THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, February 22, 1996 TAG: 9602210178
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY SHIRLEY BRINKLEY, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 84 lines
AT 17, Margaret Lynch has traveled halfway around the world to do volunteer work.
A senior at Nansemond-Suffolk Academy, Margaret visited the Philippines with a team from Operation Smile, an organization that provides reconstructive surgery in Third World countries for children who suffer from deformities.
Margaret has been president of Operation Smile's Happy Club at N-SA for the past two years. A member of the club since eighth grade, she began applying for mission work at that time. As a 10th-grader, she volunteered 58 hours during the summer and two hours a week after school at the headquarters of Operation Smile in Norfolk.
In November 1994, Margaret's wish came true when she was selected to accompany a team of physicians and nurses on a missions trip in February, 1995.
Margaret, a member of the basketball team at N-SA, said, ``I would have had to leave during basketball season for Kenya, so the Philippines was my first choice.''
Margaret spent 10 days in Iligan City on Mindanao, the southernmost island in the Philippines, teaching Filipino children about dental hygiene and comforting young patients before and after surgery.
Due to her volunteer service, Margaret was recently named one of two top youth volunteers in Virginia in the national Prudential Spirit of Community Awards program. This nationwide program recognizes outstanding, self-initiated community service by America's youth.
As a winner, Margaret will receive a silver medallion and a $1,000 award. In May, she also will participate in a national recognition event in Washington, where each state winner will be a finalist for one of 10 national community service awards.
Before Margaret left for the Philippines, she attended mission training to prepare her for her visit. Trip expenses were funded both by Margaret's family and Nansemond-Suffolk Academy.
During her stay in Iligan City, Margaret arrived at the hospital at 7:45 a.m. to entertain children who were scheduled for surgery that day.
``I saw so many cleft lips and palates,'' she said. ``There were also three burn victims. The doctors worked 14-hour days and performed 208 surgeries in five days. They would let me stand beside them. A dentist even let me pull a tooth from a kid. It was an amazing experience.
``Iligan City was so dirty and run-down,'' she continued. ``I felt sorry for the people, but they are a happy people. They taught me to love without question.''
Margaret became especially fond of Jerwin, an 8-year-old afflicted with a bilateral cleft lip and cleft palate.
``He would hide his face in a corner,'' she said. ``He was crying so, I told him I would I follow him through surgery. He made sure I was still there and I held his hand after surgery. He looked so amazing afterward. It's amazing what the doctors can do.''
Margaret also visited local schools to talk to children about dental hygiene, nutrition and dehydration, a major cause of death in the Philippines.
A native of Portsmouth, Margaret is the daughter of Diane and Benjamin Lynch. She has grown up in Suffolk with her fraternal twin sister, Martha, and older sister, Anne, who is a junior at the University of Richmond.
``Martha and I are opposites,'' Margaret said, laughing. ``She's neat . . . I'm messy. She's like having a conscience always around, but that's good. She keeps me in line.''
Although Margaret says she spends most of her spare time with the Happy Club, she is a member of Students Against Drunk Driving and enjoys basketball and ice hockey. A member of St. John's Episcopal Church in Driver, she also participates in the Episcopal youth group.
National Smile Week is scheduled in April and the Happy Club has planned several fund-raisers. Recently 14 schools in Hampton Roads joined together for an all-night volleyball game and raised $5,000 for Operation Smile.
``The trip to the Philippines gave me a different outlook on life,'' Margaret said. ``I came home and heard people complain about their hair and prom dresses . . . and I thought, `You haven't seen what I have.' ''
After graduation, Margaret plans to enter the Leadership Program at the University of Richmond. ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by JOHN H. SHEALLY II
Margaret Lynch, a 17-year-old volunteer from Suffolk, got to go on a
medical mission to the Philippines with a team of doctors and
nurses.
by CNB