On my fridge, I have a countdown for Haiti and lo and behold it is only 2 days away! I am excited to serve Haiti with my husband, Cole (we have never embarked on a journey like this together).
First off, I work as a physician assistant in a Family Practice in Lincoln, NE and have found such joy with what I do. I have been on several missions in the past, including this Haiti trip, but I have never been there as a physician assistant. I am sure to be worked hard, and very humbled at the same time. During my last visit, I remember thinking 'This is the poorest place I have ever been' while at the same time thinking 'This is one of the best run medical clinics in a poor country I have ever seen'. Two remarkable co-existing thoughts.
The building that we work in an open air hospital that is about the size of a small high school gymnasium. The way I remember it (though it may have changed) is 1 wing operates as a "clinic" with providers who treat all sorts of typical family practice conditions, but also help screen for potential surgical cases. 1 wing has "hospital". 1 wing is for "pre-post op", 1 wing is for surgeons/specialist clinic, the back of the clinic has 2 well functioning Operating Rooms and the front of the compound has a sort of large triage ER.
There will be many patients to see, and similar to the last trip, I am sure there will be a line down the street full of patients for us. We will work hard from morning into the late evening, if not night (depending on what we see). The surgical team will be pushed to their limit and it will be used every minute of the day.
As far as mission trip for medical purposes- this is a VERY well functioning clinic. I truly think the reason it works so well is due to the major planning done ahead of time by the Grace4Haiti leaders who take many long hours packing and preparing for our trip. (Thank you!) We stay in a lovely living compound right across the street- which happens to be one of the national highways (more like a 2 lane street). For anyone worried about our safety- they say the most dangerous part of the trip is crossing the street! I would say that sounds about right as I do recall several motor vehicle accidents from the highway coming into our ER last trip.
Haiti is the 2nd poorest country in the western Hemisphere and has notoriously poor access to health care. Yet, the best part about this clinic is that operates more than just while we are there- there are teams there (last I heard) about 12+ weeks a year. From a primary care perspective, this at least a step in the right direction to achieve continued comprehensive care, though it isn't ideal. When I go down a further bunny trail, I start thinking about how sad it is that so many of these patients rely on our group for primary and surgical care instead of their own health providers since they cannot pay and do not have comprehensive health care system- but I digress .
I keep on thinking, and I paraphrase, 'You can't help the whole word, but you can help one person's whole word". And, while I do not want to act as though we are heroes and overemphasize our importance, I still think that what we are doing is very special. It can be overwhelming with thoughts of "Why was this person born into a poor family in a poor country, and why was I not?" But then I remember that is God's way of telling me to improve my perspective on my own life and of course poverty in my community. I suppose God has also called on those of us to "love thy neighbor as thyself" no matter where we are and no matter how hard that may be.
How blessed am I to be able to experience a different part of this wonderful world, yet again! Haiti, here we come!
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