Providing Nutrition For Patients
Trina Laidlaw studied to be a dietician, hoping to land a big job in a fancy hospital, but God had other plans. Working in a rural clinic for almost 10 years meant she learned many skills through seeing a wide range of patients in all stages of life that she would not have in a city hospital. However, Trina worried her rural experience was not enough to volunteer with Mercy Ships — she couldn’t have been more wrong!
Now in Sierra Leone for her third field service, Trina is excited to help undernourished patients reach their goal weight for a safe surgery. She knows the need is great but is confident in what God will do.
In this episode, Trina shares about her journey to Mercy Ships, the new skills she’s learned and the joy of watching lives be transformed both inside and out.
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New Mercies Podcast Transcript
Welcome to the New Mercies, a podcast by Mercy Ships, where we’ll take you behind the scenes and on board our incredible hospital ships that are transforming lives all over the world. We invite you to join us each week as we sit down with our crew, patients, volunteers, and partners to hear their stories of life-changing hope and healing.
Australian Trina Laidlaw always wanted to use her skills as a dietitian to help others. And after serving in a rural clinic for many years, she brought her experience to Mercy Ships to volunteer as the infant feeding coordinator. Now she gets to help undernourished patients get to a healthy weight to receive safe surgery. Get ready to be encouraged. Here is my interview with Trina Laidlaw.
Raeanne Newquist:
Well, Trina welcome to New Mercies.
Trina Laidlaw:
Thanks for having me.
Raeanne:
Now, I understand that you just completed the voyage down to Sierra Leone. And why don’t you tell us a little bit about the sail and about the arrival into Sierra Leone.
Trina:
So the sail was amazing. The first day we left Tenerife, we had a little stopover in the northern end of the island. And we’d actually been experiencing quite a lot of winds in Tenerife before we left. So it was nice to have a little bit of a lighter breeze on our way down to Sierra Leone. We always often like to put wildlife on our calendar for the sail. So we did get some of that, thankfully, some dolphins and whales and turtles and flying fish, so that is always exciting. So we did have pretty good weather. The last night was a little bit rocky. But all in all, it was a really, really fun sail. Really good time to just relax and spend time together. The arrival to Sierra Leone, it was my third sail, but my first sail into a new country. So previously, I’ve sailed into Senegal twice. And this is probably the most exciting arrival ceremony I’ve ever seen. There was acrobats, people on stilts. I was filming but my face cringing, hoping they wouldn’t fall over. People playing instruments, just people everywhere. It was amazing just to receive the welcome that we had to this country that we’ve returned to after 12 years.
Raeanne:
How exciting. It’s always such a gift to see the anticipation, the excitement, the joy on the people’s faces. They’re just so thrilled that we’re there. And I love that Mercy Ships only goes to places where we are invited, first of all, and then the way the country receives us and welcomes us is so beautiful. And it’s kind of like a carnival, like a show. You’re saying there’s acrobats and there’s music and so so much fun.
Trina:
Yeah, I felt like it was just like a show. And then the next day it all happened again, when we had a president come and I didn’t get much work done those two days.
Raeanne:
That’s to be expected. Well, welcome to Sierra Leone. Now I know that you’re from Australia, so why don’t you tell us what did you do back home and then what led you to Mercy Ships.
Trina:
So I am a dietician by trade. So I’ve been working as dietitian since 2011. And I had pretty humble beginnings with my career. I had the desire, like most dietitians in Australia to get a fancy job in a big city hospital. And God had other plans. So I ended up applying for a just a temporary job in a semi rural hospital, which I was at for just under a year. And then ended up getting a permanent position in a rural town called Kingaroy in Queensland, and so that was a three hours drive from Brisbane where my family is and so that was kind of not really the direction I wanted to go. But at the time jobs in health were becoming a little bit unstable due to some budget constraints. So I thought this is a blessing in a time where these things are going on. So I was in that job for just under 10 years, a little longer than I thought it would be. So I really become a generalist at everything and an expert at nothing. So in the same day, you could see a one year old, someone who is 100 years old, a woman who’s about to give birth, and then someone who might be in the end stages of their life. And that might have been two or three different places, different hospitals. So you quickly learned to change gears, which looking back, I learned skills, I don’t think I could have learned in a city hospital. So I’m very thankful for that.
My desire to come to Mercy Ships — my family have always been strong supporters of missions. And even though they haven’t actually served on the mission field, it’s something that we’ve always talked about in our family, and they’ve often financially and prayerfully supported others who’ve gone into mission. And Mercy Ships is one of those names that I have known ever since I can remember. So missions has sort of been on my heart, probably since I was about 16 when I went on my first mission trip, and I would say that’s when God attached my heartstrings for it. So I thought, what is it that I would be able to use, a skill or whatever my profession is, to serve Jesus? From then I suppose that sort of set my trajectory for what I then would study at university. And then I kind of went through phases where the strings weren’t being pulled as hard. But into 2016. I thought, if I want to, if I want to do mission, I probably need to look at what my plan is for that. So I wanted to try and leave my job where I was to try and get a job in a bigger hospital. So I thought that was a requirement to come to somewhere like Mercy Ships.
Over the next two years, I applied for countless jobs, that God for some reason, he had other plans and kept closing those doors. And I thought, okay, maybe I just need to apply and see what happens. I put in my application in 2018 and emailed dieticians who were on board at the time, and they said, rural experiences perfect. I was convinced that I was going to be on the Africa Mercy the following year, that seemed to be another door that closed. And then COVID happened. So nothing happened. And I thought overseas missions was going to be something that wasn’t on the cards for a little while. So then I thought, well, I’d like to go into mission and to share the gospel. So I decided to take the leap of faith and just quit my job where I was, even if I didn’t have another one to go to. I like to have plans and know what my next step is. So it was pretty big for me to do that. So I was in the process of doing that and applied for Bible College. And then two days after I did that, this was in 2021, I got an email from Mercy Ships asking if I could serve in Senegal for four months! So yes, the next month was crazy. Everything shutting down like passport renewal, vaccines, all those sorts of things over Christmas and New Year that start to become less available. But through, say, God’s timing and God’s working, it happened and I came to Senegal in January 2022.
Raeanne:
So quite the journey to get you to Mercy Ships. But here you are. And I love that you mentioned, you kind of assumed that you had to have this big hospital experience. And you found out that kind of the opposite was true, that all of your experience in a rural hospital clinic was really beneficial and helpful for what you’re doing. I think that’s important for our listeners to know sometimes people quickly disqualify themselves but they don’t realize that there are so many opportunities and so much need. So why don’t you tell us what your first time on board was like, what was it like for you to arrive in Dakar on the Africa Mercy?
Trina:
It was kind of a whirlwind getting to the ship and then adjusting to ship life. So it’s the first time I’d lived on a ship. So that in itself was an adjustment. I never really had any problems but just totally different living style to what I was used to. Definitely felt out of my depths at first. Just trying to read through manuals and piece together who I needed to talk to, who I needed to advise things of. And so I was very thankful though there was a dietician who was on board in 2019 and 2020. And she was coming back in the second half of Senegal last year to serve with me. So she was amazing just for me to be able to email or call and just help me through the startup again.
I think the other thing I found really challenging is it was the first field service since COVID. So I wasn’t only learning Mercy Ships, I was also learning what the new normal way was like everybody else. And so people were doing their best to advise me of what usually happens, but it kind of was usually prefaced with — but that was before COVID. And so it was very much a field service of unknowns and trying to manage being able to keep everyone safe, but also deliver on the promise that we’ve made to Senegal. So, yeah, it certainly took me out of my depths. And it was definitely a time where I thought, this is really stretching. And over here, there’s a lot of things that we would do, that are not usually in our scope of practice in our roles at home. So sometimes it felt on the verge of uncomfortable. But that was also an adjustment.
Raeanne:
Can you give us an example of maybe one of those things that you’ve had to do that’s much different than at home out of your comfort zone?
Trina:
We work with speech therapists, and we know a little bit about what they do. Over here, we basically are the speech therapist. We don’t do everything that a speech therapist would do. But we are responsible for working with patients who have had cleft palate repairs, to assist with exercises for strengthening their facial muscles, and also learning to talk again, without a cleft. So for me, yeah, quite interesting. Because it’s not something I do at home, I’m not sure what’s usually done. And then doing it again, doing it again, within an environment where you need to then translate that to another language was another layer on top of that. So I have learnt a lot. And I’ve had some amazing day crew who have been amazing resources, just in their creativity and just being able to do the basics.
Raeanne:
That’s neat. Well, in addition to this added surprise and bonus of speech therapy, why don’t you tell us about your role on board and why it’s important.
Trina:
So my role officially, it’s a bit of a long one, it’s a clinical dietitian and infant feeding coordinator. So I basically lead a team of another dietitian, and we also sometimes have a speech therapist on board, so they work with us. And so we basically oversee the care from the nutrition perspective for patients before their surgery and after their surgery. So we work a lot with babies, all ages, really babies, children, adults, who are underweight and need to be able to gain muscle and weight to be able to have the best outcome for their surgery. So a lot of the time if they’re nutritionally compromised, they have low muscle tone. Then, the healing can become an issue, it can take longer, their wounds don’t close up as well and they’re more likely to have infections. And in places like Sierra Leone, patients often don’t have the food access that they need to be able to maintain a healthy weight and be well nourished. So they often need our input so that we can get them to a place that their body is going to be able to cope with the demand of healing after surgery. Also, children have with difficulty feeding particularly with the clefts, so we work with them with special feeding devices and in formulas to help them be able to get the nutrition they need before their surgery, to be able to get them up to that weight that they need to be.
Raeanne:
Wow, such an important thing. And yet again, another aspect of what we do that a lot of people don’t think about, and I know I hadn’t, but it makes perfect sense, you have to be in strong physical condition in order to make it through a surgery and then to recover properly. So very important. What has been a highlight for you thus far?
Trina:
There’s so many things, it’s hard to narrow down. But I think the blessing of our role is, we often get to see patients through their whole journey. So when they first come on the ship, for their first appointment, and we see them and then through to their last outpatient appointment, which is often once they have been discharged, that’s when they basically leave the care or Mercy Ships. And so we often get to have the privilege of seeing patients through pretty much every step of that journey. And so there’s been so many patients that we have seen such amazing transformation. And not only physically but just within themselves, within just how they interact with other people, you can just see it not just physically in their face, but also in their eyes. And just how this has sort of brought more hope to them and also the caregivers. I’ve even heard them say, we had no hope, we had no hope, and now we have hope. So it’s just amazing that we can be part of that and that they entrust us with that.
Raeanne:
Oh, absolutely. Can you tell us about one of the patients are a couple of the patients that have impacted you and their stories?
Trina:
Yeah, so there was one patient from Senegal, 2022 last year. And he was a little four-year-old boy. And I remember seeing him for the first time I went to visit the Hope Center, which is where the patients stay before their surgery before they come to the ship. And then sometimes for a short time afterwards. And I was not planning to see any patients, I was just there doing other things. And one of the facilitators asked me if I could see this little boy. And so I went and quickly visited him. And he was so withdrawn and miserable and just looked so malnourished. His mother was telling me about how he only ate certain things. And it was really hard for him to eat and get what he needed to. So he was someone that we closely monitored in hospital for a little while before he had surgery to try and help him gain some weight and gave him supplements and monitored some of his blood tests just to make sure everything was okay there. And he then had his surgery. He was one of those patients that I definitely saw over time — it wasn’t just physically he was changing, he became more engaged. He was more happy. He wasn’t crying all the time. And he was a patient who by the end of his time with us before he was going home, he was actually coming into the appointments of other children to join in their speech therapy. Yeah, he himself couldn’t really talk, but you could tell he just was so engaged and he gave me a big hug when he left. And so he was someone just that transformation within himself as well as physically, it was amazing to see that.
Another patient, he’s actually someone who we did a story on, his name is Sheikh and he is a little two year old. He is just a bundle of joy. And he was someone who we saw earlier this year in Senegal. He was actually quite interactive and would pull himself up to try and get your attention but he was someone who had limited variety in his diet. His mother said all he eats is his formula and like rice cereal in a bottle that’s all, he refuses anything else. And so we thought what are we going to do? So with perseverance between myself and other dieticians that were working here, slowly over time, we started to get him to maybe drink some other things. And then we still had difficulty with getting the food that we needed him to have. And then the challenge came after surgery with trying to get him to still eat, again, eat foods. And so it was for us a challenge because the sorts of things, if we did it at home, we would see the child for months and months and months. So we were trying to do our best to do it in a week maybe. So we’re sitting on the floor in the ward, with a blanket and a table and trying to make it fun and blowing bubbles and getting him to throw around bread. And Mum was doing her absolute best to try and encourage him to eat, but he just would not touch it. He was not interested at all. So we thought we can only do our best and just advise mum on things to keep trying at home because we’re coming to the end of the field service as well. So then my colleague took over the care of him after he was discharged from the ward and then came back for outpatient reviews. And one day, I had one of my day crew come running down the hall. And she said he ate, he ate, he ate and he actually put it in his mouth himself and ate it. And it was like the smallest thing but the biggest thing for this little boy, he has done this and I think it’s just that glimpse for us of the hope that we have. And my colleague said that his mum said I didn’t have hope and now I do. And so his story will come out soon. And I’m really excited for people to meet him. He is such a joy.
Raeanne:
Now, what was his condition? What was he there for?
Trina:
Yeah, so he was having a cleft lip repair. So that was the reason that he was not eating was because of his mouth.
That was one of the reasons he had difficulty with eating. So a lot of these babies or these kids who have these problems, or the clefts, either of the palate, which is the kind of the roof of the mouth, or the lip, is it difficult for them to create a seal. It then makes it harder for them to eat. Because sometimes with children also, and this happens in Western countries, too, they just have a sensory aversion, food is just not their friend. And so at work, our goal is to make food fun for them and something that they’re not afraid of.
Raeanne:
What a special job that you have, you know, to give attention to these children and to get them excited about something that they need. We all need that sustenance, that fuel in order to survive, but also to grow and thrive. So I love that he ate and how exciting that is. And we’ll look forward to reading more of his story when that comes out. So now you’re in Sierra Leone, starting up a whole new field service, which is so exciting. What are some of your expectations for this field service?
Trina:
I think there’s a lot of unknowns for us and being in a new country for the first time in four years. I think for me, I am expecting probably the same sort of challenges as we saw in Senegal. And so I think from what I’ve heard with Sierra Leone, sometimes that is it’s even more of an issue with the malnutrition. So I think that will be something that will require a lot of wisdom and just how we address that and try and balance sometimes the difficulties of gaining weight in time to be able to have surgery for those patients. Usually like most African countries, or all African countries that the people are very friendly and also babies, I’ve seen a few babies and they’re super cute. So I expect lots of lots of cuddles. So one thing I didn’t mention before is last year in Senegal, I was told that my job was the best job on the ship because I see cute babies. And I saw one! So I expect to make up for that.
Raeanne:
Absolutely. You know it’s so true. I’ve heard it from so many nurses and even some doctors that when there is a baby that comes into the hospital, and maybe it’s a sibling that the caregiver has brought of the child that’s having surgery, but everyone just kind of fights over those babies. Everyone wants to cuddle those babies. And it’s true when you get to work with teaching them how to eat and how to feed, you get that privilege of cuddling them more. So hopefully, Sierra Leone will give you a lot more babies than Senegal did. Well, as we wrap up our time together, why don’t you tell us how your life has been impacted from the last couple years of serving with Mercy Ships? What compels you to stay?
Trina:
When I went home the first time, which was August last year, so a year ago now, I kind of struggled with the transition back into western life at home. And so I was encouraged to write a letter to myself around what had happened in my first stint with Mercy Ships. And looking back, even though it was very short, the amount that had happened in that time was just crazy, like, so many things, and just experiences that I wouldn’t have had anywhere else. And I think one of the biggest things, even just the last field service we’ve just done with trying to get a new ship into field service and working through all the teething that happens with that is that God still entrusts us to even if we don’t know, or we feel like we’re just completely out of our depth, God has entrusted us to do to do this. I’m someone as I mentioned, I like to plan. I like to know what’s going to happen. And I know I struggle if there’s uncertainty or I haven’t got the all the pieces together, which is exactly what a lot of mission is not.
And so I’ve had to I think this for me has been a huge learning in that God doesn’t require us to have it all together. All He asks of us is that we just say yes to Him, and getting to know the people on Mercy Ships and other crew who have come in, we don’t have it all together. Sometimes we’re not even ready, but we will be ready somehow. So I think just coming in and thinking like with videos and that I’m like, Oh, they’ve got it. They just do such a great job. They just come in and it looks like they’ve got it all together. But having done it, we sometimes call it a beautiful mess. Yeah it gets untidy, but God still work through it. And now I’m saying to people who come on board who are kind of where I was a year and a half ago, look, whatever you’re feeling is completely normal. If you feel overwhelmed, it’s normal. It gets better.
Raeanne:
I love that. And I love that you are carrying on with the Mission of Mercy Ships and Sierra Leone and who knows what God has for you beyond that, as you’ve heard many people on board say I just came for a couple of months. And here I am nine years later, or you know how fill in the blank of the timeframe that there’s something about that place that just captures your heart and, and changes everyone so I love that you get to be a part of that and experience it. Trina, thank you so much for all that you do to help prepare our patients to be strong and healthy for surgery. And thank you for sharing with us today a little bit about your Mercy Ships journey.
Trina:
Thank you so much for having me.
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