LBCC Students do something extraordinary- Volunteering as mentors in Haiti

Have you ever wanted to travel abroad? Would you do it if it meant going as a volunteer mentor? 

Students in the diagnostic imaging program at LBCC are doing just that. Stacy Mallory, the  director for the diagnostic imaging program, has been sending students in her program to Haiti who are wanting to volunteer by being educational mentors. That's right, these dedicated students are travelling to a foreign country to help people who desperately need the aid. 

Mallory is involved with Project Medishare, an organization that is trying to improve health care in Haiti. She helped write a grant that was awarded to the diagnostic imaging program at LBCC in partnership with Project Medishare. The grant pays for the travel expenses of students who have completed all of their required program diagnostic imaging competencies and met a few other travel requirements. The volunteer students then travel to Haiti, staying a little over two weeks, teaching the Haitian students what they have learned in the diagnostic imaging program. Project Medishare's goal is to help "achieve quality healthcare" by having volunteer mentors teach the Haitian students how to be self-sufficient so they can run their hospitals themselves. 

According to the CIA World Factbook Haiti is the poorest country in the western hemisphere. Haiti's low levels of education impede Haiti's economic growth. Project Medishare states that some areas of Haiti report children by the age of 5 have a mortality rate of 1 in 10. The aid LBCC students provide not only helps increase their education but it can also mean the difference between children's lives being saved or lost. 

Roxanne Goodwin

Roxanne Goodwin, the first LBCC student to go, described an example of how their volunteer work helped the Haitian people. She recounted how a gentleman she encountered while mentoring lost his job as a primary school teacher when his school was destroyed in the 2010 earthquake. He found work at an airport helping people carry their luggage. While doing this he began to teach himself how to speak English. He then was able to become a translator for the Bernard Mevs hospital in Port Au'Prince and found himself learning to operate an x-ray machine in surgery. Goodwin was able to help this man learn general radiography with the classes being taught through the volunteer program.

Mallory said, "They are the amazing students that had the courage to go outside their comfort zone and do something extraordinary".

"Ketchup sandwich"

Goodwin, who described eating a "ketchup sandwich" for breakfast while in Haiti, recalled the living conditions saying, "The supplies and resources are very limited". She gave an example of how she took for granted being able to drink and eat as she pleased. While in Haiti she "only had access to [limited] food and water...delivered twice a day".


Recognition is due to the LBCC students who left the comfort of their homes to help those less fortunate. There names are; Roxanne Goodwin, Breanna Hixson, Robbi Graham, Angie Opoien, Jill Brunelle, Lacey Schulte, and Katelyn Whitehead.

The students at LBCC who have participated in this opportunity say the work is very rewarding.

Angie Opoien

"I am so grateful to have had the chance to work with a different culture than mine and see the way of their day to day living. I would recommend that anyone interested in doing volunteer work, do it! It is an amazing opportunity and really can be humbling", Opoien said.

"My trip was a once in a lifetime experience and changed my life", stated Hixson.

Breanna Hixson

Angie Opoien

Goodwin said, "The whole time you are helping them they are actually thanking you". 

You too can do something extraordinary. Consider doing volunteer work locally or abroad. Follow the example of these incredible students and give back to society. The experience could be more rewarding then you might imagine.

(If you wish to volunteer or donate directly to Project Medishare, visit http://www.projectmedishare.org/contact-us/)

At a glance-
LBCC & Project Medishare send students to be volunteer mentors
Students sent to Haiti, Bernard Mevs hopital in Port Au'Prince
The program is ongoing for the diagnostic imaging department
Haiti is in desperate need for medical training and assistance
http://www.projectmedishare.org/