Haiti Mission Trip

So I got a phone call towards the end of March. It was a call that I was not expecting to get, but a call that would eventually make a big impression on my heart. It had been a couple of months since the earthquake hit Haiti and now there was a big need for physical therapist. The call was to go on a medical mission team to Bon Fin Hospital in the mountains of Haiti. The team was leaving in just five days. I couldn't pass up the opportunity, so I scrambled around and gathered all my shots, supplies, etc. The team consisted of people from all over the US. There were surgeons, therapists, nurses, and translators. When we arrived in Haiti and crammed onto a transport van to travel the 4-5 hours to the hospital. Well, the 4-5 hour trip ended up being 10 hours. There was a huge rain storm that was moving through the area and it dumped almost two feet of rain. There was massive flood and more Haitians lost their lives. This flooding kept us from reaching the hospital for a couple days, as it had washed out the roads. When we finally made it to the hospital, we had to hike part of the mountain and the Haitians carried our luggage for us. Yes, we are actually walking on a main road!

The hospital was in a beautiful location, but the conditions were very sad. We were following 60 patients the week we were there. Most of them were earthquake victims and had amputations, fractures, infection, nerve damage, etc. The hospital had multiple rooms and each room had six plus beds in it. Each patient also had several family members that would stay with them and sleep on the floor or in the bed with them. The building was in poor condition. There were mice and lizards running all over, and yet the people seemed to be so happy and welcoming. We arrived there in the evening, so we ate dinner and then started patient rounds with the whole team. We didn't get back to our guest house until 1:00 am. Breakfast was at 7. We then would go to the hospital each day and work until noon. We would eat lunch and rest for about 45 minutes and then return to the hospital again until dinner. After dinner we would go back to the hospital one more time for rounds. Each time we would get home about midnight or 1:00. It seems tiring, but I enjoyed spending the time with the Haitians. I loved to hear their stories. Each on had their experience. Most had family or friends that didn't make it. Many that didn't make it were standing next to them or didn't make it out of a building in time.

This is the road that we walked each day from our guest house to the hospital.
The people were so friendly and it was amazing how quick a bond you could form with them despite the language barrier. They put up with so much and this was normal to them. They lived in pain from lack of pain meds, they lived in hunger from lack of food, they lived in wonder for tomorrow because they had no homes to return to after they were discharged form the hospital. Many were developing infection because wound dressings weren't being changed. There were nursing shortages and lack of knowledge on their part for how to care for these infections. Because of this, many patients were ending up with amputations.

I learned so much from the Haitian people. I learned to be thankful for what I have. I learned to have more of a heart for those in need. I learned that you can still be happy and praise God even though you may be having trials. As the days go by though and I return to the daily grind here in the US, I wonder... Will I remember the faces of the people I cared for? Will I remember the way I felt when I was there and the devastation the Haitian people were dealing with? Will I remember how I felt when a father told me I helped his son walk again or when a Haitian man told me I will always be in his heart? Will I ever see any of them again? Will I ever go back? I hope and pray that I can or that I can encourage others to do the same.