Mission to Haiti
from Katelyn Walker, Rebecca Senn and Sarah Demaagd

A team of students and faculty from Belmont University School of Nursing is ministering in Haiti during Belmont’s Spring Break.  This is the second year a team has traveled there.

After yesterday, today doesn’t seem as adventurous. Unfortunately we weren’t able to take the truck to their village because Hurricane Sandy washed out the road. The few people (about 20) who did come to our clinic walked over an hour and were very grateful for our care and attention. Again, we saw a variety of ages from children to older adults, and even a pregnant woman.  Afterwards, we walked down the mountain to see a special patient who suffers with heart failure whom Jenny has personally treated at her home for the past year due to the severity of her illness.  The walk was definitely a nice break from the bumpy rides, and it also gave us a chance to view the beautiful, mountainous scenery.

You all maybe wondering about voodoo in Haiti.  We actually were able to walk past a temple, but were cautioned not to gawk or take any pictures to avoid making a spectacle.  We also saw many Haitians going about their daily activities in a rural, mountain villages, which we normally wouldn’t be able to see riding in the truck.  Again, we were reminded of how different our lives are from that of Haitians.  Because of the few people who came to the clinic, we were able to have a few more hours of free time back at the bungalows, which was incredibly nice.  We also made our preparations for the next day including extensively stocking our make-shift pharmacy for the expected influx of people tomorrow at the same site.

We had a lovely, cool day today, in fact one patient complained that her child’s skin was irritated because of “the cold” (it was about 78 degrees today).  For dinner we had an amazing take on Shepherd’s pie, which basically was cheese grits and a spicy ground “mystery meat”.  We also had a Haitian style potato salad including spam, BUT it was delicious! It reminded us of home.  We are all quite tired and planning on settling in for the night earlier than usual.  We miss you all!

Love,
Katelyn, Sarah, and Becca & the whole Haiti crew!!