One of our volunteer teams is currently in Haiti, working alongside Haitian staff at the Clinic of Hope. Jo, an ultrasound technician, is a self-labeled newbie to Haiti Foundation of Hope but she is already making a lasting impression, both on people in Haiti and back home in the States. She’s been blogging about her experiences in Haiti at Monkey Brain Musings. Here’s some of what she writes:
Tuesday night… In true Monkey Brain fashion, I woke up at 3am this morning, with lesson plans and training ideas bouncing around in my head! I refused to get out of bed that early, so I spent the next 3 hours going over ideas and napping, until the rest of the crew began to stir.
These people are so grateful for our care…remember that many of them travel for days to get here, and sleep on a concrete floor to be seen the following day. I am repeatedly being scolded for attempting to scan through lunch and into the evening. It’s so easy for me to lose track of time when I’m working. I’ve seen so much fascinating pathology that I feel like I am in an immersion program! Tonight was one of two nights that I gave a didactic lecture to the Haitian and HFH medical personnel, and my Monkey Brain paid off., the lecture went well. I received some wonderful feedback from my team and in spite of their exhaustion, the Haitian professionals seemed satisfied as well. For such a long, exhausting day, I feel so utterly happy about the day. This trip has been everything I had hoped and dreamed it would be for me. From the joy of scanning a healthy baby to the heartbreak of diagnosing terminal cancer, this trip has been one of the most gratifying experiences of my life.