of service thing.

40:10 But you have families and marriage and paying the bills and those things.

40:17 Two presidents for a few years and and then I had the time and

40:25 It grew I didn't expect it to be like that.