Her medical ‘a-ha’ moment

When registered nurse Mary Jo Frawley of Sunset Beach heard that some of her colleagues were going to Guatemala for a short-term surgical mission, she went with them — and fell in love with the experience.

After several more years of participation, in which Frawley saved up money and vacation time to fund her missions, she had what she called an “a-ha moment.”

One day, when coming home from Guatemala, she made a dramatic decision: She quit from working at Long Beach Memorial, where she had spent about 15 years, and joined international aid organization Doctors Without Borders/ Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF).

Frawley soon left for her first MSF tour in northern Sri Lanka in 1999.

She has been in the field 15 different times since with MSF, to countries including Angola, Liberia, Tajikistan and Uganda.

“This is my wildest dream. I had no idea that I would be doing this,” she said.

MSF has put together a new interactive exhibit called “A Refugee Camp in the Heart of the City,” which will be in Griffith Park through Monday and at Santa Monica Pier from Oct. 31 to Nov. 2.

“I’m very excited to be a part of this exhibit,” Frawley said. “You can bring the whole family here.”

The event includes actual MSF tents, photos and examples of food and medical supplies in a faux Sri Lanka mission.

“We bring it to life with volunteers giving tours, and bring people into the life of a displaced person,” Frawley said. “There are 42 million people in the world who are displaced because of conflict, and that doesn’t even include the people who are displaced because of disasters.”

The group putting together the exhibit for local audiences is accustomed to the long hours they’re currently working to set it up.

In Darfur, Frawley recalls that when she and her surgeon had just finished at night, a truck arrived — filled with 60 people requiring surgical intervention.

“It was an all-nighter, but all the staff members came willingly, including the gatekeeper. We worked 24/7,” she said.

Her commitments have ranged from a few weeks to more than a year, including nine months in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and 13 months in Sierra Leone.

“I was in between missions when the earthquake came in Pakistan,” Frawley said. The October 2005 quake measured 7.6 or 7.7 on the Richter Scale, and killed tens of thousands.

“I remember riding my beach cruiser down PCH with a friend, looking at the surf at the Dog Beach, and then getting a call. I said, ‘Wow, this is right up my alley; yes, I’ll go.’ I turned my bike around and got in my ’79 Volvo. By 3 p.m. I was in downtown L.A., knocking at the door of the Pakistani embassy. To this day, it just gives me chills. They welcomed me with open arms, and my visa was ready immediately. Within 48 hours, I was on a flight to Pakistan. I lived in a tent for the next four months, giving emergency and preventive care. It really shocked my friend that day.”

In Pakistan, Frawley and her colleagues were first met by surprise; locals told them they didn’t need surgeons as much as food or water. But within days, people walked in from remote villages with partially amputated limbs, and the group became a vital component of the earthquake relief effort.

Frawley also had 72 hours to go to Uganda for an Ebola outbreak.

“I spent the months of June and July this summer in Ethiopia,” Frawley said; she conducted emergency nutritional assessments.

“When MSF called and said the words Ethiopia, children, camping and outback, I said, ‘Yep, that works,’” Frawley said, laughing.

Frawley has been especially struck by the everyday kindnesses of the people she has worked for.

“In Ethiopia, we hiked every day because it was rainy season, and we had no access to vehicles,” Frawley said. “The mud was so slippery, you couldn’t even stand up. Although people hadn’t seen anyone come in a long time to their isolated villages, they would stop and have coffee with us. To be able to offer us something like that in the middle of an isolated area — to become a part of a community, instead of passing through it — that’s really critical.”

Transitioning back to Orange County life can be difficult for Frawley, but it gets a little easier every time, she said.

“I do get a little overwhelmed with the choice of shampoos,” she said. “I remember the first time I went to a Wal-Mart. I called my friend and said, ‘Help, I can’t get out of here.’”

When home, Frawley works to maintain her support network of friends and family, and visits the beach often. She said having a comfortable home base is key to being able to leave with a clear head.

Frawley typically takes three to four months off between missions.

“We’re considered volunteers, because the stipend is not competitive with what a California nurse would make here,” Frawley said. “They pay our airfare, vaccinations, food and shelter.”

Frawley hopes her biggest impact will be in teaching caregivers on the ground in her assigned country to have a better bedside manner and attitude; to consider volume and tone when talking to patients and their families, even when dealing with incurable diseases.

“I would hope that Tutu or Muhammad would be able to take care of that child well, when I’m not there anymore,” she said.

“I love the bedside nursing, but I’m a shadow. I’m there and then gone. ... It’s critical to teach that person the effect of their volume, and that touching the patient is critical.”

Someday in the future, Frawley hopes to go to graduate school to become a nurse practitioner. But until then, her vision is still focused on her relief work — and the local refugee camp exhibit.

“We’re working 12- to 14-hour days in order to spread the message,” Frawley said.

For more information, visit doctorswithoutborders.org.

CANDICE BAKER may be reached at (949) 494-5480 or at candice.baker@latimes.com.