September 29, 2026 | Project C.U.R.E
Meredith Evilsizer has spent years learning to think like a nurse. She is a certified nursing assistant and a trained phlebotomist, and she is set to finish her bachelor's degree in nursing this December. But this August, on a small clinic floor in Suriname, she felt all of that training come together in a way it never had before.
"As I near the end of nursing school, this trip gave me an opportunity to recognize how much I have learned over the past several years and, more importantly, how much more confident I have become in applying those skills to real patient care," she said.
It was Evilsizer's first trip with C.U.R.E. Clinics. By the time she came home, she had found a deeper passion for nursing and a clear sense of where she wants to go next.
Evilsizer was one of eight volunteers who traveled to Suriname from Aug. 20 to 29, hosted by our partner Newmont. To reach patients, the team rode by bus and boat to small clinics along a river bordered by rainforest.
For Evilsizer, the journey became part of what made the trip so meaningful. "Beyond the clinical experiences, I loved learning about the culture and history of Suriname, connecting with the communities we served, and even traveling by boat to reach clinics," she said.
She also had plenty of support along the way. Six of her teammates were returning C.U.R.E. Clinics volunteers, bringing experience in emergency medicine, occupational medicine, gastroenterology, and nursing. For a first-time volunteer, that meant learning alongside seasoned providers who could guide and encourage her throughout the week.
With that team behind her, Evilsizer quickly found herself leaning on the skills she had worked so hard to build. Triage became one of the most meaningful parts of her week.
"Patient interviewing and assessment are skills I have spent years practicing in nursing school, so being able to use them with patients in Suriname felt like a full-circle moment," she said. "Rather than feeling rushed, I could connect with patients, ask more questions, learn about their lives, and better understand some of the health concerns affecting the local population, including dengue fever and other mosquito-borne illnesses," she said.
That time with patients led to the moment Evilsizer remembers most. While checking a patient's blood glucose, she got a reading of 442 mg/dL, a dangerously high number. Instead of freezing, she started thinking like a nurse.
"I immediately found myself thinking through the situation as a nurse: considering possible causes, what additional information and assessments were needed, the potential risks to the patient, and what interventions might be appropriate," she said. "It was a small moment in the larger experience, but personally it meant so much to me. I could actually recognize the clinical judgment and critical-thinking skills I have spent years developing beginning to come together in a real patient-care setting."
Some of the trip's biggest lessons came from what the team didn't have. As a trained phlebotomist, Evilsizer knows how much the right equipment matters, and the lancets on hand weren't very sharp. Collecting enough blood for glucose and dengue testing took patience and persistence. Some clinics were so small that setting up stations and keeping patients moving took real creativity, too.
"Situations like this required us to adapt, problem-solve, and work with the resources available to us," she said. It is a skill she knows she will carry into every shift of her nursing career.
By the end of the week, those lessons had added up to something bigger. The trip reshaped how Evilsizer thinks about the profession she is about to enter.
"The entire experience reminded me that healthcare is about so much more than completing an assessment or performing a skill," she said. "It is about meeting people where they are, listening to them, respecting their culture, adapting to the resources available, and finding meaningful ways to help."
She came home more certain than ever that she had chosen the right path.
"I returned home from Suriname with greater confidence in myself, tremendous gratitude for the people who mentored me, and even more excitement about becoming a nurse."
That excitement didn't fade once she got home. Evilsizer has already registered for two more C.U.R.E. Clinics trips. She has also expressed interest in becoming a team leader, so she can one day offer new volunteers the same guidance that meant so much to her in Suriname.
Evilsizer's story shows what C.U.R.E. Clinics trips can offer nursing students and newly practicing nurses. They are a chance to use real clinical judgment, learn from experienced providers, and see firsthand how much your care can mean to a patient. Volunteers come home more confident, more capable, and more connected to why they chose nursing in the first place.
Thank you to Newmont for hosting this trip, to the volunteers who mentored and served alongside Evilsizer, and to the donors who make every C.U.R.E. Clinics trip possible.
If you're a nursing student or new nurse ready to put your skills to work, we'd love to have you on a future trip. [Learn more about volunteering with C.U.R.E. Clinics.]
