MEDLIFE, or Medicine Education Development for Low Income Families Everywhere, is an organization that strives to give impoverished families support and necessary tools to improve their communities. Wylie junior Ava DePrang found out about MEDLIFE online and decided to begin a chapter here in Abilene. With Mrs. Lang as the sponsor, DePrang, Natalie Bliznak, Marianna Deynzer, Maya Muckatira, and Lucas Zwernemann make up the executive board of the MEDLIFE chapter at Wylie. In addition to organizing meetings and volunteer opportunities in our own community, this past summer the group was able to travel to Lima, Peru with Zwernemann’s grandfather and Mrs. Cole. For students interested in joining our chapter, meetings are held every second Thursday of the month. It’s important to know that MEDLIFE is not just for those entering the medical field; the organization encompasses so much more than medicine.

When MEDLIFE takes teams to other countries, the goal is not to volunteer and then abandon unfinished projects but to partner with the community and make a lasting positive impact. In Peru, a clinic with seven stations was run by both MEDLIFE and local volunteers. Each chapter spent three days working at the clinic, which included stations such as dentistry, education, and pharmacy. Our students were able to assist in these tents; for example, they marked doctors’ charts or taught children how to brush their teeth.

Another project was the construction of cement stairs. The local people had to walk up steep mountains to get to work or to bring home food, and the MEDLIFE team was able to create a safer route for everyone to utilize. One of the most memorable experiences for the Wylie group was the inauguration of the staircase after it had been finished and painted. The whole community came together to enjoy food, music, and dancing as a way to celebrate and express gratitude for the accomplishment of the stairs.

On days when the group was not working, they were able to explore and learn more about the culture of the Peruvians. In doing this, all of the students agreed that they gained a different perspective on the realities of the world. Between the heart of Lima and the outskirts of the city, the state in which people live is drastically different. Within a short distance, modern beauty and poverty exist side by side. Bliznak spoke for the whole team by saying, “I really didn’t realize how grateful I should be; it really opened up my eyes.”