Several students spent spring break with the people of a Haitian community. The trip was arranged by the ETSU Catholic Center.

Several parishioners from St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Johnson City also took part in the mission.

Marie Jacobs, an ETSU student, pointed out the severity of the Haitian’s situation.

“Everyone on the trip was silent while driving through Port-Au-Prince,” Marie Jacobs said. “It was so different and you just were trying to take it all in.”

Members of the mission mentioned the dirt roads, tent cities, rivers of garbage and general lack of infrastructure in the Caribbean country.

While Haiti has no street signs, mission members said many directions were spray-painted on what is left of the buildings that had been destroyed by the area’s recent earthquake.

Members said locals moving rubble by hand was not out of the ordinary.

“It never really set in how bad their quality of life was,” Jacobs said.

The group spent most of its time about four hours west of Haiti’s capital in the town of Petite-Riviere.

Students spent time at visitation clinics shadowing doctors and working in the office.

Sonali Kadam, a pre-med student noted how much he enjoyed working with the patients in the clinic.

“The part I enjoyed most was working with patients in the visitation clinic,” Kadam said. “My job was to take the vital signs of all the patients. I liked it because not only did I get to have a hands-on experience, but it also improved my interaction with the locals.

“Usually, neither of us would know what the other was saying,” Kadam said. “But caring for the patients crossed the language boundary and somehow got us all on the same page.”

Members of the group also worked with the clinic’s computer system, plotted a garden for the community and kept busy by distributing donated food.

They handed out candy and made balloon animals for Haitian children, many of whom were displaced to Petite-Riviere.

At night, members found themselves playing card games with the hospital staff to pass time.

Father Michael Cummins, Chaplain of the Catholic Center at ETSU and the trip’s organizer, said he was stunned by the sight of the devastation of the city from his view in the airplane and also by the vast amount of tents he saw upon landing.

He was also surprised by the dignity of the Haitian people.

“In the midst of the rubble they were getting on with their lives,” Cummins said. “They have a strength and resiliency that is striking.”

Other members of the group mentioned that they never felt that they were in any danger while on the mission.

Kadam noted she was, “pleasantly surprised with everyone’s hospitality and acceptance,” and that it was a “once in a lifetime experience to see, not only the beauty of the lands, but also of the people. Given the chance, I would love to visit again.”

Cummins is now asking the students to put together a simple Powerpoint presentation to be displayed at St. Mary’s Catholic Church and also at the ETSU’s Catholic Center.

For more information on the mission trip, or upcoming events planned by the Catholic Center, call 926-7061 or e-mail etsucatholiccenter@yahoo.com.

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