(Photos submitted) A mission worker prepares and distributes ackamel, a mixture of rice and beans, for a young Haitian.

Daily Reporter Staff

Donna Hartmann visited Haiti for one week and returned a changed person.

The Spencer woman who'd always dreamed of taking part in a mission trip deemed the May 17 - 25 trek she made along with 10 other Midwesterners a "life-changing" experience.

Hartmann's visit to the city of Jeremie and several of its 104 surrounding villages, was through Avera, which has sponsored biannual mission trips to the West Indies country since 2002. The registered nurse marked the first of Spencer-based medical professionals to participate in a Haitian mission. Hartmann, who was accompanied by representatives from Minnesota and South Dakota of various medical disciplines, described the trek, which was connected with the Haitian Health Foundation, as being a very spiritual-based experience for her.

"These people, their faith is all they have. You wanted to give them the shirt off your back. It was just devastating to see those people so impoverished. Yet, they were happy people. They were very content. And, they were grateful for everything we could do for them. Honestly," Hartmann said, "I felt like I ended up taking more than I could ever give them. They say that's at the root of mission work. One thing I know is I'll never be the same because of my experience there."

Spencer resident Donna Hartmann holds a fidgeting baby during a recent well-baby visit in Haiti.

Hartmann went on to explain the health care system currently in place there is community-health-orientated, or village-based.

"Dr. Jeremiah Lowney, founder of the Haitian Health Foundation in Haiti, began his mission in 1982, doing dentistry in the slums of (capital) Port-au-Prince with Mother Teresa's Missionary Charity Sisters. He would visit every three months after seeing the need for health care to be established in the surrounding area of Jeremie. In 1985," Hartmann explained, "the mission work was moved to Jeremie at Mother Teresa's request. Based on St. Frances' theory: 'We go to the poor to save,' the foundation was formed and the People of God Clinic was founded on the HHF property site. Today, the Health Care Clinic sees 350 -- 400 patients on a daily basis, with people traveling hours on foot to receive treatment."

While serving in Haiti, Hartmann and her peers treated "the poorest of poor." With many suffering from malnutrition, they tended to villagers' "basic nutritional needs." The Midwest delegation also assisted many adults who suffered from high blood pressure, a disease often associated with the Haitian race and, if left unchecked, creates kidney problems.

"They don't have protein over there," Hartmann said, "so they rely on rice and white beans. They mix them together in a concoction called ackamel, and have one meal a day, which is usually around 3 p.m. Otherwise, they live off the fruits and vegetables which are grown there by them. ... Lots of times when we were in the villages, giving them a multivitamin was all we could do to help."

This young boy represents a common sight in the villages surrounding Jeremie, Haiti.

Hartmann reported Haiti also harbors a great number of orphanages, because many parents die from high blood pressure, kidney disease or AIDS. Many Haitian mothers also die in childbirth, she said. Because of this, much of the care they offered was aimed at mothers and their babies during "well-baby visits," which resulted in participants receiving meal tickets after progressing through several health stations, and at a maternal-child health clinic held at the Center of Hope, where Hartmann was able to distribute packages containing a variety of items, including diapers made by members of the Meadow Busy Bees 4-H club. Lauren Schwarck and Claire Eagen spearheaded the effort, which also resulted in a pattern for the pinless cloth diapers being sent along with Hartmann to Haiti.

"The young moms and babes have a real hard time surviving just because they don't have the resources they need," Hartmann said. "Some of them travel on foot as much as 3 hours to get to the point where they knew we were going to be. But they do that because, No. 1, they felt as Americans we were well-educated and could help them. And, the fact too that they would be able to hopefully get treated and cured. That's what their hopes were."

"At the clinic," she continued, "we saw many new babies wrapped tightly in three layers. The moms wrap them like that because they believe the tighter they are wrapped, the less chance they'll have of getting pneumonia. ... That's one thing we tried to teach them: The tighter you have them bound, the less chance they have of breathing."

In addition to contributions made by members of the local 4-H group, Hartmann received financial donations from members of First English Church in Spencer, as well as Avera Spencer Family Care employees, which helped her to purchase items such as blood-pressure cuffs and stethoscopes, which were also left abroad.

This young boy's extended stomach is a symptom of malnutrition.

The Spencer nurse, who left her "old" running shoes, watch and battery-operated book light behind, also joined with others in the Midwestern-based medical delegation to purchase a donkey for the area's villagers.

"The group that I went with, we're already planning to go back in 2010," Hartmann revealed with a smile. "...I'm going back. I would go back there and live if I could take my family with me, because life is so basic over there. You don't have to worry about all the thrills and frills. You do what you need to do for the day and you feel good about it."

* Hartmann will offer a PowerPoint presentation detailing her recent trip to Haiti during a 9:30 a.m. Bible study time this Sunday at First English Church in Spencer.