A nurse from St. Malo will travel to Nicaragua in early November as part of a volunteer medical team that will do joint replacement surgeries. Elaine Hassan is currently a day surgery recovery nurse at Bethesda Regional Health Centre in Steinbach and Ste. Anne hospital but previously spent six years assisting with joint replacement surgeries at Concordia Hospital in Winnipeg. She says each member of the Nicaragua team raises their own funds to make the trip. And this isn't her first time.

"This is going to be my sixth year going out to Nicaragua for this mission. We go out there to provide knee and hip replacements, complete replacements, to people out there who are very

poor and can't afford to have this done."

Hassan says the people are so appreciative to get the operations because many of them have had to quit work as they were no longer mobile.

"This is like a life-changing thing for them because they're unable to work because it's so debilitating that they can't work. So when we go out there and give them these new knees or hips, once they recover, they're able to get back to what they used to do. And, they are so, so thankful."

She notes they do about 70 joint replacements over the one week period.

Why does she do it?

"I'm just giving back and doing something, helping other people who can't afford it and are less fortunate than we are our here in Canada."

The group that Hassan travels with is called Operation Walk Winnipeg.