By Susan Gallagher

Registered nurse Dianne Peterson obtained “the biggest suitcases I could possibly get” as she prepared for a medical mission trip to Haiti in November. Her cargo to give away included a lot of soap and shampoo from members of her parish, Christ the King in Missoula, plus 150 flannel diapers made by the ecumenical sewing group Martha Ministry.

Peterson and 28-year-old daughter Kate were in the Haiti village of Cyvadier Nov. 7- 20 as volunteers with Friends for the Children of Haiti, an Illinois-based nonprofit operating a free clinic that withstood the January earthquake. The organization arranges visits by U.S. medical teams, who cover their own expenses for travel, room and board. The team visiting in November saw about 2,500 patients, Peterson said.

“We saw a lot of malnutrition, a lot of parasite infections,” she said. “Diabetes and high blood pressure are rampant.” She also saw the use of sterilized wire from coat hangers to close the fractured jaws of two people injured in motorcycle accidents.

“It was medicine I’m not used to, that’s for sure,” said the nurse with more than 35 years in the profession.

The Haiti medical mission last month followed one in 2008 by Peterson and was the first for her daughter, who does not have a health-care background and worked on retrieving the medical records of patients seen previously at the clinic. Given the frequency with which patients’ names change, that was no small feat, Peterson said.

“You hear all the time, `I received so much more than I gave,’” she said. “That is so true. You put up with the heat and the scabies and not having a hamburger in sight for two weeks, the long hours and the hard work and the sad things you see. But you come out so filled. It’s crucial that these people who have had so many things thrown at them know that there are people in the world who care. There are people who want to help them get back on their feet.”

Those she wants to assist through ongoing outreach include a nursing student who lost both parents in the earthquake and has doubts about financing the remainder of her education. Peterson said she has resolved to help the young woman get through school.

Cash she took to Haiti included money from Christ the King parishioners, dollars Peterson said she used to discreetly help some struggling Haitians with expenses such as food and transportation.


Published in The Montana Catholic Online, Volume 26, No. 12, December 17, 2010.