KHC Employee Puts Volunteerism over Comfort to help the Haitians
Posted by khcblog on February 9, 2010
Imagine a world where no one volunteered. Think of what would happen if nobody bothered to help others in need, if there were no voluntary doctors or nurses, no one willing to help supply food, water, or supplies. Volunteering has become a part of life for Knoxville Hospital & Clinics employee, Amy Zoutte, and her husband, Alan.
On February 3, Alan and Amy left the comforts of home to travel to Pignon, Haiti, where they will be working in an eye clinic for the next 10 days. This is the sixth trip for Amy and the fourth for Alan. Together they travel with a group from the Meredith Drive Reform Church in Johnston called Vision Mission Team.
Pignon is a town located about 80 miles north of Port-au-Prince, the location of the recent horrific earthquake. People of Pignon felt the quake and things fell off their walls, but no injuries or structural damage has been reported. According to Amy, 800 refugees have already moved into the area and they are trying to treat as many as possible at the eye clinic.
“Normally we do an eye clinic and hand out glasses and glaucoma medicine. I also work in surgery where we do cataract and eye surgeries,” said Amy. “This time we are preparing to do a lot of eye trauma and unfortunately probably some eye removals.”
This volunteer trip will be much different than previous times for the Zouttes because of the recent disaster. Still that didn’t stop them from wanting to make their trip.
“We really don’t know what to expect, but in Haiti you learn to go with the flow because you cannot change it. We are taking our own food to help the clinic not have to provide it so they have it available for the refugees. We also are not staying in our normal dormitory because it is full of orthopedic surgeons who are there treating trauma patients from the earthquake,” said Amy. “I truly feel that I am called by God to do this mission work. I am so blessed to be born an America, to have plenty of food, a home, and a supportive place to work. It is only ten days out of my life a year and it helps so many people to be able to see.”
“We are very proud of Alan and Amy and we hold them in our prayers as they travel to minister to the Haitian people. We at KHC have so much, and yet we yearn for more. Our friends in Haiti have so little, yet they have treasures that exceed our grasp. They have so much to teach us, and we have so much to learn,” said Ann Helwig, CEO at Knoxville Hospital & Clinics.
