Trip To Haiti

An example of this took place on one hot afternoon while we were visiting a piece of land that was being considered to be bought for the building a refugee camp. After walking around the property for a while, we were led into the village by one of the village’s elders. We sat down and an unexpected land negotiation began to take place. After talking for a while, they finally decided on a price and John was actually able to purchase the land. This was amazing because it is very difficult for villagers to sell part of their land since it has been passed down from their ancestors for many generations. Now the land will be used as a home to over 200 refugee orphans from South Sudan. It was amazing to be able to be a part of this, and I am praying that I will be able to go back and help with this new camp as a nursing student next year and the years

The following week, we spent most of our time in the poorest parts of the city. There we went door-to-door sharing the love of God and had Vacation Bible Schools for the kids. This is when I realized how blessed I truly was. For the first time, I got to see the privations and penury environment that the citizens of Third World countries had to endure. The unpaved streets were covered in trash. Many houses, made of tin sheets, had collapsed on themselves. The people had to share wells, where they drew their parasitic water. Men, women, and children sat on the sides of the roads begging for money, because they were sick, hungry, and needed money for food and proper medication. The site of these atrocious states of living broke my heart, and showed me how blessed I really was for not having to face these problems.

From the start life has always been a battlefield for me and my family. In Haiti my father had studied to become an engineer despite his poor upbringing and my mother had worked multiple jobs to help support the family. Life in Haiti had already been tough but after a coup d’état and an election there was finally hope that Haitians would have to live under a repressive government no longer. The new government created hope which was then solidified when Duvalier announced his candidacy, by this time he was already a well-known physician that took part in many public health campaigns. My father remembers when Duvalier was elected, with promises of rebuilding a broken country and the happiness that followed, but this did not last. Shortly after

The country I have choose to utilize in the global case study is Haiti. The crisis is hurricane Matthew. As the lead nurse in a shelter working in this country and people are pouring into the shelter it is crucial to provide effective care and achieve desired patient outcomes. It is important to assess and triage the population properly, manage and prevent the spread of infection, and delegate tasks accordingly.

My nursing practice has been affected by the medical mission trips that I have taken to Haiti. This course has further expanded my knowledge of global nursing and helped me to understand and envision new ways to improve health outcomes. I have been face to face with impoverished people who lacked access to clean drinking water, proper sanitation, nourishment and healthcare services. The life expectancy at birth in Haiti for women is 64 and in men is 61 (WHO, 2015). Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and is still recovering from the catastrophic earth quake that occurred in 2010. As result of the earth quake, 220,000 were killed, more than 300,000 were injured and 1.5 million people lost their homes (Breakey, Corless, Meedzan, & Nicholas, 2015). The country experienced a large cholera outbreak following the earth quake because of their poor sanitation practices. The country continues to face many health challenges, so organizations from around the world are poised to help address the health disparities experienced by the Haitian people and others in developing nations around the world. Nurses are an important member of this team as lobby for change, provide much needed financial resources, give of their time and work toward making this world a better place for everyone to live.

I saw kids of all ages living with a burden pinned to their backs. However, they did not show it. They were just like me, a normal kid. Yet everyday they had to live in a sort of jail. Following a strict schedule when to eat, play, sleep, and go to school. They couldn’t hop in the car with their mom and go to the mall. The things I take for granted were what they were praying for. While here my fellow life teen members and I came together as a sort of beacon of light to play with and be a friend to these kids. We all came together to achieve a common goal and help those in need. This experience really hit home with me as I underappreciate all the little things in life that I should be grateful for. Trying to live a selfless life can be hard, but I will continue to help my community and those in need throughout my

In fifth grade I was told I was going to Mexico for spring break, little did I know this vacation would be one of the most life changing experiences I have ever had. I have always been told to do thing for others and to put the less fortunate before myself. I live in a very Catholic household and my family is constantly going to serve at homeless dinners and work at local shelters but I was never truly changed by these experiences until my trip to Mexico. Through this experience I learned that sometimes giving to others benefits me more than I expected.

In 2011, I traveled to my hometown in Haiti to reconnect with friends and family. It was great to be back home and I got to enjoyed the food, music and spend quality time with family. What stood out the most during this trip was I witnessed nurses and doctors giving out medicine, vaccines and providing medical advice to the community. Seeing this prompted me to approach the doctors, who informed me of Doctors without Borders, an organization I would like to volunteer with once I become a physician. I agree with their mission and want to be part of a world-wide humanitarian organization.

In the fall of 2014 I was presented with the opportunity to go on a missions trip to Zambia. We had a few meetings about this trip and interest grew. Next thing I knew it was March of 2015 and I was headed off to Haiti. Plans had changed but I could never have imagined what great impact this would have on my life.

During the past couple months of preparation, my team planned a youth revival, but when we got down to the school yard was, we found out that a whole city revival was planned. There were pastors and worship teams from around Haiti that came for the revival. We soon realized that we were definitely not the ones running the show, and that we were just there to dance with the people, and to sit with them! It was almost better this way, because we got to build relationships with people that originally wouldn’t have

During the 1700s the french had ruled over the nation which is now known today as Haiti.When the french had ruled over haiti it was known as one of the richest nations, by trading coffee beans and sugar. However,this was done with the help of many slaves the french had imperialized. Imperialize is “subject to imperial rule or influence” in simple terms is means when one country rules over another country getting its resources. Which is exactly what the french had done towards Haiti. If haiti had been one of the richest nations then,why is it suffering from economic problems today? Well during 1791 haitians began to rebel against the french starting the most successful slave rebellion in the western hemisphere, However then later threatened

Our YRG arrived at the work site we were sent to. We realized that this area we were working in was suffering. The town had poverty all over and it seemed like it was in bad conditions. Even though we saw that, it made me more excited to work on something because I knew whoever we were doing it for they would be thrilled to see something new. That day we met an elderly lady that had been living in this community all her life. As the week went on with building a ramp and painting, I had a better chance to get to know her. We talked about the community, interests we had, joys, and so much more in just little time. Thursday came too quick. That night for worship we had a time to let God come in and remember why Jesus died for us. It was a time to be with our church group and a time for tears throughout the whole camp. That night it was emotional, but warming. Through the tears, I thought about what the elderly lady had told me. She reminded me that the things that we complain isn't as important as something that someone is suffering through. The community we had been in was one that was suffering with insurance an financially. She reminded me that we should be thankful for all the

The one day we went to a local Food Pantry, where we did many tasks including cooking food, gardening, cleaning dishes and serving food. At the food pantry, we got to get our hands a little messy, sweaty and use some muscle to help the impoverished people of Cape Coral, Florida. For our puppet show we went to three different churches Iglesia Vedia, in Cape Coral, The First Haitian Baptist Church in Fort Myers, and a third, huge, non-Spanish church. The Haitian church was by far the most memorable church. Pastor Mark had invited other local Haitians churches to come and see our show. It was a full house, it was standing room only. After the show and encore, Pastor Mark asked our group leader, Sandy Sonleightner to give an invitation of faith. 8 people accepted her invitation and became Christ Followers that day. After our show, many people came and said how much they liked the show. The one teenager described the show as “lit”. It was cool to see how teenagers in Florida thought our show was the coolest

It was during a week working in Chicago that I realized the impact I was having on these families, but more importantly, the impact they were having on me. That particular year, I was prayer share leader - which meant I had to lead my group in prayer, share life

One week was just enough to reflect on my spiritual status. The trip to Haiti was a two pronged journey; spiritual and physical. Being my first time going abroad alone, as well as my first time going to a non-developed country, I saw and realized many aspects I wouldn’t have seen here.