Walking in Broken Shoes
By Susan Magnuson Walsh
The decision to do volunteer work abroad that Susan Walsh, MSN, RN, CPNP, made in 2005 forever changed her life and that of her husband Brian. After spending a year considering many worthwhile locations, she and Brian chose Haiti. They began by volunteering a week with a medical mission team going to Haiti in February 2006. During this first visit, the team treated more than 1000 people in desperate need of the medical care they offered. Although Brian is not a health professional, his carpentry skills proved invaluable in maintaining the clinic. Adopting the Haitian proverb that “Little by little the bird builds its nest,” the group became known as the Little by Little medical mission. Sue, Brian, and the Little by Little medical mission team went to Haiti again in January of 2007, and they began making twice-yearly trips in 2008. Ever the practical nurse practitioner, Sue established the Little by Little nonprofit organization to purchase supplies and help sustain the work of the medical mission in Haiti.
Walking in Broken Shoes gives the reader a rare and unique glimpse into the unbelievably difficult lives of Haitians in rural areas outside Port-au-Prince. The simple things that most of us take for granted are a daily struggle for these people, who nevertheless cling to hope. The book also provides insight into why some people leave the comfort and safety of their homes and everyday lives to make a difference in the world. The Little by Little medical team was preparing to return to the United States on January 12, 2010, when the catastrophic earthquake hit Haiti. In Walking in Broken Shoes, author Sue Walsh takes readers inside the utter chaos and nightmarish experience of trying to treat the wounded with the few medical supplies remaining at the end of the mission. Pardon the cliché, but you have to read it to believe it.
I was fortunate enough to be asked to write a blurb for this book, which sums up my opinion of it. “In Walking in Broken Shoes, author Susan Walsh has provided a poignant view of the Haiti most of us do not know. Through her experiences as a nurse practitioner in a medical mission, we see Haitians valiantly struggling to meet the most basic of needs—food, water, shelter, health—while retaining hope and a positive attitude. Once you have shared Susan’s experiences following the disastrous earthquake of 2010, you will never see Haiti the same way again. The stories in this book will stay with you long after you have replaced it on your bookshelf. My only problem in reading about the many visits of this dedicated medical team to Haiti was the necessity to keep wiping away my tears.”
Walking in Broken Shoes (Grace Acres Press, 2011) is available at Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble.
