By Tereza Shkurtaj

After six years as an ER nurse, Allyson Reeves traveled to Tanzania to reconnect with the purpose and humanity that first drew her to nursing.

She said the experience “humbled” her and changed how she sees privilege, poverty and healthcare.

Since then, she has returned home inspired to keep volunteering and carry those same lessons into her life and career.

Allyson Reeves has worked in the emergency room for six years, caring for people in some of the most frightening moments of their lives.

Although she knows it’s meaningful work, she said the constant pace, trauma and loss had begun to create a distance between her and the reason she had chosen the profession in the first place. So, the 31-year-old, who was born and raised in Napa Valley, Calif., and now lives on Oahu, Hawaii, found herself searching for something to “rehumanize” the career and bring back that sense of purpose that initially drew her to the field.

In February 2026, she traveled to Tanzania for a two-week volunteer trip, hoping to reconnect with her career — and found far more than she expected.

“With the fast pace of the ER, constant exposure to trauma and death, I desperately wanted something to force me to slow down and remind myself what drew me to this career in the first place,” said Reeves, noting that, at that point, it had been nearly five years since she last went on a medical mission or volunteer trip.

“I went to Tanzania knowing I had skills to offer, but ultimately was there to be reminded of my purpose and the humanity at the heart of nursing.”

Reeves was no stranger to volunteering abroad. At 18, she took her first international trip alone to Kenya, where she met a group of volunteers after she arrived. The experience included work at local schools, orphanages and hospitals, and although it was intimidating, it became a turning point in her life.

“It was the most terrifying thing I had ever done, but it truly shaped me into the person that I am today,” Reeves shares. “I know that sounds cliché, but it really is the truth. Since then, I haven’t stopped traveling and I try to prioritize volunteering wherever I can.”

Tanzania, however, presented a different kind of challenge. When Reeves and the other volunteers arrived, they found a dark, cold encampment with four rooms and about 16 bunk beds.

They were the only volunteers there. There were bugs, no hot water, meals came on someone else’s schedule, and walking to the hospital in the rain became part of the routine. The experience was more “intense” than she had anticipated, but the discomfort eventually became part of what made the trip meaningful.

Rather than fight every unfamiliarity, Reeves decided to settle into the Tanzanian culture around her.

“Once the initial shock wore off, I was able to adjust to my new ‘normal’ and really take in the experience,” she says. “Were there times when I was frustrated or missed home? Of course. But... I’m incredibly grateful that I allowed myself to be uncomfortable, adapt and fully embrace the reality of what life looks like for so many people here.”

At the hospital, Reeves and the other volunteers moved around wherever they were most needed, beginning each morning alongside the local staff.

“Every morning started with a pre-shift ‘huddle’ with everyone that was working that day,” Reeves recalls. “We went over patients and cases and did a prayer. Only some of it was in English, so we followed along the best we could.”

The healthcare professionals she encountered were highly educated and used many of the same clinical practices she was familiar with in the United States, but they worked with significantly fewer resources. That contrast became especially clear in emergency settings.

“What surprised me the most was how rarely ambulances were utilized, largely because many people don’t have access to cell phones or the ability to call for emergency services,” Reeves explains. “As a result, many people suffer at home or never receive medical care at all.”

Even something as basic as receiving a blood transfusion could create another obstacle.

Patients who received blood were expected to have a friend or family member donate a unit to replenish the supply. Reeves saw firsthand what that could mean for someone waiting to leave the hospital.

“I met patients who had been waiting in the hospital for days for someone to show up and donate on their behalf so that they could go home,” Reeves reveals.

Other challenges extended well beyond the hospital walls, with some patients not knowing their own age. According to Reeves, the hospital staff explained that people in Tanzania often based their age on the grade they had reached in school.

“If they never went to school, then they oftentimes didn’t know how old they were, and the medical team was left to estimate,” she says.

The experience also forced Reeves to confront the larger circumstances that shape health. Seeing children living in poverty and encountering people with limited access to food, education and basic resources made it impossible to view healthcare as an isolated issue.

“To be honest, I left Tanzania with a profound sense of privilege. I felt incredibly grateful for the experience, but also saddened by how much more I wished I could have done,” Reeves admits. “I’ve been on five other volunteer trips, so I thought I was prepared for what I would see, but the level of poverty I witnessed in Tanzania was truly heartbreaking.”

For Reeves, that realization became one of the most lasting lessons of the trip.

“It was a difficult reminder of how differently people can experience the world simply based on where they are born. I left feeling humbled, grateful and more aware of how much I take for granted,” she says. “It also reinforced to me that access to healthcare is only one piece of a much larger picture. Poverty, education, food security, and basic resources all play a role in a person’s health and quality of life.”

One of the trip’s most memorable moments came when the volunteers were able to buy their host family two cows. According to Reeves, in Maasai culture, cattle represent significant wealth, making the gesture deeply meaningful to the family.

“When they looked at us with tears in their eyes and said, ‘You truly changed my life,’ it was a moment I’ll never forget,” Reeves shares. “I went to Tanzania thinking I was there to make a difference, but I left feeling like they had changed me just as much. I would do it a million times over again.”

In the end, Tanzania did not simply remind Reeves why she became a nurse; it reignited her desire to keep serving beyond the hospital where she works.

She now hopes to volunteer internationally at least once a year and would like to help create a volunteer opportunity through her own hospital for other healthcare professionals who may be unsure how to begin.

Most importantly, she hopes the perspective she gained will continue to shape her long after the trip itself becomes a memory.

“Ultimately, I hope this experience is not something I just look back on fondly, but something that continues to influence how I live, practice as a nurse, and show up for others,” said Reeves. “I am forever grateful for this beautiful and life-changing experience!”