A Week with the Gypsies: A Medical Mission Diary

Abstract

I believe that health professionals who have the means should participate in medical missions yearly. It makes the world a healthier place. Moreover, it recalibrates one’s career and medical expectations when caring for the medically deprived. When looking for a refugee group or displaced population to serve, I wondered: Who has suffered the longest, and what survival skills could they share? The Internet led me to a religious group called e3 Partners (http://e3partners.org/) who were looking for a pediatric nurse willing to serve Romani children, and I applied. The romance of Gypsy folklore, legends, palm reading, and fortune telling called to me. “Gypsy” is a term that gadjé (non-Romani people) call an ethnic group who migrated West around the eleventh century from Punjabi, India. 1 Eliznik Gypsy migration map. http://www.eliznik.org.uk/RomaniaHistory/index.htm Google Scholar Whereas the lowercase word gypsy is perceived as a racial slur (eg, “that cashier gypped me”), others prefer Gypsy when it is used respectfully. Reclaiming the Gypsy Diaspora is now seen as an act of linguistic and identity empowerment. 2 Reidy J 20 “Gypsy” women you should be reading. http://www.vidaweb.org/twenty-gypsy-women-you-should-be-reading/ Google Scholar Professional practice standards and my instinct suggested that asking the patients their preference would be the best approach to determine how they wanted to be addressed. My literature search suggested myths and preconceived notions, often negative, that surround this population. Yet, as nurses we are taught to accept and celebrate diversity, so I packed my passport, my stethoscope, and my “judge not” attitude and headed for the Balkan Peninsula. Molly Delaney is ED Nurse Manager, East Bank, University of Minnesota Medical Center, Fairview, Minneapolis MN.