by Kelly Field, Public Relations

Brenda Batten, left, and Wendi Aycock spend time with three Bosnian friends in the hematology/oncology unit at Koveso Hospital in Sarajevo.

In appearance, they are virtually indistinguishable from American children. Their eyes are large and sparkling, their smiles crooked and just slightly shy.

Yet as Brenda Batten and the photos of her three-month World Medical Mission in Sarajevo can attest, children in Bosnia lead a very different life from those in the United States.

“One hug means as much to them as the most popular toy means to children here,” said the neonatal occupational therapist, showing pictures of the refuge camp she and fellow Samaritan’s Purse delegate Wendi Aycock (nurse, pediatric hematology and oncology) frequented during their stay.

In one, a child grins out from the wheel of an abandoned Coca Cola truck; in another, children with painted faces stand outside makeshift tents, the more luxurious of the refugee accommodations. Others recline within a poorly-heated, bombed-out cola factory.

“Their circumstances were really dismal,” recalled Aycock and Batten, who were recommended to the organization by Bill Deans, a parishioner in their church and the Samaritan’s Purse coordinator for juvenile heart surgeries nationwide. “We were there to help the children forget what they were living with. We got really close to several of them in spite of the language barrier.”

But entertaining children was only a part of the relief work undertaken by Aycock and Batten. Returning to the country after a summer of church-led hospital volunteerism, they spent much of their time educating the Bosnian nurses, left by a devastating war with few supplies and even less expertise.

“Basically, we showed them how to make their environment more comfortable for the kids,” explained Batten, describing the backward practices that were in place when they arrived. “They had babies in oversized diapers, newborns lying next to blasting rock music, and the mothers sleeping in bunk beds and allowed feeding visitations only every three hours.”

“The nurses were good people, just not very knowledgeable,” she added.

According to Aycock and Batten, their informal lessons, as well as two trunk loads of supplies donated by manufacturers, helped to update these medical practices.

“We showed them how to position babies so they didn’t end up with deformities,” said Batten, who consulted MUSC nurse Kathy Chase when she didn’t know an answer to a nurse’s inquiry. “It was a really different situation from here, where I rely a lot on the nurses’ expertise. There, if something went wrong, it fell to me.” Yet while both Aycock and Batten mentioned friendships with the nurses as among the most rewarding aspects of their experience, they agreed that not every one was receptive to their advice.

“The work ethic was a little different there, probably because they make only about $150 a month,” said Aycock.

“It took us awhile to figure out their culture,” added Batten. “At first we were giving formal lectures to every shift that came in during a week. After awhile we shifted tactics and worked alongside them.”

Yet in spite of their backwardness in medicine, the Bosnians were, as Aycock remembers, very vanguard in style. “Their mentality is really European,” she said. “They’re really into Vogue haircuts, Vogue fashions. They watch our soap operas....they keep up with what’s hip.”

Though not anticipating a return to Bosnia anytime soon (their bosses were lenient enough to allow them a three-month leave once, they agreed), both Aycock and Batten look forward to seeing their refugee and nurse friends sometime in the future. All of the Bosnian nurses showed up for their departure on Dec. 21, and they recently sent their friends a bunch of pictures and video footage of the hospital children receiving their Christmas presents.

“It was a privilege to be over there and work with them,” concluded Aycock. “It was wonderful to see them get excited about learning some of the new things.”

“They are such giving people even though they don’t have anything,” added Batten, relating stories of receiving candy bars and trays of drinks from the impoverished, yet hospitable, children and nurses. “It was hard to leave knowing we’d probably never see most of them again. I wanted to pick up all the kids and bring them home.”

And the mission continues. Deans, is currently in the country, picking up young heart surgery hopefuls for treatment in hospitals nationwide. More than 35 operations have been volunteered so far, six of them at MUSC.