A group of local healthcare workers are once again preparing to help the people of Haiti.
Mary Robertson and 29 other medical professionals will leave for Port-Au-Prince on Tuesday to help hundreds of people.
“I'm getting ready to join Team Broken Earth to go to Haiti from Barrie. It’s my last day at work today,” says the Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre nurse. “I will go home tonight, close up my suit case and get ready to leave at 3:30.”
Team leader Dr Tina Whitty says the contingent this time around is larger than last years' and is well prepared. They plan to expand the scope of their mission outside the hospital in Port-Au-Prince.
“We are doing a primary outreach clinic at a local school in Port-Au-Prince. It has almost 800 kids. The Rotary has been supporting this school for a number of years.”
The organization has been providing free surgical care in Haiti since the earthquake there in 2007. Last year, the team was forced to make tough decision to save children and gunshot victims.
Not every story came with a happy ending, but the team left feeling like they made a difference in the poverty stricken country.
“It helps immensely that people have gone before and I think the fact that the team has doubled this time around; there is 29 of us. Everybody is well educated and educated in their own areas I think it’s going to be amazing,” says registered nurse Jane Walker.
This is only the second time a Broken Earth team from Barrie has traveled to Haiti.
Whitty hopes missions will take place every year going forward.
