COLORADO SPRINGS, COLO. -- Since the earthquake in Haiti, hundreds of doctors and surgeons have traveled to the country to help with the immediate medical needs of the Haitian people.
But works still remains to be done, as thousands of patients are in need of follow-up care.
FOX21 News spoke with a group of local nursing students Monday who are planning a trip to the country.
Deborah Clarke is a student at UCCS' Beth-El College of Nursing and Health Sciences. She and nine of her classmates are planning a trip to Haiti next month to help with recovery efforts there.
"We will be providing nursing care to the maximum of our capabilities. We will be going to some outlying areas and treating patients there, and then we are going to connect with a local hospital to provide care there to," Clarke said.
Clarke and her team will be traveling with their parent organization, NOAH, or the National Organization for the Advancement of Haitians. It is nonprofit organization dedicated to the restoration and preservation of democracy in Haiti.
"Most of the physicians are Haitian nationals who have acquired U.S. citizenship, so we feel very comfortable going with that group because they are familiar with the culture and the language," Clarke said.
Clarke said their goal is to continue sending nursing students to Haiti on an ongoing basis as long as they are needed. She and her classmates said they are not nervous about the trip, but rather excited to put their education into practice.
"Really, just responding to natural disasters and human suffering on a scale like this is why I got into nursing," senior nursing student Sadie Kirschke said.
"I am absolutely thrilled, I mean that is the reason I am in nursing to help people, and the need is there with the Haitian people," senior nursing student Jessica Minnich said.
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Benefit Concert and Auction: All proceeds to help nursing students pay for travel, on Friday, June 11, at Castaways Speakeasy Theater, 103 Manitou Ave., Manitou Springs, CO, 80829. For tickets call 719-576-5945.
Financial donations can be mailed to: CSNS for Haiti, PO Box 63402, Colorado Springs, Colorado 80962.
Make tax deductible donations payable to NOAH ( the national organization for the advancement of Haitians)
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