STEPHENVILLE, N.L. — FRANK GALE
THE WESTERN STAR
STEPHENVILLE
After a week of exhaustive work at Bernard Mevs Hospital in Port au Prince, Haiti last year, Pam Gosse found it hard to leave.
The registered nurse in the emergency department of Sir Thomas Roddick Hospital in Stephenville knew the Team Broken Earth Western NL she was part of was doing so much good for people there.
“When you come home from somewhere like that you realize how lucky you are where you’re living and you hug your family,” she said.
Gosse is now “chomping at the bit” to get back to Haiti with Team Broken Earth Western NL, but a planned trip that was to leave Nov. 12 has been postponed due to protesting and political unrest in the country.
It would be relatively safe at the hospital, but the team's big concern is getting from the airport to the hospital, then back to the airport again a week later.
“We’re told that part wouldn’t be safe,” Gosse said.
The last time the team was in Haiti, there was some unrest, but she said they felt quite safe in the hospital.
Seeing people with bullet wounds leaving the hospital because they couldn’t afford Haitian health care costs is quite a different experience for the team embers from western Newfoundland.
When Team Broken Earth is there, patients pay a small amount because the team brings mostly all its own supplies.
“It’s quite different there as everything is not at your finger tips, so you have to come up with different ways to do things and definitely prioritize,” Gosse said. “In the hospital you see family members provide a lot of personal care to patients.”
She remembers a girl coming into the hospital with a bad infection. In her opinion, had Team Broken Earth members not treated her, she likely would have lost her life.
“Situations like that make you feel you are saving lives,” Gosse said. “It opens your eyes to how fortunate we are here.”
Nursing anywhere can saves lives, but it hits home way more in Haiti, said Gosse, because Haitians are living under these conditions every day.
That’s why she finds it so unfortunate their trip was postponed.
Despite some language challenges for her in Haiti, Gosse is hoping the team will get back there sooner rather than later.
It is not sure when the political climate will change in Haiti. When it does, team members will have to arrange vacation time as they take annual leave to go.
“It’s heart-wrenching we couldn’t go as scheduled, but we have to look at the safety of the team,” she said.
The team has gotten some great support from the community.
A recent concert fundraiser and draw at Stephenville High School organized by Rosemary Finn raised $4,960. The Anglican Church Women and Gosse's two daughters have also held fundraisers.
Team Broken Earth Western NL members:
• Amanda Rideout
• Andrew Jeffery
• Bonnie Chaulk
• Cassandra Hynes
• Dave Thomas
• Deanne Blanchard
• Dennis Rashleigh
• Pam Gosse
• Paul Mathew
• Rory Tatchell
• Tara Gillam
• Trudy Kearney
• Angela Companion
• Ashley Murdoch
• Fayyaz Khan
• Jake Vermaak
• Joanne White Ross
• Kerry Farrell
• Milton Parai
• Sheldon Butt
• Tom Adams
• Tyler Francis
• Sheldon Peddle
Source: Team Broken Earth
