I’M GOING TO HAITI!!! I can’t believe it! I have wanted this for so long and now I actually get the chance to go! I got home from my night shift in the ER at 6:30am this morning, so nervous to talk to Wynn about the possibility of my volunteer trip. We hadn’t even finalized our plans to talk to this morning, but I got online in case he was on. I was so nervous because I thought that the news would be bad I had knots in my stomach and felt nauseated. Then, as the conversation started to turn positive, I started to get so excited and adrenaline was rushing through me. I was so shaky and tired and excited. He gave me an offer and then Vicky sent me an official offer a couple hours later. I can’t believe it! She gave me the names and email addresses of some other volunteers who have been to Haiti post-earthquake, so that I can talk to them about their experiences. I officially have one week to accept their offer, but as far as I’m concerned it’s a done deal! I get to go! I’m excited to hear from the previous volunteers though and listen to their experiences. They will know how I can best prepare myself and I’m definitely going to take their advice seriously.

     My position while I’m there is going to be setting up a pharmacy that supplies a cholera rehydration center, a small ER and ICU, and a malnutrition center. I also am going to be organizing the logistics of short-term volunteers who come to stay and learn about the home and hospital. I think that setting up the pharmacy will be a great thing for me to do. I will get to learn about all different kinds of medication which I currently know nothing about (time to get studying!) But it will play to what I love to do which is building something from the ground up. The pharmacy will be my project and I’ll get to see results as we build and organize this pharmacy. Obviously having a working pharmacy is incredibly important to any type of treatment facility and I think it will be great that I get to work with the three different centers. As for organizing the stays of short-term volunteers, I think that it will be so fun. I’ll constantly be getting to talk to people who are excited about coming to Haiti and learning about the NPFS home and hospital. Working on the Special Events committee for Friends of the Orphans, that is what I had been doing- getting other people excited about the homes and the work that this organization does. I’ll get to meet people from all over the world and play hostess during their stay. So awesome!