By Taylor Duffy
SimVentions employees and friends of SimV just returned from Plaisance, Boucon, and Ti Franswa in Haiti for their 5th annual missions’ trip. SimV’s Lindsey Biggs, Debbie Nicholson, and Barbara Moon were joined by their friends and family, Shirley Miller, Adrianna Biggs, Cindy Neal, Kristin Vozzo, Don Jennings, and JP Snyder, to go and give medical help to the less fortunate from February 22 – 29.
The team held a full day medical clinic in each of the three towns. There, they were able to see 650 patients. They were even able to distribute 111 eyeglasses, making it their first time to bring glasses to Haiti! Because of generous donations from friends and family at home, they were able to give many gifts to the locals. They gave 40 families bags of food, 16 families a goat, six children a bike, and eight children a pair of shoes that they picked out at the market. Three families in desperate need are now having homes built for them because of the team’s generosity.
They cherish the quality time they spend with the locals. One such example is making crafts with children at the school and those at the elderly home. The team members feel forever touched by some of the situations they find themselves in on these trips. Last year, one woman had a seizure while cooking and fell into the open fire, causing her leg to burn and decay. She didn’t have the funds to go to the hospital, so she packed her wound with coal. By the time they reached her, she was in such bad shape that they thought she was going to lose her leg or die. They transferred her to the hospital, paid for all the care, and she ended up making a full recovery! When they went back to visit her this year, she was overly excited, thankful, and in great health!
Haiti and its people have a special place in the hearts of these individuals that go back each year. Because Plaisance is six hours into the mountains, only a few teams go each year. This team is the only consistent one, so the locals can never wait for them to come back!
Thank you to everyone that gave through money, prayer, and other kinds of support. It means the world to the team, and even more to Haiti’s locals!