Haiti is a vibrant place and one I will forever remember, both vividly and fondly.

I had the honor of visiting in March 2014. I was in the middle of my post-grad training and interested in international health. One of my former professors who was mentoring a new student group — the World Health Student Organization (WHSO) — at my alma mater reached out about joining a trip to Haiti. WHSO was partnering with our university’s medical school and a local charity to coordinate medical missions in Haiti, Ecuador and Nicaragua. They needed licensed providers to provide care and teach students. She thought I’d be a good fit. The stars aligned, I said yes and two of my besties at the time came, too.

We traveled from the US to Port-au-Prince then further on to a rural commune in the mountains called Baptiste outside of Mirebalais. We stayed at a rectory with the priest of the community’s church. There weren’t enough beds inside so some of us had to sleep outside. I was one of those people. Our quarters were on the roof. It was made of concrete and we slept on air mattresses under mosquito nets hung from a string of rope overhead. I slept like a dream every night and have never seen more stars in my life than I did sleeping on that rooftop. Every morning I pinched myself because the photo above is the view I woke up to. The clinic we staffed was across the street from the church. We worked long days in the heat seeing as many patients as we could per day. In the evenings, we danced and played with the children from the village. Many of whom attended the church’s school. The kids were the brightest spot of the trip for me. We also got to spend a day at the end of the trip exploring Port-au-Prince and went to a beach club. It was so charming. And the food! 🤤

I’m sure it sounds cliché, but it’s a trip that changed my life. I haven’t seen the world the same since I saw what I saw there. And looking back, I think it was an opening (my euro trip in the summer of 2009 being another) to show me what was possible if I was willing to live a life on my own terms. Not to just follow the path that was expected of me. I ended up living up to expectations and staying on a more traditional path for several more years. That’s over now, of course. But sometimes I wonder… what would today look like if I’d have chosen differently?