PUC’s Biology Department Serves Thousands in Sri Lanka

From July 7 to 12, Pacific Union College Biology Professors Backil Sung, Aimee Wyrick, and Floyd Hayes, along with 10 of their students, served in Kandy, Sri Lanka. Also on the mission trip were volunteers from Vietnam, the Philippines, Australia, India, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, China, and Hong Kong. All 110 of them provided medical and dental services, offered counseling, reinstalled electrical power lines, addressed financial needs, and hosted Vacation Bible School.

Their team also distributed 3,000 pairs of reading glasses, visited orphanages, cooked meals, conducted health screenings, and provided transportation and food to patients from nearby communities who traveled up to 100 miles outside Kandy. Many of these patients worked in tea gardens and were paid only $2 a day, which they could not afford to spend on lunch or bus tickets.

Sung helped plan this mission trip with the help of his non-profit, All to Heaven, which pledged $25k to renovate the operating room at Lakeside Adventist Hospital in Kandy and $20k to improve the boys' dormitory in Lakpahana Adventist College. He also partnered with their hospital, college, and several organizations, including Together with Seoul SDA Hospital, Jiwon Medical Company, Sahmyook Health University, Ceylon Mission of SDAs, Adventist International Institute of Advanced Studies, and Shinsung Electric and Fire Protection. From these organizations, professionals from medical, nursing, dental, and public health fields, as well as electricians, volunteers from secondary and higher education, and students, traveled to Kandy to help serve.

During the six days in Kandy, PUC and their team treated 1,825 patients in the medical tent, including prescribing medications, manually treating chronic pain patients, and offering spiritual and mental counseling. The cataract surgery team restored 88 patients' vision by replacing their natural lenses with artificial ones, which was made possible by a $52k donation from the International SDA Hospital, a biomedical business agency, and philanthropists. On top of the 3,000 pairs of reading glasses they gave, Sung shipped 1,000 more to Kandy.

In the dental camp, students and other volunteers assisted dentists and dental hygienists to provide teeth cleaning and extraction services to over a thousand patients. Meanwhile, the electricians repaired power lines in homes and school buildings to prevent fires and added more light bulbs to make the classrooms and the auditorium brighter. For the students in the Kandana Branch of Lakpahana Adventist College, Hayes and Wyrick purchased science equipment with the help of the Herber Family Faculty Development Grant to PUC's biology department.

One of the PUC students who volunteered was Marilyn Do. She was responsible for measuring the heights and weights and calculating the BMI of the patients at the Lakpahana College. "In the fast-paced rush of getting as many people into the school as possible, the random thank yous, hugs, and handshakes from patients as they exited the clinic were enough to slow me down and realize the impact that we were making,” she said. By meeting many students, Do gladly keeps in contact with some of them, despite the 12-hour time difference.

She recalls her week in Sri Lanka as an “unforgettable” experience. “I felt that this mission trip truly polished me as an individual,” said Do. “I not only gained essential communication skills but also a reinforced passion for helping others, along with countless memories; I felt evolved in both my faith and mental fortitude. Having first-hand experience of the new outlook I’ve gained through this mission trip, I am eager to join future ones as well. I hope to continue advancing my faith and exercising goodwill in these trips.”

The mission trips that PUC’s biology department takes every year continues to increase in volunteers. Still, unfortunately, they cannot accept everyone, which is why the organization group is planning two mission trips next year in Africa and Asia. For the PUC students, it was terrific to see them take time out of their summer break to serve in another country and fulfill the Adventist mission.