Not Your Average High School
Road Trip

By Nancy Koziol

While most high school students spent their last few days of summer vacation lounging at the pool or frantically finishing their summer reading lists, Steph Daussin drove from Apex, North Carolina, to Atlanta, Georgia, to deliver medical supplies to MedShare. On August 16, Steph and her father, Fuji, transported a wide variety of medical supplies she had collected from the Rex Nursing Care Center in Apex, where she volunteers.

Currently a rising high school junior, Steph began volunteering at Rex about a year ago. She plans to attend medical school and eventually become a doctor. Her mother Sandra suggested that she volunteer in some type of healthcare institution to see if she would enjoy the work. Steph says that her experience at the clinic has confirmed her desire to pursue a career in medicine.

While she was volunteering, she noticed that many unused or re-usable medical supplies were being discarded. Steph thought that there must be a way for others to benefit from these supplies. She asked her supervisor if she could collect these items until she could find a way to donate them. Her supervisor was very supportive of the idea, so Steph began collecting the supplies and storing them in her garage. After finding MedShare online, she called A.B. Short, MedShare’s CEO and Co-Founder, in order to plan a trip to Atlanta to deliver what she had saved.

While Steph could have simply shipped the supplies to MedShare, she was eager to see the facility and meet the people involved in the process. "Young people, such as Steph," said A.B. Short, "are examples to the rest of us that when you see a problem, it is possible to solve it."

Shipment Update

During the month of July, MedShare International shipped containers filled with vital medical supplies and equipment to healthcare institutions in different countries. The recipients were:

• Nicaragua
  Hospital Lenin Fonseca
• Kenya
  CURE International
• Democratic Republic of Congo
  National Health System
  (2 containers)
• Kenya
  St. Mary's Hospital
  (2 containers)
• Ethiopia
  Yemage Medical Center
• Ecuador
  Flavio Alfaro Public Health System
• Ecuador
  Pedernales Public Health System
• Ghana
  Kunta Kinte Orthopedic Hospital
• Nigeria
  Immaculate Heart Hospital

For more information and ways to support MedShare International, please visit www.medshare.org or call 770-323-5858.