650 patients, two days in poverty

from the Journal and Courier

By TAYA FLORES
tflores@journalandcourier.com

Instead of sunbathing at a resort in an exotic part of the world during spring break, a group of eight local nursing students traveled to Haiti to help treat the sick.

As the students from the St. Elizabeth School of Nursing disembarked from the plane, they noticed the poverty. Haitians begged for money at the airport in Port-au-Prince. Exhaust fumes, dust and garbage created a powerful stench that assaulted the nose.

At one point the students stopped at a gas station and a crowd of kids swarmed them, grabbing their arms in hopes of receiving money.

"The poverty is completely overwhelming," said Melissa Buntin, a senior nursing student who went to Haiti with classmates from Feb. 29 to March 7.

Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, with 80 percent of the population living below the poverty line and 54 percent in abject poverty, according to the CIA World Factbook.

The country also has major health concerns including excess mortality because of AIDS and a high degree of risk from major infectious diseases such as diarrhea, malaria, hepatitis A and E and typhoid fever, according to the CIA World Factbook.

Since 2000, the St. Elizabeth school has taken a different group of students to Haiti to expose them to trans-cultural nursing. The trip is an alternative to a required classroom course on trans-cultural health issues.

The trip to Haiti evolved from invitations to participate in missions from St. Thomas Aquinas, a Catholic center at Purdue University in West Lafayette.

Buntin said the trip was important because nursing students need to know how to treat patients from diverse backgrounds.

"America is a melting pot and we as nurses have to be able to give care to anyone regardless of ethnicity and income level," the 27-year-old said.

The students that went to Haiti saw about 650 patients in 2 1/2 days and treated patients who had wounds, hypertension and skin infections. The students also handed out bags of supplies filled with shampoo, anti-fungals, multi-vitamins and hygiene products.

Many Haitians walked five or six miles barefoot in 90 degree weather to meet them at the clinic. Those many were wearing were dirty, Buntin said.

Despite the conditioned Haitians face every day, their faces were full of smiles and gratitude.

"They were so thankful," said Connie Brutus, a 43-year-old nursing student. "They had a glow on their faces."

The nursing students stayed in a parish compound in Jacmel, Haiti, where there was a rat in their bedrooms and no hot water. One night they had to wash their hair in the rain because there was no cold water either.

But briefly enduring a lack of modern conveniences was not the hardest part of the trip.

"The hardest thing was to see the children malnourished when we had plenty to eat," Buntin said.

They often saw Haitians bathing in the nearby river, in ditches or in run-off from the street.

Apart from the culture shock, the students came back with their eyes open.

"It's really hard to imagine that world exists while this world does," said Allena Page, a 22-year-old nursing student.

"I actually felt guilty on the plane on the way back because we were talking about getting a burger," said Jenny Richardson, a 26-year-old nursing student.

The experience not only changed their attitudes but their actions.

Buntin is more cautious about spending her money. Page will not say she's a poor college student anymore and Brutus told her family they needed to cut back on their belongings.

"Every American should have to experience Haiti because you would appreciate your life here so much more," Buntin said.