Heads held high in Haiti: Charla Banks returns to troubled Caribbean nation on teaching, volunteering mission

This program, which teaches a combination of skills from the occupational and physical therapy professions, gives students in the third world country a sort of general rehab technician degree, Banks explained; medical training opportunities in Haiti are not what they are in the United States, she added.

While in Haiti, she will additionally be volunteering with Beehive International, an organization she has been working with since her first trip to Haiti in 2012.

She worked in orphanages, teaching the children and staff how to farm, plant seeds and make a living for themselves. She also helped provide food and manual labor — this particular orphanage is surrounded by a concrete wall for safety, which is often and easily damaged, requiring repair.

“The basic idea is we’re not just coming in and giving you a bag of rice or beans — let’s teach you how to be self-sufficient,” she said. “We teach them it’s possible to be self-sufficient even though your circumstances are kind of rough.”

She was approached by Loma Linda a couple of months ago to return to Haiti and teach a pediatric course at Universite Adventiste d’Haiti.

“Of course I jumped at the opportunity,” she said.

She is extending her trip five days in order to continue her volunteer work with Beehive International, and has set up a GoFundMe account (gofundme.com/e7k7n0) to help with that portion of the trip; she’s about half-way to her goal of $1,000.

Although Loma Linda has paid for her flight, room and board, she wants to provide items such as seeds and tools to the people of Haiti — both of which are expensive, she explained.

The funds she raises will help people building structures from pallets, she said. “They can pick them up for free, but what they’re running into is that it’s expensive to find drills and screws and things that hold the structures together.”

What keeps her returning to the country, to teach and volunteer, is a heart for service. She grew up in a household “where the mindset of service and service work, and reaching out to others was really emphasized,” she said. Given the opportunity in Haiti, “it blossomed within me, and I really enjoy giving back and helping people.

“There’s something about the culture in Haiti that I really enjoy,” she added. “They’ve been hit with a lot of hardships the last six or seven years, and they’re still relatively happy, show compassion, are willing to learn… you run into some people who are looking for a handout, but I think that happens everywhere. It’s so refreshing to see that after some really bad hardships, that these people can still hold their heads high and still want to learn, still pursing professions in rehab, learning to be self-sufficient, and not rely on outside sources to give them clothes and food.”

Banks can be reached at Kidsense at 541- 386-0009.