A Medical Mission to the heart of Haiti

Dana Pierson, an RN at Pacific Surgical Center, traveled to Haiti in December as part of a medical mission sponsored by Christian Science International. She made many friends and came away with a special place in her heart for Haiti’s poverty-stricken people.

The nine-member team included a surgeon, anesthesiologist, nurse anesthetist, and six registered nurses. They performed nearly 30 procedures in four days at a clinic in a village near Port-au-Prince. The procedures included hernia repairs, circumcisions, and cyst removals.

Now - following the devastating earthquake that hit the island nation on January 12 - Pierson waits anxiously for word about those she met and cared for.

“We’ve received several messages from Christian Science International,” she said. “Our host family is fine. The clinic was damaged, but they are still able to treat people.”

Pierson said that life in Haiti was difficult enough before the earthquake. Many people have no running water or electricity. There is no garbage collection. Most of the trees have been cut down to use as fuel to heat homes.

“The people didn’t have much before,” Pierson said. “Now it must be incredibly hard. There will be very little, if any, drinkable water, no sanitation, and minimal food and shelter. It’s going to be a very slow process to get any kind of regular life back for these people.”

Pierson participated in medical aid trips to Honduras in 2003 and Ecuador in 2008. She plans to sign on for another trip in 2011.

“You can make day-to-day life a little easier for the people you help,” she said. “But trips like this change your life, also. You realize that life isn’t about having a big house or a new car.”

Pierson has worked in the operating room at Pacific Surgical Center (PSC) since 2006.