Tell us about your experience in Haiti

I was selected amongst my peers while in Graduate School to help pave the way for a Global Health Initiative.  The concept had been to create an interdisciplinary learning and treating opportunity for Physical & Occupational therapy students to attend annually during spring break.  After 2 successful trips as a student, I saw incredible value for maintaining my connection to the program as a new clinician.  We treat a wide variety of cases in an outpatient facility directed by a Dominican local, Ivens Louis.  Individuals may suffer from a variety of neurologic, musculoskeletal, and post operative ailments in a small northern city, in Haiti, Ounaminthe,

Where do you see the largest need in Haiti?

I’ve only been exposed to a small corner of the country, but from what I have seen the major areas of need revolve around access.  From providers, to transportation, supplies, and education – simply ‘getting there’ remains the greatest physical challenge. When working in Ouanaminthe people were traveling up to 3 hours one way.  The roads to travel in the towns are not easy to drive on; nothing is smooth, I’d term it controlled chaos; people & livestock often share the hilly roadways.

Where do you see the Global Health Initiative going? 

As a LIVE EVERY DAY’er, my goal is to use this platform to education our local communities, get the word out and get others excited!  Together we can gather supplies, financially support those in the greatest need, and funnel those efforts to action.