Rose Haiti Healthcare Education

By Karen Schafer

Donna’s Reflections on her Trip to Haiti as a Team Lead for Rose Haiti Healthcare.

I can’t believe that we are coming up to one month since we arrived to work with HAS.  The trip was such a positive experience for me and the team.  The way in which we were welcomed and the obvious preparation by the staff made a great impact on the whole week.  I know in Haiti as in most places, change is not easy.  When someone comes and tells you there is another way to do something, the reaction is often sceptical (at best).  The participants in the classes, though, quickly left their hesitation at the door and engaged with us in the learning.  They really took the information and resuscitation skills and worked them into their own clinical situations.  It was such a pleasure to see the accomplishment in their faces as they mastered new skills.  There will be challenges ahead!  Changes are needed at the front line level to support having the training transition into everyday practice, but the leaders that worked with us were very engaged.  They were already coming up with plans and ideas as to how to improve their practice in their own context. They will need support from HAS to put those plans into practice. I would love to encourage them that each little step they take is really a confirmation of their commitment to improving neonatal outcomes in their client population.  As is often said in Haiti, ‘Deye mon gen mon’, and so after the first step, the next steps come into view.  This can be discouraging, but we can also turn around and see the mountains we have left behind and know that the strength is there to progress through the journey.  I hope we can continue to work with HAS as they continue to take more steps toward their goals.