![\"\"](\"http:\/\/forum.belmont.edu\/health\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/students-in-clinic11-300x225.jpg\" "\\"students-in-clinic11-300x225\\"")
<\/a>Each day, the group was woken up by a rooster\u2014lovingly nicknamed \u201cEl Diablo\u201d\u2014at approximately 3:30 a.m. \u201cThat bird was the bane of our existence,\u201d claimed Assistant Professor of Nursing Sara Camp. They would then\u2014after languishing in the heat for several more hours\u2014meet with their contact, Judy, who is also a registered nurse and represents the Christian Baptist Fellowship.\u00a0 (At right – Senior Nursing students Charly Hood (right) and Reiley Heaberlin (left) tend to a baby at one of the mobile clinics.)<\/em><\/p>\nThe nursing students volunteered at a number of mobile clinics, which provided basic services such as vital sign checks and general diagnoses. Each clinic was able to see up to 50 people a day, and each day the staff and students quickly met their capacity. \u201cThis is their healthcare,\u201d said Nursing Instructor Martha Ezell. \u201cThey can\u2019t just go into Port Au Prince to see a doctor.\u201dAt the mobile clinics, the students checked vitals and compiled patients\u2019 medical histories\u2014a difficult task since many patients did not even know their own birthdays. The Belmont students were also able to assist Ezell and Camp with general assessments and distribute what medications were available. \u201c[The Belmont students] got about a year\u2019s worth of nursing in a week,\u201d stated Ezell.<\/p>\n
During the trip, the group performed a single home visit. \u201cIt was a dirt hut, smaller than [my office],\u201d said Ezell. Senior nursing student Charly Hood recalled it having \u201cjust a bed, and a little bit of floor space.\u201d The woman they visited was incredibly ill and on her death bed. All agreed that she would not live to the next year. Charly described the experience as something \u201c[she] will never forget\u201d and \u201cdifficult to put into words.\u201d<\/p>\n
The entire group had the privilege of attending the local church, which, like everything else that week, proved to be a memorable experience. Once again, language barriers were not an issue, but there were unexpected surprises. Camp vividly recollects a dog, chicken, goat, lizard and \u201cone other animal\u201d present during the service.<\/p>\n Ezell recalls being particularly moved while praying the Lord\u2019s Prayer: \u201cThe people truly do live by their faith. We say the Lord\u2019s prayer, we say \u2018give us this day our daily bread,\u2019 but we don\u2019t truly think about it. There, they really are praying for their daily bread.\u201d Hood remarked that witnessing that kind of faith was the single most important aspect of the trip. \u201cWe think they have nothing, as privileged Americans, but they are so filled with joy. I think that was the most important thing to see.\u201d<\/p>\n When asked if they would go back, Camp answered for all with a resounding \u201cyes.\u201d Her answer, however, came with a single stipulation: \u201cOnly if the rooster is gone.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Last month a group of Belmont faculty, staff and students took the opportunity to bring their skills and expertise \u201cfrom here to Haiti.\u201d On July 18, the group left Nashville for a week-long mission trip to Grand Goave, one of … Continue reading <\/a>Both the students and faculty members were incredibly moved by the Haitians\u2019 faith, which was present even in that small dirt hut. Not a single one of the patients would leave the clinic until they had prayed with Dr. Todd Lake, Belmont\u2019s Vice President of Spiritual Development. When they prayed together in the clinic, there were no translators. They weren\u2019t needed. \u201cIt didn\u2019t matter. They believed in the words being prayed over them, even if they didn\u2019t understand them,\u201d said Ezell.\u00a0 ( At left – Some of the children play outside of the church the group visited.)<\/em><\/p>\n