Women's Soccer 4/15/2020 1:18:00 PM David Halstead

Women's soccer trio provides medical service on Ecuador mission trip

Loretto, Pa. – Three Saint Francis women's soccer players were part of a team of 14 SFU students who participated in an alternative spring break medical mission trip to Ecuador in early March.

Junior Shaelyn Parry (Gibsonia, Pa/Pine-Richland) and sophomore twin sisters Heather and Jordan Markiewicz (Darnestown, Md/Northwest) went on a week-long trip through HUGS United (Helping the Underprivileged by Giving our Service). During the trip, the mission team was hosted by FIMRC (the Foundation for the International Medical Relief of Children) in Anconcito, a small fishing village in the Santa Elena province of Ecuador.

Women's soccer faculty athletics mentor Dr. Carrie Beebout helped lead the team on the service trip. Beebout is the Master of Physician Assistant Science program director and an associate professor at Saint Francis.

The students were all health science related majors including Physician Assistant, Nursing, Public Health and Bio/Pre-med. Several of the students were also completing requirements for their Medical Spanish minor.

The team participated in a number of medical activities throughout the week. This included holding nutrition clinics for kids where they took the children's vital signs, examined their ears, nose, throat, heart and lungs, checked their developmental milestones and counseled on disease prevention.

The volunteers also helped with a group of diabetic adult patients who met once a week. The team checked their blood glucose levels, counseled on diet and exercise, and did diabetic eye and foot exams.

"My favorite part of the trip was the diabetes clinic where we helped to test patients with diabetes for symptoms such as retinopathy, neuropathy, and hyperglycemia," Parry said. "This was the day where I felt our group made the biggest impact on the community. There were a lot of health problems identified that would not have been otherwise recognized due to limited access to healthcare."

In celebration of International Women's Day, the team conducted a health fair for the community where they checked patients for anemia, counseled on self-breast exams, checked their vital signs and blood glucose levels and counseled on prevention of HPV and coronavirus. Many of the students on the trip spoke spanish and were able to communicate well with community members.

"We ended up having a lengthy conversation with a store owner there about the coronavirus," Jordan Markiewicz (Darnestown, Md/Northwest) said. "We were able to hold a conversation with this man and we learned so much about the culture in Ecuador, as well as the people's worries and fears surrounding coronavirus. It felt like all the studying had paid off, as all three of us were able to successfully communicate what we wanted to say without any problems. It was really cool to experience that."

The mission team also had the opportunity to participate in several after hour activities. These included an impromptu soccer game on a local dirt field with neighborhood kids and another game with the entire team on a turf field. The Red Flash women's soccer players all admitted that being members of a sports team at Saint Francis helped contribute to the overall success of the mission team.

"Being a part of the Saint Francis women's soccer team absolutely prepared me for this trip," Heather Markiewicz (Darnestown, Md/Northwest) said. "We were constantly working together and never really completing tasks alone. The team of volunteers put in the hard work in training for our big events and that paid off as we were able to reach the goals of the trip."

Each member of the service team took home different memories from their experience in Ecuador. Now, everyone on the trip looks to apply what they learned in their daily lives back home in America.

"My biggest takeaways from this trip is to stay humble and be grateful for the things we are blessed with," Parry said. "We hear over and over again about these sayings, but I never realized to what extent we need to take these to heart. Actually being in an environment where people have very little, and living within that type of community for a week, made me reflect on my own life and understand what this truly means. This is something that I hope will remain with me for a long time and help guide my decisions in the future on and off the soccer field."

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Players Mentioned

#18 Heather Markiewicz: F; 5' 4"; Sophomore; Health Science PA

#32 Jordan Markiewicz: D; 5' 4"; Sophomore; Nursing

#33 Shaelyn Parry: GK; 5' 5"; Redshirt Junior; Exercise Physiology

Players Mentioned

#18 Heather Markiewicz
: 5' 4"; Sophomore; Health Science PA
: F

#32 Jordan Markiewicz
: 5' 4"; Sophomore; Nursing
: D

#33 Shaelyn Parry
: 5' 5"; Redshirt Junior; Exercise Physiology
: GK

Players Mentioned

#18 Heather Markiewicz

#32 Jordan Markiewicz

#33 Shaelyn Parry

Players Mentioned

#18 Heather Markiewicz

#32 Jordan Markiewicz

#33 Shaelyn Parry