With her work boots, gloves, and sunscreen packed, Strauss, her husband, and teenaged daughter left in mid-June for a 10-day building project in the Nicaraguan coastal village of San Cayetano. Nicaragua has one of the highest housing deficits in Central America. Along with a team of 8, Strauss made and poured concrete, mixed and laid mortar (for which she and her teammates each earned the title of Albañil), hauled and stacked cinder blocks, and built friendships in the 95-degree heat as they built a home for a family of four.

In April 2016, along with Dr. Stephen Schultz of the University of Rochester (NY), I traveled to the Islamic Republic of Iran at the invitation of the Ministry of Health and Medical Education as consultants on the development of graduate medical education in Family Medicine in the country.