Medical Mission Trip Haiti March 2011

Hello family and friends,

This is a journal of my time spent in Haiti on a medical mission trip.  The following paragraphs below is a letter our class president wrote about our journey to be published in the PA Professional magazine.  It's extremely well written and gives a background on our trip.  These next couple of posts won't be as well written!! They are actual journal articles I wrote when I was there, reflecting on our day, myself, and the Haitian people.  I really wanted to post this so the people who supported me, either through donations or their kind words, can understand a little about how much this trip impacted my life. 

My physician assistant class of 2011 at the University of Saint Francis fundraised and participated in a medical mission trip through Haiti Outreach Ministries.  Haiti Outreach Ministries (HOM) is a Christian organization with multiple established churches, health clinics, and schools in Haiti.  After several fundraising activties, our group was able to raise nearly $15,000, as well as several donated medications and supplies. 

On March 11,2011, 9 USF PA students, 2 USF PA alumni and faculty, 2 USF PA alumni, a USF nurse practitioner, and our program's physician medical director loaded a plane en route to Port Au Prince, Haiti.  The immediate culture shock was astonishing, heartbreaking, overwhelming, and yet, inspiring.  Despite the immense destitution throughout Haiti, the overcrowded conditions, the tents for homes, the shortage and extreme need of clean water, the deep faith of the Haitians was immediately evident. Haitians were singing joyous praises in the church as we pulled into the Haiti Outreach Ministries compound. Our first lesson from these beautiful Haitians would be that faith, hope, and love are paramount to happiness.

We set up clinic in the church at Haiti Outreach Ministries. We had an intake area for triage, eight areas for providers, and a pharmacy that was fully stocked with the evidence of our hard work in preparation for this trip. We had multivitamins, antacids, deworming medications, antibiotics, ointments, antihypertensives, diabetic medications, and more. We had stethoscopes, otoscopes, gloves, gauze, and a wonderful team of translators ready to help us bridge the language gap between Creole and English. We had everything we would need to try to help in some way. We were ready and excited to open our clinic.

On Monday, March 13^th, we opened clinic at 7:30am. By this time, there were nearly 50 Haitians waiting in line.  On our first day of clinic we saw nearly 230 patients. The most common complaints included heartburn, headache, and vaginal discharge. These simple ailments are all self-treated in the U.S by simply going down the street to the local pharmacy. However, the Haitians have no access to clean water, let alone a pharmacy and the ability to buy Tylenol, Tums, and Monistat. That was where we would come in. Many people waited hours in line, in the heat, and were still happy and excited to see an American medical team. A second lesson learned: Patience really is a virtue.

We also saw a lot of patients with serious medical conditions, including severe dehydration, uncontrolled hypertension, cardiac emergencies, and severe burns. When an emergent situation arose, we were able to send the patient to a Doctors Without Borders hospital nearby. Each patient was so thankful to be seen by a practitioner. We had to speak through translators, but the joy and gratitude was evident in the patients’ smiles and warm handshakes. Our third life lesson from the Haitians would be that it is important to be thankful for all of life’s blessings, both large and small.

In our 4 days of clinic we were able to see 947 patients. To say the experience was life-changing would certainly be an understatement. We went to Haiti to provide medical care, to educate the Haitians on healthier lifestyles and preventive medicine, and to help to change the fate of some medical disasters. However, while in Haiti we were the ones who were blessed to be taught such valuable life lessons from the wonderfully meek Haitians. It’s back to the basics: faith, hope, love, patience, and thankfulness. These words meant something to us before our trip, but they now hold a stronger meaning and are coupled with the beautiful Haitians who will be forever in our hearts. We may have gone to have to Haiti to try to make a difference, but we were the ones who were blessed to be changed.  

Thank you and enjoy!
Love,
Britt