March 3, 2010 - 526 words
Woodstock nurse helps Haiti relief
LELAND HUMBERTSON - The Woodstock Independent
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Brenda MacDonnell, a nurse at Mercy Harvard Hospital and a Woodstock resident, returned Feb. 13 from a week-long aid trip to Haiti.
"I saw more traumas there than in my 18 years in the intensive care unit," said MacDonnell. In addition to helping victims of the earthquake that killed 200,000 people in Port-Au-Prince, she treated victims of gunshot wounds, stabbings and automobile accidents.
Instead of working in a stocked and staffed facility, she worked in the triage section of the makeshift hospital, covered by a large, circus-like tent next to the airport.
MacDonnell and her fellow volunteers worked on a constant stream of patients with whatever supplies they had in persistently hot and humid conditions.
The physical injuries she saw weren't as psychologically stirring as the reactions from the Haitian people. MacDonnell was moved to tears by the amount of gratitude a boy showed after she gave him a pair of shoes.
"You know you're going to leave emotionally drained," said MacDonnell. She spoke of a mother who took an excrement-covered blanket out of the trash so she could wash it and use it again for her children.
"Your perspective of humankind is changed," said MacDonnell. "The problems in your life are so petty, irrelevant and unbelievable. You hug your kids a little tighter."
Despite the amount of tragedy that MacDonnell witnessed, she said she never felt unsafe. United States troops were on every corner, adding some stability to the city. The Haitians told MacDonnell that they trusted the U.S. troops but felt the opposite towards United Nations troops, saying they stole and looted food and supplies.
"Corruption is rampant," said MacDonnell. "(Aid) doesn't trickle down to the right people." She added that Haitians told her their own government was keeping large amounts of relief money for itself instead of helping the people.
The Haitian people's faith left an impression on her.
"They're very religious," she said. "They still praised God for everything."
MacDonnell went on the trip through Project MediShare, a nonprofit organization partnered with the University of Miami. The organization is made up entirely of volunteers and paid all of her expenses except for her flight to Miami. Her first day as a nurse at Mercy Harvard Hospital was scheduled to be two days before the trip, but Mercy pushed back the date so she could go on the trip.
MacDonnell hopes to follow up on the work she started.
"I can't see not going back," she said. "There's a couple of little kids in my mind that just haunt me."
A child, through a translator, asked to go back to the United States with her. The child's father came up to her and urged MacDonnell to take his son and give him a better life.
"I want to find out what happened to the kids," said MacDonnell. A register exists that lists all of the patients in the makeshift hospitals.
MacDonnell suggested that if people don't want to give cash to aid organizations, supplies like hand sanitizer, disinfectant wipes and bedsheets are the most useful to relief workers and patients.
"Everyone's taking care of everyone," she said. "I would do it again in a heartbeat."
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