Description:

Our short-term mission trips are generally five days long with three of the five days reserved for our medical clinics.
Our teams are currently limited to 22 volunteers.
All volunteers must be in good health
All volunteers must be at least 21 years old. If a volunteer is under 21 years old, the volunteer must be accompanied by a parent or guardian who has completed at least one previous mission trip with People For Haiti.
Our board of directors will make the final determination for all volunteer participation
A $650 deposit is required for your application to be considered. If your application is denied, the $650 deposit will be refunded.

A typical mission trip experience: We fly to Miami then in to Port-au-Prince. We are greeted by missionaries and transported to the orphanage which has about 54 children aged from a few months to teen years. We have armed security anytime we are not at the orphanage. While we have NEVER had an issue, People For Haiti is proactive in this respect. We will usually see the children at the orphanage that first day and any orphanage workers that need care.

The next two days we will set out for our medical clinics. They range from being in local villages to mountain clinics that start from 8 to 9 a.m. People will walk for 2 hours, then wait for hours to be seen in our clinics. We do mostly basic primary care: scalp and skin infections, respiratory infections, musculoskeletal problems, gastroenterology issues, just about anything. We deliver babies and perform minor surgery. We will see about 400 patients a day.

As a volunteer, you may being doing triage, pharmacy, crowd control, photography, whatever is at your comfort level. You will be briefed by People For Haiti for whatever task you are given. You will never be asked to do anything outside of your comfort zone and you will never be alone. Physicians will be delivering basic primary care, will receive a primary care “primer” and always be with a veteran People For Haiti physician. After clinic ends, approximately 3 p.m., we will return to the orphanage to prepare for the next day’s adventure.

In the evening, it is free time to rest, enjoy spending time with the kids or share stories of the day. In Haiti, nothing is predictable and emergencies arise 24 hours a day. Be prepared to adapt to different situations and expect the unexpected. On Saturdays, we hold clinic at the orphanage and see the surrounding community. Often times, we get done a little early and can do a mountain hike, a soccer game with some of the kids or some other fun activity.

Organizational Base: Tampa, Florida

Other Programs: Water Filtration