Volunteer balances two jobs and mission work
Mamta Shah, a registered nurse from the Denver area, has volunteered with Operation Smile for more than two decades, traveling the world with the organization, donating her skills and time and receiving blessings in return.
“I’m very blessed to be able to participate,” Shah said of her longtime volunteerism.
Shah, 53, is an RN house manager at St. Anthony Summit Medical Center. She also is a nursing substitute teacher with Centura Health.
Her parents immigrated to the United States from India. Shah was raised in upstate New York where she graduated from the University of Rochester with a nursing degree.
Shah moved to Denver in 1994, but stayed only two years, moving on to Idaho where she found and embraced volunteerism.
“I always wanted to do international nursing,” Shah said. “Medical missions are a great way to open that doorway.”
Shah began volunteering with Operation Smile in 2002 while she was a traveling nurse.
She returned to Colorado in 2005 and went to work at The Children’s Hospital as an emergency room RN.
Operation Smile, a global nonprofit medical service organization, was founded in 1982 and headquartered in Virginia. More than 6,000 medical volunteers with the nonprofit improve the lives of others performing surgeries, mostly on children, with cleft conditions.
The organization also provides follow- up procedures, including dentistry, speech therapy and psychosocial care for low- and middle-income family members.
With Operation Smile, Shah has volunteered as a nurse in pre- and post-operative care units as well as the post-anesthesia care unit.
She’s been trained as a clinical coordinator and works on the organization’s Quality Assurance team.
“Operation Smile fosters a thriving educational platform to offer opportunities for nurses, anesthesiologists, and surgeons in several countries,” Shah said.
As a volunteer, Shah has traveled to South America, Central America, Africa and Asia where she enjoys diverse cultures and helping people in need. She has been on more than 30 missions.
Shah has been to Paraguay several times, including in 2008 when she was serving as a surgical nurse. In 2019, serving again in Paraguay, this time a clinical coordinator in post operation, a woman approached her.
“‘I know you,’ ” the woman told Shah. ” ‘I remember you, you take care of my child.’ ”
Shah was surprised that the mother remembered her. The woman told Shah that she had a photo at home of the nurse holding her child after surgery in 2008.
The next day, the girl who had undergone surgery all those years ago, and who was a teen, met with Shah and brought with her the original photo from 2008.
They took another picture together, holding the original photo.
“I saw my father do acts of random kindness in India,” Shah recalled. “For me, it is so fulfilling, it fills my heart with joy and is a great way to give to those who don’t have access or the opportunities that I’ve had.”