'Doctors don't die'

When Rebecca Nakanjako was a little girl, she thought doctors didn't die.

She was born in Uganda, and her parents died when she was too young to remember them. A distant relative took her in and raised her in a village without electricity or running water.

They lived in absolute poverty, so poor they could not even consider going to a hospital. If one person got sick, so did everyone else - and if someone got sick enough, Nakanjako's aunt carried them on her back to a public hospital eight miles away. Even then, the trip was often fruitless, because public hospitals don't have medicine.

"I saw people dying," Nakanjako said. "I saw kids dying because there was no medicine. I had this mentality when I was a kid that doctors treat people and doctors don't die. It gave me something. I always say, 'I want to be a doctor because doctors don't die and I will be able to save many people.'"

Nakanjako's dream is coming true. She's a nursing student at North Idaho College, as well as the president of the newly-formed International Student Club - but it was a long road getting here.

At 13, Nakanjako was taken to live with another distant relative, a middle-class woman who lived in town. Nakanjako was able to attend school there, but at home, she was abused. When she finished high school at 17, she ran away to Kampala, the capitol city of Uganda.

"I had no hope of anything. I was just living," Nakanjako said. "I was tired of knowing that the only way to live with someone is when I'm working so much, when I'm suffering, so I decided to just start a new life."

With nowhere to stay and nothing in the world but her small bag, she spent several days on the street. She soon found a job, but said she hated most of her jobs in Kampala. Sometimes she was never paid for her work, and she had to keep on looking for different jobs. What pay she did receive was barely enough to cover rent, clothes and other necessities. Regularly, Nakanjako had to sacrifice what she wanted for what she needed.

In Kampala, Nakanjako had no support system.

"I had no one," she said, "so I always feared getting sick, because I knew I may die and maybe my body would be thrown away somewhere."

And then she met the Hunters - Paul and Pam, a married couple and directors of Oregon-based Next Generation Ministries. The Hunters travel to Uganda on mission trips every year. They took an interest in Nakanjako, learning about her past and her dreams for the future.

"I would say that God is the one who sent them," Nakanjako said. "I moved from where I was to their home. They accepted me as their child."

Because of her interest in medicine, Nakanjako worked with various medical teams in Uganda, and her natural aptitude for the work was obvious. Dr. Brian and Maren Snyder, who own and operate Prairie Family Medicine in Coeur d'Alene, did a medical mission with Next Generation Ministries in March 2014. They were impressed with Nakanjako and wanted to help her get a medical education. The Snyders became Nakanjako's host family, and she is living with them while she pursues her degree at NIC.

Nakanjako was also elected president of the International Student Club. Created in 2014, the club is a place for international students to meet one another, as well as students from the United States. It's for anyone interested in learning about global cultures and experiences, not just students from abroad.

"It enables us to have the diversity and understanding globally," said Evanlene Melting Tallow, advisor to the International Student Club, as well as the American Indian Student Alliance. "It's something you're not going to get from other clubs."

Melting Tallow said North Idaho College is looking to recruit more international students, as well as to create an intensive English-language program. The new club is just one part of an effort to create a welcoming and supportive environment for international students.

Nakanjako's host family is planning another medical mission trip to Uganda in May. She brought the idea of fundraising to support the trip to the International Student Club. It's set to be the club's first big project.

"We wanted to touch people's lives," Nakanjako said. "There are many children living on the streets that don't have medical care. I relate myself with those kids, because I also grew up in that kind of situation. All my life, I never went to a hospital to see a doctor."

In Uganda, she said, nobody has to announce that the medical mission doctors are coming. The missionaries just set up their station and word spreads like wildfire. Hundreds of sick and injured come seeking medical care - but sometimes, people need more than that. Many children who come for care don't have clothes or shoes. Missionaries provide these things as well.

The club has started a campaign on GoFundMe.com, a crowd-funding website. Its goal is to raise $10,000 for supplies for the medical mission by April 10.

For now, Nakanjako continues to work hard in school and make plans for what she'll do when she finishes the nursing program.

"I want to get those skills and take them back home," Nakanjako said. "It's where I want to work. I don't care what conditions I'll be working in, but I know I will be touching a child's life in some way. It's what I feel that I can do with all my heart."

To donate to the International Student Club's fundraiser to support Next Generation Ministry's medical mission trip to Uganda, visit www.GoFundMe.com/m8kqtc. To learn more about the club, visit www.facebook.com/NICINTLSTUDENTCLUB.

Kaye Thornbrugh is the former managing editor of the NIC student newspaper The Sentinel and an intern in the NIC communications and marketing department.