It's crazy to think I've been here a month already. In most ways the days are flying by but in others I feel like I've lived here for years. In hindsight I wish I would have done this earlier but I just wanted to share more about Mission of Hope and give you an insight of what I do here. I’m the summer medical intern. I work under an awesome couple, Liz and Rick. Liz is an RN and Rick is a paramedic. Together they manage all aspects of the medical services we offer: emergency response, community health, mobile clinics, and our clinic of Hope. I lead and assist medical teams that volunteer here each week. The first two weeks I was here I was working our mobile clinics in neighboring villages. The past two weeks I have been working with Liz and Rick in the clinic.
We typically see 75-100 patients everyday at the clinic that otherwise may have no access to medical care. We have full time Haitian nurses, medical translators, doctors, lab techs, and pharmacists. I have really enjoyed working at the clinic. By the time we open in the morning our waiting room, pictured here, and overflow is packed with patients. A pastor from our Mission of Hope church comes in the morning and preaches to waiting room…before they go and receive physical healing their souls are offered healing. Throughout the day there is Haitian worship music sang in Creole and English…it is so lovely. It is one of my favorite parts, along with this beautiful courtyard pictured below. You can feel the Lord’s presence in the clinic!
We have the only two fully functioning ambulances in Haiti! Emergency medicine in Haiti is a very new and foreign idea to many Haitians. Driving here in Haiti is crazy enough, let alone in an ambulance! Lights and sirens don’t really mean too much here…yet. We are really striving to teach the Haitians. Our goal is for our clinic to be fully Haitian run, like all of Mission of Hope. We want to run every North American out of a job!
I’m really looking forward to this week. We have a medical team from Mercy Ships here. I am very interested in working for them some day so I am excited to network and learn more about the opportunities with Mercy Ships…since the goal here is to run me out of a job! ;) The Mercy Ships team will be running the clinic this entire week so that our Haitian staff can get a solid week of training in! Please be praying for that this week! Also, construction of the Hospital of Hope next door is well underway and when completed will offer: 24 hour emergency care, surgical units, and wards for med, women, and children. To learn more about the medical services we offer to people in Haiti visit www.mohhaiti.org.
Starting in July I will be teaching community health to a ton of adorable Haitian children everyday through our summer vocation bible school. I have a bunch of cute activities planned to help them learn about germs, hand washing, nutrition, and how to stay healthy. I'm really looking forward to that! Serving and sweating in the hot Haitian sun...and loving every moment
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