Nurse spends March in Haiti to give care to orphans
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School nurse Nancy Clutter, right, will be traveling to Haiti for one month to give medical care to orphans.
Photo by junior Katie Hay |
 More than one month after an earthquake devastated the small island nation of Haiti, the country's orphans still require medical care. School nurse Nancy Clutter is answering the call for help.
She will join other volunteers from across the country at Danita's Children in Ouanaminthe, Haiti, which is about eight hours north of Port-au-Prince, to care for orphan children with severe medical problems and injuries.
Clutter leaves on Saturday, March 6 and expects to work 12-hour days with few breaks for four weeks. She says she is most looking forward to "really loving and helping the children who have no parents to comfort them."
Clutter, who has been a school nurse for the past 12 years, learned about the opportunity while listening to a Christian radio station. After receiving support from her family and Principal Jim McKay, she applied for a volunteer position through an organization called Visiting Orphans. The group was especially interested in Clutter due to her medical background, and it prepared all of her travel arrangements.
Clutter has experience volunteering in orphanages; last summer, she spent two weeks volunteering as a nurse at an orphanage in Guatemala. She remembers those children being very happy.
"They didn't know what they were missing out on," she said.
Clutter plans to pack an extra suitcase with supplies for the Haitian children, whose ages range from baby to teenager, and she is recruiting the community for help. The list of items includes deflated soccer balls, toiletries, and powder packages of Pedialyte. Donations can be dropped off at the main office by Friday, March 5.
Nurses and EMTs in the area will sub for Clutter during the school day while she is away. |
