By Fate and By Choice: How One Uber Ride Led Nurse Leader Rosa Terrance to the Dominican Republic
Written by Shannon Sotomayor , April 1, 2026
Rosa Terrance is a nurse leader, global health advocate, and Optum volunteer who has served on three missions with One World Surgery in the Dominican Republic. To volunteer or support our work, visit oneworldsurgery.org.
It started with a conversation she didn’t plan to have.
During her Harvard fellowship, Rosa Terrance was on her way to the airport — headed to Trinidad for a global palliative care program — when a fellow traveler mentioned a partnership she had never heard of. One World Surgery. Rosa found the opportunity, applied, and as she puts it: the rest is history.
Three missions later, she’s still showing up.
Health Equity Without Borders
Rosa Terrance is a Black woman and a nurse. She has spent her career navigating a healthcare system with well-documented disparities for Black and Brown patients — disparities she has experienced personally and witnessed within her own family. What she did not expect was to find those same inequities waiting in the Dominican Republic.
“What surprised me was seeing similar inequities across borders. One World Surgery does an exceptional job of ensuring everyone receives equal, high-quality care, regardless of documentation status. That commitment deeply aligns with my values and shapes how I serve.”
For Rosa, these missions are not separate from her advocacy at home. They are an extension of it.
A Day With Purpose
Mornings in the Dominican Republic begin at sunrise, often with the sounds of chickens. Rosa adds music — and if you’ve volunteered with her, you come to love and expect it. The team gathers for breakfast, grounded in positivity, before heading into clinic or out into the community. Evenings are shared: dinners together, ice cream with local youth, karaoke, city tours. This is not a fly-in, fly-out experience. It is presence.
What Family Actually Means
The local OWS team in the Dominican Republic, Rosa says, feels like family — and she means it precisely.
“They teach me their language. They share their music and teach me their dances. They stay connected long after the mission ends. They ask about my goals and intentionally ensure my experience aligns with them. That level of care and connection is what makes it feel like family.”
The Moment That Stays
Every volunteer has a moment they carry home. For Rosa, it is this one.
On one trip, she accompanied local physician Dr. Orchdia to visit a patient at his home — an elderly blind man who could not travel to the clinic and would have received nothing otherwise. So they brought the care to him.
“That moment embodied true equity and a deep commitment to service.”
What She’s Received
Rosa has said it plainly: with every mission, she receives far more than she gives.
“I’ve received a powerful reminder of what truly matters: joy, family, and compassion. These missions renew my sense of purpose: to do work that creates lasting impact for generations to come.”
She comes home more committed to health equity, more determined to bring others along — including, one day, her own children and the nursing students she mentors.
What Your Support Makes Possible
“Giving makes care possible. It takes resources to provide medications, supplies, and staffing. That support directly reduces suffering and health disparities. I want that future — for the community that has become my friends and family.”
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