But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him. And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.
—Luke 10:33-34
This was our Mobile Medical Clinic team of volunteers who traveled to Savaan Pit, a five-hour drive into the mountains of Haiti to this very remote village. They included: Bev Olson RN from Canada, Dr. Glenda O’Brien from Australia, and from the States, Becca Reynolds LPN from Ohio, and Debbie and Donnie Click, Brandon Hoyme, Jessica Cooper and Kaylen Pierce, all from Texas. Rachael Abrams from our Love A Child office in Florida and Evie Ostrander, who is on our Board of Directors also joined us along with Carlos, our team host, Kaeli Fletcher, our Love A Child missionary, and our newest full-time missionary, our daughter Julie Halecki RN.
The volunteer Mobile Medical Clinic team was on the road to Savaan Pit. We traveled through very rough terrain for five hours. The roads are treacherous, just dirt and rock roads that are steep and winding through the mountains of Haiti.
And there were many rivers to cross…
After five hours of making our way through the mountains, we arrived at Savaan Pit to quite a welcoming surprise. We knew there would be many people coming from all over the area, but still nothing prepared our wonderful volunteer medical team for the sheer numbers of people who desperately needed medical care.
We have never received such a wonderful reception before by the people of this village.
This was to be a very special Mobile Medical Clinic for me as it was the first clinic where we were joined by our daughter Julie, who recently became a full-time missionary with us here in Haiti.
As we looked out across the land, we saw people coming down from the mountains, and up from the valleys to seek medical help. Many of them had walked all day.
The Mobile Medical Clinic at Savaan Pit was incredible! We saw more patients than ever before and they received excellent doctor care, free medicine, wound care, glasses, ministry and more. The first day of the clinic we were a bit overwhelmed with the sheer number of people who came seeking medical help.
Once the clinic was setup we went right to work getting patients information and getting people to the right stations for their medical care.
On the first day, we treated 914 patients, with individual and personal attention, like this very sick young girl with her family. Our medical volunteers and Love A Child staff were incredible!
We treated many patients for wound care, including one surgery for a woman who had a puncture wound from a branch going into her arm, and it had become terribly infected in the four months since it had happened.
Barbara MacMannis RN, our Medical Administrator at the Jesus Healing Center, examined a young mother and child.
Our daughter Julie had been preparing herself for months for this clinic, and she was ready to jump right in.
We also added two Haitian doctors to our team. This is Dr. Edmond, one of the doctors who had joined our Mobile Medical Team for this trip to Savaan Pit.
We gave out over 4,700 prescriptions at no charge.
Bobby prayed with many of the people during our Mobile Medical Clinic.
On the second day, a huge crowd was already waiting to receive help by early morning! Many of them waited in the new church that was recently built.
More people than we could ever imagine waited patiently for one of our medical team members to see them.
We had to do a lot of wound cleaning and washing for the many skin infections that are mostly caused by unsanitary conditions in the mud homes of these mountain people.
Impetigo is very common among the young because of the deplorable condition in which these people live.
We were very fortunate on this trip to have three medical doctors with us. Dr. Glenda O’Brien from Australia and two Haitian doctors, Dr. Edmond, and Dr. Mistral.
This was an amazing clinic for the people of Savaan Pit. In just two days we saw 1,377 adults and children, distributed 6,713 medications, saw 180 in wound care, gave out 174 pairs of eyeglasses to the elderly, had 45 plus conversions (with follow up program), we did one surgery and sent three near-death patients to the hospital! Thanks to our incredible volunteer mobile medical team. They all did an outstanding job.
By the end of the second day, we finally had to close the clinic when we ran out of medicine, but we were able to give each mother a “Family Pack of Medicine” to take home!
We also want to thank “Dr. Pat” for all her hard work and her labor of love. She had recently volunteered at our Lastik Mobile Medical Clinic several months ago, where we had a lot of infants who were brought to the clinic. Dr. Pat was so touched with all these babies, that she made lots of “baby bonnets.” These were given out at our Savaan Pit Mobile Medical Clinic.
This was a wonderful experience for all our mobile medical volunteers and staff. We treated so many people on this trip to Savaan Pit and though at times it seemed overwhelming, it was an experience of a lifetime for many of our first-time volunteers. They met some amazing people in this remote village. As the clinic was winding down, I was able to spend a few moments chatting with one of the village elders.
We arrived home safely from the mountains in Savaan Pit to our Love A Child compound, exhausted but feeling very blessed. Wow, what an incredible team! We want to thank the Lord, the team members, and thank you to our partners who sponsored this clinic and to those who gave large and small gifts to make this possible! If you would like to contribute to future Mobile Medical Clinics that travel to the regions beyond, please consider donating today.
We desperately need the following items for our Mobile Medical Clinics:
Blood Pressure Cuffs
I.V. Solution and supplies
Suture Kits
Any type of pain reliever cream, such as Bengay, for older patients
You can send these items to our Love A Child office address at:
Love A Child, Inc.
12411 Commerce Lakes Dr.
Fort Myers, FL 33913
God bless you and thanks a million, on behalf of the poor in Haiti.
Sherry