Denise Cucurny looks ordinary enough as she leans back comfortably in her brown office chair, her interlocked hands resting behind her head — yet her work is anything but common.
As well as being a professor of anthropology at Cal State Long Beach, Cucurny is also co-founder of Women for World Health, a nonprofit organization that performs free plastic and reconstructive surgery, OB-gyn, ophthalmology, dentistry and other practices for people in need.
Cucurny’s former student Stephanie Nguy said, “[Cucurny] is the backbone. She makes everything happen through her hard work, connections and commitment.”
Nguy accompanied Cucurny and the rest of the Women for World Health volunteers to Guatemala in April of 2009.
When planning a medical mission, Cucurny travels to the country to assess its needs. She first takes into account whether there is a large enough patient base with the need for surgery. Next, the team evaluates the facilities, taking an inventory of what instruments are located on site — which is usually next to nothing. In most cases, the group must be completely self-contained, traveling with anesthesia machines, sterilizers and other medical supplies.
Cucurny must schedule the mission around weather conditions, being sure to avoid monsoon and hurricane seasons. The team also has to deal with the social conditions of the area, as many of the countries that the organization visits are plagued with civil unrest. Cucurny gave an example of a recent mission to Nigeria that was supposed to take place at the end of July, but had to be canceled due to ethnic conflicts that left hundreds dead in the area.
According to Cucurny, the group can’t take chances in an unstable area since the safety of all who are involved is a top priority.
The missions usually last a week or, in rare cases, two weeks.
“We work really hard, never putting in less than 12 hour days,” Cucurny said. “It is exhausting.”
Within five days, the team performs at least 60 surgeries. While at the location, Cucurny and her colleagues work with local physicians and help train them in the techniques of surgery. It is an essential step to ensure that progress is continued in that area.
“The first time people go on a mission, it is extremely emotional because you see a lot that you have never seen before,” Cucurny said.
In Sierra Leone, the average annual income is $138, Cucurny said. According to the 2006 United Nations World Population Prospect, the infant mortality rate ranks among the world’s worst with 16 percent of infants dying within a year. The number jumps to 28 percent for children who die under the age of five.
Witnessing these conditions can be overwhelming, Cucurny said. While walking through a children’s ward in Nigeria, Cucurny was overcome by the sight of the malnourished children and the bleak conditions of the hospital that had remnants of blood around the facility.
“You look at these kids and you know full well that they are not going to survive,” Cucurny said. “It was really rough.”
The Women for World Health organization works mostly with children since they have the priority for surgery.
Cucurny said some children still preserve a youthful resilience despite desolate conditions while others live in a constant state of vigilance. In Africa, many kids are alienated and abused because of their deformities. They are raised in closets after being accused of witchcraft.
On a visit to an African orphanage, Cucurny met 20 kids who had all been accused of witchcraft and ostracized from the community. One girl, who had just been admitted the day before, still had cut marks across her body. Her neck still displayed the bold rope marks of past hangings. Her appearance contradicted her timid and reserved demeanor. Cucurny said the girl had never seen a tall, blond woman with light colored eyes before and remained cautious.
“I went up and just immediately put my arms around this one particular girl who was really brutalized,” said Cucurny. “I put my arms around her and she just relaxed … she actually smiled.”
Despite the strenuous work and emotional rollercoaster that comes with it, Cucurny said it is moments like these that make it all worth it.
“Yes, we give a lot. Yes, we change lives, absolutely,” Cucurny said. “But when you are there, you get a whole lot more out of it than you give … there is something about your heart that just swells.”
Part of this heartwarming feeling comes from the connection the team makes with the children.
“Every trip, a kid grabs someone’s heart,” Cucurny said. “You never know why, you never know how, you never know when, but it happens to every single team member, every single trip.”
For Cucurny, it happened on a mission in the Amazon. A 3-year-old boy entered the clinic with his father, his hair disheveled after a four-day journey from the jungle. The boy suffered a burn that melted his hand to his arm.
“So here is this little kid … he has never seen anything that looked like me,” Cucurny said. As she started to reminisce, a smile appeared on her face. “He is looking at me with these big eyes and I was just so drawn to him for some reason.”
Cucurny knelt down with welcoming arms as the boy hesitantly looked to his father, who gave him a nod of affirmation. The boy shedding his coy demeanor sat on her lap her lap, curious.
“He reaches up and taps the lenses of my glasses,” Cucurny said. “He had never seen glasses before, never seen glass, never seen a window! He couldn’t figure out what that was. He was my boy, he was my favorite.”
In addition to performing surgery with the Women for World Health organization, Cucurny also works with traditional healers from rural areas as part of her research for medical anthropology. She has worked in the Amazon and the Andes with shamans and curanderos, and in the Himalayas with the amchis, interviewing the healers as well as receiving treatment from them.
“My goal is to get western medical doctors to learn to refer their patients to the traditional healers,” Cucurny said. “It is so important to bridge these different concepts of medicine.”
Cucurny ties her experiences with Women for World Health into her lessons in the classroom. Nguy said it makes for an interesting class.
“She is very passionate about the subject she teaches,” Nguy said. “She made everything relevant. It was a class I looked forward to.”
Nguy said Cucurny is an illustration of the Margret Mead quote which reads, “Never believe that a few caring people can’t change the world. For, indeed, that’s all who ever have.”
Cucurny may not change the world, but she changes lives — one child at a time.
Cucurny said, “Hope is the greatest gift I can give.”
Disclaimer: The Daily 49er is not responsible for Postings made on www.daily49er.wpengine.com. Persons commenting are solely responsible for Postings made on this website. Persons commenting agree to the Terms of Use of the website. If Postings do not abide by the Rules of Conduct or Posting Regulations as listed in the Postings Policy, the Daily 49er has all rights to delete Postings as it deems necessary. The Daily 49er strongly advises individuals to not abuse their First Amendment rights, and to avoid language suggestive of hate speech. This site also encourages users to make Postings relevant to the article or other Postings.