News>Local becomes interpreter during medical training exercise
Photos
Antonella Espinoza, 12, helps translate Lt. Col. (Dr.) Iris Eisenberg's prescription instructions to a mother and her children during the medical readiness training exercise Aug. 11, 2011, in Sebaco, Nicaragua. Eisenberg is assigned to the pediatric clinic during the exercise. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Meredith A. H. Thomas)
Antonella Espinoza, 12, shows off the coin she received Aug. 10, 2011, for volunteering as a translator during the medical readiness training exercise in Sebaco, Nicaragua. Espinoza came to the MEDRETE site to be seen for her allergies and ended up staying to help the staff communicate with their patients more effectively. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Meredith A. H. Thomas)
Lt. Col. Dawn Moore presents a special coin to Antonella Espinoza, 12, during a medical readiness training exercise Aug. 10, 2011, in Sebaco, Nicaragua. Espinoza volunteered to act as a translator for the medical team at the Sebaco site after being treated for allergies. Moore is the mission commander for the medical readiness training exercise. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Meredith A. H. Thomas)
by Senior Airman Meredith Thomas
916th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
9/6/2011 - SÉBACO, NICARAGUA (AFNS) -- A 12-year-old girl from a small Nicaraguan community acted as an interpreter for the English-speaking medical team here during their medical readiness training exercise.
Antonella Espinoza visited the Sébaco MEDRETE site with her mother to find relief from her allergies Aug. 8. During her treatment, she found her ability to speak both languages fluently provided her with a unique opportunity to help.
"While we were waiting, we saw a woman who didn't understand English," Espinoza said. "My mother said, 'Go help her, Antonella,' and that's when I started."
Espinoza spent the next three days assisting Lt. Col. (Dr.) Iris Eisenberg, a physician with the MEDRETE pediatric clinic here, and others in their interactions with local citizens seeking medical aid. The young girl translated the patients' complaints, simple directions from the doctor and instructions for taking any prescribed medications.
"She's tripled my efficiency over the past couple of days," Eisenberg said. "And she's scary smart."
The girl's hard work was so appreciated that the MEDRETE mission commander, Lt. Col. Dawn Moore, organized a ceremony to recognize Espinoza's achievements and award her with a special medical coin.
"In the Air Force we have a tradition of giving a coin to someone who has done an outstanding job," Moore said during the ceremony. "You truly have done an outstanding job helping us here. This is our way of saying, 'Gracias.'"
Espinoza learned to speak English during the four years she spent living in Miami with her family. She said she gained a lot from her experience with the Air Force Reserve medical team and is even aspiring to become a pediatrician when she gets older.
"I like helping," Espinoza said. "So, any way I can help, I do it."
