On March 17, during Spring Break, RWC French Professor Jody Ballah and Cheri Westmoreland, Associate Manager of UC’s McNair Program, along with 24 UC Medical and Dental students took a trip to the northern part of Haiti, the St. Louis Du Nord, and had an unforgettable experience. While there, the UC group spent some time going door to door surveying and interacting with Haitian children. Professor Ballah had a touching moment with one of the young Haitian women, who was nine-months pregnant and was admitted to a nearby hospital when she went into active labor.
In Haiti infants are delivered by midwives or an attending obstetrician. While visting one of the students at the hospital, Professor Jody Ballah encountered the expecting mom in labor, and she was having difficulty understanding the student and the nurse’s language. Meanwhile, everyone had left for the evening, including the midwife. Nurses were left to tend to labor and delivery for that night. To Professor Ballah’s surprise, the young Haitian woman was ready to deliver. Without any hesitation, Professor Ballah stepped right in and coached the woman through delivery by translating words to the nurse that the woman could understand.
After minutes of coaching, the woman delivered a very beautiful baby girl with Professor Ballah’s help. Professor Ballah was very blessed to have experienced this beautiful occasion and was touched to have helped, but most of all she was more excited for the students who participated in this very touching service-learning trip to Haiti.