VIDEO: Manuela's Dream: Operation Rainbow | About Operation Rainbow

by Jim Young

Michelle Duncan possessed many outstanding qualities as a member of USF's women's tennis team from 2001-05. A fiery, fierce competitor on the court, compassion may not have been one of her most obvious traits.
 
However, it comes as no surprise to those who knew her the best Michelle would chose a career devoted to helping others. As executive director of Operation Rainbow, Michelle spearheads a numerous humanitarian medical missions a year which provide much needed orthopedic intervention for children and young adults who suffer from congenital abnormalities or untreated chronic injuries. She facilitates the training of doctors, nurses and staff members at hospitals to ensure proper care is afforded to every patient. During her 13 years with Operation Rainbow, the organization has performed surgeries and facilitated non-surgical interventions in impoverished regions in rural Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Peru, Haiti and the Philippines, to name a few.
 
Operation Rainbow's team of volunteers routinely travel to rural communities in developing countries, or parts of the world ravished by natural disasters as "proud ambassadors of good will, not only to the patients themselves, but also to their families, communities and homelands."
 
Michelle's most recent trip took her to San Pedro Sula in Honduras, one of the most dangerous and impoverished countries in Latin America, where Operation Rainbow doctors operated on more than 50 children and adults and provided medical treatment and physical therapy for another 200 citizens of the region.
 
USF head women's tennis coach Hilary Somers saw early signs in Duncan that would eventually point her to a leadership role in humanitarian work.
 
"In all my years of coaching, Michelle is the most solid leader I've ever been around," said USF women's coach Hilary Somers. "Her energy, positivity and toughness were truly infectious. She was a selfless leader who had the ability to energize and unite a group. Michelle was the glue that held the team together. She was the best listener, advisor, the team's mother hen and a very deserving three-year captain."
 
Living the Mission is a continuing series on USFDons.com which profiles former USF student-athletes who promote the mission, vision and core values of the University of San Francisco. In this edition, Michelle Duncan discusses her path which led her Operation Rainbow, her daily duties and the impact being a USF student-athlete had on her as a person.
 
How did you get involved in Operation Rainbow?
I majored in international business and Spanish at USF and I spent a summer volunteering in Ecuador, where I taught English and women's health. It was an incredible experience that changed my life for the better. I saw how much need there was around the world and it instilled in me the desire to help that need in any way I could. Fast forward to 2004, I was invited to join an Operation Rainbow medical trip to Machala, Ecuador. I feel in love with the organization and the work they do. Now in its 39th year, Operation Rainbow has been providing free surgery to children around the world who need it most. After my first trip, I was hooked and started to go on more and more trips and helping the organization with everything from fundraising to working with the local Ministries of Health. I officially became the organization's director in 2011, working with then Executive Director Laura Escobosa and was promoted to executive director of Operation Rainbow in 2016. 
 
How long have you been with the organization?
I got involved in Operation Rainbow 13 years ago. 
 
What is the mission of the Operation Rainbow?
Operation Rainbow is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to performing free orthopedic surgery for indigent children and young adults in developing countries worldwide who do not have access to related medical procedures or equipment. In addition to providing surgery and medical treatment to the populations we work with, Operation Rainbow also focuses on teaching the local healthcare providers in the countries we work. Through the medical trips, we are able to provide continuing education to international health care providers to encourage medical self-sufficiency. Operation Rainbow is run by volunteer doctors, nurses, techs and therapists from all over the world but a great concentration of them come from around the Bay Area. Operation Rainbow has been providing free medical care for 39 years. 

What are your primary duties as executive director of Operation Rainbow?
Operation Rainbow has purposely remained an organization with very low overhead. We do not have offices, our storage space for the medical equipment is donated to us, and organization is run by volunteers. My duties range from planning the logistics of each medical trip, fundraising and development, grant writing, working with the local governments and consulates for the medical trips and training volunteers.
 
Describe your typical day?
There is usually nothing typical about a day when working with developing countries to plan medical trips. Operation Rainbow provides approximately 12 medical trips per year around the world. You can imagine the logistics and fun that comes with each of these trips! Sixty duffle bags of orthopedic equipment traveling to the country, phone calls with the local government organizations for months in advance, working with the local doctors to ensure the proper follow-up care is given to each and every patient. Also working with other local organizations in the U.S. to identify patients who need the most help in the countries we visit. Each day varies but all are exciting and part of the important work Operation Rainbow does.
 
What's the most rewarding part of your job?
The most rewarding part of my job is definitely seeing the how the lives of the patients improve after Operation Rainbow provides a free surgery or medical treatment. Not only does the child who received the surgery have the chance to walk, write, or play again but the family unit around the child is strengthened, giving them improved lives as well. The second most rewarding part is seeing the benefit the medical trips have on our own healthcare professionals. Seeing doctors, nurses and techs from UCSF, Stanford, Kaiser, CPMC and so many other hospitals come on the trips and be inspired by how much impact their volunteering has had on families around the world.
 
What are some memories of your student-athlete experience at USF?
My experience being a student-athlete at USF was one of a kind and forever shaped my passion for humanitarian work. I loved every day of being on the tennis team with Hilary Somers and my team and I'm so thankful USF encouraged me not only to live my passion in tennis but also in my volunteer work. I am forever grateful to USF for such an incredible experience.
 
What impact did USF have on you as a person that led you on your career path?
I thank USF for encouraging students to be humanitarians to the world. It was this focus that set me onto my career path and bring me to Operation Rainbow.
 
Future plans?
With Operation Rainbow, we are constantly looking at how to evolve with the changing world around us and provide more in the communities we work. We are looking at how to provide more education in the countries we work to continue to create sustainable medical environments. I am constantly looking for how to give back to the community more, in the city that we love and the world around it.
 
About the Dons Honor Club
The Dons Honor Club, a chartered and recognized University support group, is an athletic alumni association whose mission will be to engage and connect former students across different sports, generations and geographical areas in an attempt to build and foster an on-going association with USF. All former students who have competed for a minimum of one year in an intercollegiate sport are eligible, as are team managers and spirit squad members who compiled at least three years of service as an undergraduate. Join the Dons Honor Club by visiting USFDons.com.

Jim Young '85 returned to his alma mater as an associate athletic director in 2012.