Nurse A: She came and volunteered her time and service being 10 weeks pregnant.
Nurse B: Her sister was a recovering alcoholic in rehab. For her to go on the mission her husband who is a policeman had to take a vacation in order to take care of of their 9 yr/o nephew. They were caring for their nephew while the sister was in rehab.
Nurse C: As a single mom she had to purchase a plane ticket for her mother who lives in Canada so that the mother could care for her 2 children. Then she purchased her own ticket from Florida to go to the Dominican Republic.
Surgical Tech D: One scrub tech dropped out of the mission one week before the start of the mission trip. Tech D jumped right in to take her place forfeiting her vacation time and a week of pay at the hospital.
Perfusionist E: Even though he suddenly lost a very close and loved family member two weeks prior to the trip he went on the mission. He felt that he made a commitment and he wanted to fulfill it.
These are the type of volunteers who come on the mission.
Volunteering is indeed an altruistic act intended to improve human quality of life.