Ivy Yeoh had seen poverty before, had walked the crowded streets of a Third World country and smelled — felt — the pollution in the air, had seen both want and resignations in the faces of far less fortunate.

But a medical service mission to the poorest region of Nepal, itself one of the most impoverished nations in the world, is an altogether different experience from visiting Cambodia on family vacation.

And so even a stopover in relatively well-to-do Katmandu and a pass through metropolitan Biratnagar were not quite gradual enough acclimation to what lay ahead for Yeoh in Lahan.

Just weeks away from her 17th birthday, the Sacred Hearts Academy senior had traveled to Nepal in November with her mother, Shari Kogan, medical director of the geriatric services/progressive care unit at The Queen’s Medical Center, as part of the Aloha Medical Mission. There she assisted a team of physicians, dentists, plastic surgeons, gynecologists, nurses and other health professionals in delivering much-needed care to some of the area’s most underserved populations.

“You could see the dust and smoke in the air,” the teen said. “There were open septic tanks. We saw people burning dead bodies in the street.”

As the “unofficial official” photographer on the trip, Yeoh accompanied fellow volunteers on trips to rural villages to set up portable solar power units, deliver lifesaving water filters and provide medical care. Each day brought new and unique challenges. One day she was called on to extract a tooth at the dental clinic. Another day, under the supervision of a plastic surgeon, she removed a lipoma (fatty tissue growth) from a man’s head.

“I’d had never held a surgical instrument in my life,” she said, still taken aback by the experience.

Precociously self-aware, Yeoh said the whirlwind of daily challenges and the unremitting need of those she served stirred in her a change of attitude over the course of the three-week volunteer tour.

“I went from being the surly teen to being more open-minded and receptive,” she said. “I woke up each morning with the thought, ‘What am I going to be doing today?’ I just tried to be as capable as I could be in whatever way I could help.”

On her way back, Yeoh passed through the same airport at Katmandu and marveled at how sophisticated it now seemed. When she returned home, she stepped into the shower and for the first time in weeks allowed the water to run into her mouth — a luxury that would not have been safe in a country where she and her fellow volunteers had to use bottled water to brush their teeth.

Yeoh’s time- and energy-intensive volunteer work in Nepal was unique to her normal undertakings only in its singular focus and distant locale. At home Yeoh has always maintained a hectic schedule of academics and extracurriculars.

She enjoyed a childhood scooting about between ballet lessons, soccer games, gymnastics training and volleyball practices. She played piano as her first instrument before moving to bass and then tenor saxophone, which she continues to play as part of the school band. She and her older brother and sister were also conscripted into the still-unnamed family band.

“I was always afraid to give (the band) a name,” she said, laughing. “I was so embarrassed. I worried that if we gave it a name, it would become a real thing.”

In keeping with her Jewish faith, Yeoh teaches Jewish history, heritage and culture on Sundays and biblical studies for youth on Wednesdays at Temple Emanu-El.

At Sacred Hearts Academy, Yeoh is a founding member and president of the Feminist Club, which focuses on humanitarian outreach; serves as vice president of her school’s National Honor Society chapter; and is involved with the Global Issues Network, an inter-school program that seeks solutions for global problems. She’s also studied Chinese for the last five years.

And because free time is for filling, Yeoh pursues personal art projects whenever she can. She and a friend are painting a “reclaimed” mannequin.

“I like to keep busy,” she said. “I find pockets in my life to fit things in. I don’t think of the things I do as being busy; they’re just things I enjoy doing.”

Yeoh has applied to several top liberal arts schools in the Northwest and Northeast with a tentative plan of eventually pursuing environmental law.

She has her work in front of her. It’s a safe bet she’ll find the time.

Reach Michael Tsai at mtsai@staradvertiser.com.