Ahh, summer breaks. A relief for most student-athletes as they usually either experience a lightened off-season training schedule or they travel back-and-forth from their hometown attempting to catch up on some serious "me" time.

For spring sports, summer break usually signifies the end of a long, grueling season and a chance to recharge the batteries. However, there is one student-athlete at the University of Central Arkansas that chooses to spend her summers a bit differently.

Bears' softball-standout Oakley Sisemore has spent three of the past four summer breaks in Uganda. Far from the normal destination locations for most young people her age, Uganda is one of the most poverty-stricken places on Earth and certainly one of the toughest environments to live in Africa.

"I have wanted to go Africa since I was little," Sisemore said. "I had a friend who I went to church with who was born in Africa because his parents were missionaries and I thought it was the coolest thing ever."



After getting together with a group of friends and worship leaders in Fayetteville a few years back, Sisemore and company began planning their life-changing trip as quickly as possible. The first year was an eye-opening experience working at a local orphanage and filling in wherever the natives needed help. Whether it was playing with the children or teaching them to read, Sisemore was happy to help in any way possible.

Sisemore's living arrangements in Uganda were set up by Clark and Joyce Lasse. The two founded the ministry known as the Exodus Center and housed many missionaries looking to contribute in Uganda over the years. Having a decent place to stay during their time there allowed the group to focus on why they were there in the first place. Service.

"There are these 'moms' there at the orphanages that oversee as many as eight or nine kids each," said Sisemore. "We really just wanted to provide them with a break since they were always so busy. The living arrangements were definitely unique. They stayed in these "pods." It was basically a small house that most of the time did have cold running water but not much else."

While teaching children was a great experience on its own, Sisemore has always been enamored with working in the medical field. An opportunity presented itself to visit a local hospital and work with patients that each had varying conditions.

"There was a doctor there named Bridgett Hurry whose family was there long-term and they were looking for people to go to this hospital a few hours away," Sisemore stated. "I just kind of raised my hand and she said 'Okay, lets go then.' I have always wanted to work in health care or in the medical field so I loved it. There were a few scheduled surgeries that day so that whole experience was great."

The opportunity at the local medical facility allowed SIsemore's group to start bonding with other people outside of the orphanage and assess the needs of more people inside the local village. Over the course of her three-year annual visits, Sisemore's relationships with everyone in Uganda evolved dramatically.



"The first year when I was there we met a lot of people and spent a lot of time just getting to know everyone and figuring out what they need," Sisemore said. "Our day-to-day consisted of us going to check out what the teachers needed and see what areas we could help there. We then went back and checked with the moms to see if we could help prepare meals or do some things around the house. It was just whatever they needed us to do. I even got to teach biology to high school kids my second trip so there was always a need there we could fill."

Smiles, hugs and fellowship. That is the easy picture to paint in your head when hearing about a story as inspiring as Sisemore's summer trips. But, as most of us can only imagine, visiting a country that has so many medical needs means coming across some situations that are not for the faint of heart.

"You see all kinds of bad things on trips like these but during my last trip, we did a clinical outreach where I was there for almost two months," Sisemore said. "At first I was working with Dr. Bridgett (Hurry) and a few other doctors but I ended up getting to do a little work by myself. There were a lot of women who came in who were beaten by their husbands or came in with STDs or STIs.

It was a cultural thing where even though a lot of the men were Christians, there was this old idea, that 'I am not really a man until I have multiple wives.' Obviously that created some situations where women and children ended up being abused and while there were things I could do medically to treat them, unfortunately there was not a lot beyond that we could do other than just pray. I wanted to take every single patient and solve every single problem, but you just can't do that."

While the tough situations stick with you, the memorable experiences also hold a very special place in Sisemore's heart. This past summer a few more players from the UCA softball squad decided to join Sisemore in assisting with the situations in Uganda. Cheyenne Kuhn and Rachel Haberman each spent time in Africa contributing to the orphanage and assisting in any way possible.



The memories with her teammates and the smiles of the children when she returned are just some of the many fond moments Sisemore has of her service in Africa.

"One of the things I love is that every time I go back, they all remember my name and everyone knows who I am," said Sisemore. "A lot of people think that you go on these mission trips and you are just some sort of savior. The reality is these people are so empowered and have so much to offer but they just lack resources to do the things we can do. The best part to me was realizing how capable they are of living a life like us while developing those friendships."

Sisemore is pursuing a master's degree in environmental sciences as she prepares to take her MCATs and apply for med school. Her future plans include working at a hospital in some capacity and while teaching is something that may interest her down the line, Sisemore plans on practicing medicine during the majority of her career.

In a world with uncertainties and hostility lurking around every corner, it is nice to have people like Oakley Sisemore out there to remind us there is always more we can do, even if it means leaving our comfort zone.

A key anecdote from my interview with Oakley is the fact that my three-year old daughter was there. She skipped out on her normal preschool routine due to a brief bout with the sniffles and came to work with Dad for the day. As we finished up the interview and Oakley grabbed her things and exited my office, my daughter Cassidee looked up at me and said "Dad, she is awesome."

We here at UCA agree. Thank you Oakley….for being awesome.