July 12, 2019
Clauder (the oldest boy at our children’s home) recently had the opportunity to participate in a Medical Mission trip in Haiti. He joined a team from the USA (which included Carmen Doyle, a friend of SLM) and traveled to L’Estère, Haiti, which is north of Port au Prince beyond St. Mark.
The team was led by Dr. Gracia Etienne, founder of the MIVO Foundation. Dr. Etienne is a Haitian national who is an orthopedic surgeon in the USA. He founded a Clinic in L’Estère and personally leads teams there to provide orthopedic care to Haitians in that area.
When asked prior to the trip what he would be doing at the clinic, Clauder replied, “I don’t really know; I will be a volunteer.” The hope was for this experience to give Clauder hands-on experience in the medical field before applying for training to become a doctor.
We asked Clauder to share his thoughts with us afterward about the trip.
He told us that “this was a great experimental trip before going to medical school and was really beneficial for me because I have been in touch with experienced people in the medical field.”
He said that when he arrived at the campus of MIVO, he felt really appreciated by all the team members. “They loved me and gave lots of importance to me.” It seemed as if “they already considered me like a doctor, but I am not yet. That was so cute.” Clauder felt very proud of himself and so did his “sponsoring mom,” Carmen, who was also part of the team.
Clauder reports that he was taught many things.
- “For example: about how to give an injection – even if I did not try!” He enjoyed seeing how it is done!!!
- Another example Clauder mentioned: “There was a PT doctor named Noah who taught me a lot of things about physical therapy.”
- Clauder considered it very valuable for him to have the opportunity to watch repairs to several leg injuries in the operating room. “Seriously, some of them scared me. They were a little bit hard for me to see, and I resisted observing at first.” Then by continuing to observe, he found they “became normal to me.”
- “Also while I was there, I helped by translating and filling medication bags for the prescriptions.”
Clauder shared that the team visited three places:
- The village where Doctor Etienne was born
- A beautiful beach named, Kaliko Beach. “This place is wonderful with a beautiful view, and to me, the food was perfect. The entire group enjoyed it.”
- The team also climbed one of the highest mountains near the MIVO campus. Clauder explained it as “amazing when we were on top of the mountain” and viewed the ocean and all of nature surrounding them. “I enjoyed it a lot.”
Clauder also explained the spiritual impact this experience had in his life:
- “We had three devotion times every morning. One before breakfast, a second one with the patients, and the last one included the translators, the Haitian nurses and the team.”
- “So these kinds of spiritual activities make me closer to God. My faith is improved. That made me really happy.”
- “When I first come back home, I felt like I was a different guy than before.”
Clauder expressed his thanks to the Lord for giving him this opportunity, to Carmen (his sponsoring “mom”), and to “Papi Jacques for planning it for me.”
Continue to pray for Clauder, asking God to guide every step he takes and that his dream of becoming a medical doctor will be fulfilled!!!
Clauder outside the MIVO clinic Clauder involved with one of the devotion times Prayer with the patients Clauder helping in the pharmacy
