- November 29, 2024
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Linda Misko is a part of the first regional Florida Hospital missions trip.
Despite the poverty and disease Linda Misko has witnessed in her missions trips, she knows she’s making a difference. In her first trip to Ecuador, Misko was a pat of a team that helped save a young baby with blood sugar issues. When she returned on a second missions trip a few years later, she was able to see the child healthy, and growing up.
“We saw what a difference we made, and all the people we helped were so appreciative.”
Misko grew up in a neighborhood with many different cultures living on the same street. She said her childhood inspired her to learn about more about the world.
“Since I was little, I was a always a part of helping,” she said. “Working at the hospital provided me with that opportunity.”
Working as the education manager at Florida Hospital Memorial Medical Center and Florida Hospital Oceanside, Misko worked on many community projects before signing up for the missions trip. She’ll be embarking on her fifth trip April 26 to the Dominican Republic where the team of 17 helping to finish building a church, and setting up several medical clinics in the area.
“The church is a big deal because a lot of people want to attend service, but they can’t because the church is in the city,” Misko said. “This is the second church we’re building as a hospital.”
Misko recently returned from a pre-trip to the Dominican Republic to determine what the needs of that area are. According to her findings, diabetes is a big issue, and the team will be donating glucose machines.
“We’ll be treating everything from rashes to tumors,” she said. “We’ll also have educational resources about heathy living. We don’t want to assume they have the best of the best. They don’t. We want to teach them to work with what they have to make a difference in their community.”
During her pre-trip, Misko said the people of the villages she visited were very welcome, and said they were blessed to have the team come.
“There were children that were just playing in the street with no shoes,” she said. “Coconuts were a toy for them. But they were very proud people, very proud of their area.”
This trip is the first time Florida Hospital DeLand, Florida Hospital Fish Memorial in Orange City, Florida Hospital Flagler in Palm Coast, Florida Hospital Memorial Medical Center in Daytona Beach, and Florida Hospital Oceanside in Ormond Beach are working together. Misko said the trip has been supported not only by the hospitals, but by outside organizations.
The American Cancer Society and the Daytona Tortugas both made donations towards the cause. Misko said the equipment donations will go towards helping the children create a baseball team.
“Some children are deciding between shoes or no shoes,” Misko said. “We’re deciding between name brands. I highly recommend people to go on a mission trip. It changes you.”
