The International Extremity Project (IEP) supports humanitarian projects and supplies medical assistance to the people of Vietnam, Namibia, and Angola through medical missions. Our medical teams correct physical lower-extremity deformities to give many needy people a new chance at life. Our volunteer doctors perform surgeries and provide local doctors with much-needed modern medical equipment and training in modern western techniques.

Since starting as a student nurse with IEP in 2015, I have been on 5 missions to Vietnam, Namibia and Angola. Throughout my time on the IEP team I have learned so much about these different cultures, communities and their needs. The gaps in care I have witnessed in these underserved populations has made me even more passionate about bringing medical assistance to the communities that need it most.

I am thrilled to have been promoted to the Assistant Director of Nursing for the International Extremity Project as I begin to take on a leadership role in this organization I hope we can change as many lives as possible on each mission.

All supplies are donated or purchased from donations. Most of what we don't use in our patient procedures, we donate to the hospitals to help provide supplies that are harder to obtain locally. In Vietnam, we provide all supplies related to patient care, including medications, crutches, and splints. We also fund and pay the hospital for services used while there.

As we prepare for each mission, the medical team gathers supplies from big to small. Our wish list of supplies ranges from specialised surgical equipment to items as seemingly simple as sutures, blades, and casting materials.

The IEP team is entirely made up of volunteers. We use our vacation time and are each responsible for covering the costs of airfare, hotel, and in-country travel through donations or our own personal funds and individual fund-raising efforts. All additional funds go toward supplies and in-country hospital charges.