By ANDREW FICKES
For the Issaquah Reporter
When Lauren Anderson gets in her car to go to work or to run errands, she’s reminded of how lucky we Americans are to have everything within reach.
Half a world away, a piece of Anderson’s heart is with the people of Haiti — where good health care isn’t as prevalent, and day-to-day living is not as easy.
“I’ve been given so much in my life: loving parents, a good education, a good job, a good family,” said Anderson, a pediatric nurse at Virginia Mason Issaquah Medical Center. “We live in an area where it’s nothing to think twice about getting somewhere. (People in Haiti) have to leave early in the morning to get to anywhere for work. So, to give back is the least thing you can do.”
In 2013, Anderson got the opportunity to be part of a medical team from Northshore Community Church in Bothell, traveling to Haiti. Over the past three years, Anderson has been part of a medical team consisting of doctors and nurses traveling to Haiti three times: twice in 2013, and a third trip in March 2015.
“We would stay in Haiti for seven to nine days,” Anderson said. “We always had two physicians and several nurses. We would set up a clinic and triage patients. We gave the people education. We gave worming medicine. We would bring chewable vitamins from the U.S. — bags of 30 to families to give to their children every day to help with their overall health.
“You’re kind of limited in what you can do,” Anderson explained. “The doctors had a portable ultrasound, but you couldn’t draw blood and run some tests. High blood pressure is very prevalent in Haitian people, so we would raise awareness on cutting back on salt. They’re limited by their income and what they can afford to buy. Doctors would prescribe blood pressure medications. We would provide instruction on medication and a prescription to get at a local store.“
Since 2004, Anderson has been on non-medical mission trips with her home church Sammamish Presbyterian. The church group, partnering with Agros, has helped to build two villages in the Chiapas state of Mexico. In addition, they have worked with a mission group in South Africa called Hebron Community Projects, and last April, returned from a trip to Antigua, Guatemala, where they assessed the viability of a partnership with a group there to provide assistance, which Anderson hopes will include medical assistance as well.
“There are very committed people there, and they could use the help,” Anderson said. “It’s unknown, at this time, what care we can provide. But from what I can see, it would be similar to running a clinic like the one in Haiti, especially to the small areas we visited.”
Anderson said traveling to Haiti has been her favorite trip.
“Haitian people are beautiful people,” she said. “They’re very caring, very committed Christians.”
Some of the examples include an OBGYN in Haiti who shared his dream of opening a health clinic. Anderson said a church working with the OBGYN has helped to build a delivery room, and they’re working on a clinic. Another person the group met was a pastor who has adopted 65 children.
“He has purchased some land, and has a big house on it,” Anderson said. “It is nothing fancy, but he keeps the kids fed, dry, clothed and educated. It is heartwarming and phenomenal to see.”
Anderson said she and the medical team are delivering healthcare to those who have never had healthcare.
“I don’t do it for them to be thankful to me,” she said. “(Although) they are very thankful that we have come and that we will listen to them. It kind of fills your soul.”
Anderson said two challenges the medical team faces in Haiti are the restrictions to what healthcare can be delivered and also the language barrier.
“You appreciate a lot more everything you have at your disposal,” Anderson said. “You appreciate how doctors (in the U.S.) can get lab work done and X-rays done. It helps to not take our American medicine for granted. Life, in general, is so much easier in America.”
As for language, Anderson said usually the team is lucky to have an interpreter assigned to each member. But sometimes messages to the Haitian people about how to take medications or the importance of cutting back on salt get lost in translation.
“Translation is difficult,” Anderson explained.
She said they say something, but they’re not always sure if the message is getting across via the interpreter.
It’s been over a year since Anderson’s last trip to Haiti. She eagerly waits for the next trip.
One thing that her experience has taught her about humanity is that we are all the same around the world.
“We all want relationships,” she said. “We all love our children and care for our children. We all want to work, and those who are able to want to give back. We all put our pants on the same way. The only difference is the color of our skin, and the language that we speak.”
