Meet Erin Munde, Project Medishare Volunteer
Lasting friendships and life changing experiences are some of the top reasons Erin Munde, a registered nurse from Southern California, loves volunteering with Project Medishare.
Thanks to an Internet search, Erin discovered Project Medishare and now has volunteered with us three times at Hospital Bernard Mevs in Port-au-Prince. During her trips she has formed some amazing friendships and had some life changing experiences.
“Haiti changed my life in more ways than I know how to express. Haiti opened my eyes to different parts of the world and how other people live, and changed my heart in ways that I didn’t even know it needed to be changed. Haiti has put my life, and what’s important, into perspective. Haiti has made me realize how blessed and fortunate I am to live in the place that I do and have the opportunities that I have. Haiti has made me more self-aware of how I spend my time, energy, and money. Haiti has made me realize that I am a lot stronger and capable of things than I thought- it pushed me out of my comfort zone, and for that, I am forever grateful,” Erin said.
Erin first traveled to Haiti with her church on a non-medical trip during the summer of 2014. When she got home she immediately began researching how she could travel back to Haiti and work as a nurse. Erin currently works in a hospital in downtown Los Angeles.
“I had absolutely fallen in love with the country during the week that I was there. One thing that my team did during our trip was deliver food packets to patients in the pediatric unit at the General Hospital in Port-Au-Prince. Visiting the hospital was so eye opening, and it was so clear that there was a huge need for medical personnel in the country. So, when I got home, I began researching medical teams that travel to Haiti. Thanks to Google, I came across Project Medishare, returned to Haiti for two weeks the following February, and have been back to Haiti (in some capacity) every year since,” Erin said.
Erin has many memorable experiences, but one that stands out is taking care of a 9-year-old girl who had been in an accident and was first unconscious when she arrived at the hospital.
“She arrived to the hospital during the beginning of my volunteer experience, and I was able to help see her case through (since I was in Haiti for 2 weeks), and watched her make a full recovery! It was such an amazing feeling to know that I played a small role in this little girl’s case… and being able to see her walk around the courtyard of the hospital like a normal 9-year-old, was the best gift,” Erin said.
Erin said she loves spending time in the pediatric unit and snuggling with the babies. “There is something about loving a little one that can brighten your day- especially when it had been filled with so much sadness and frustrations.”
Erin has enjoyed volunteering so much with Project Medishare that she now serves as an Ambassador and is helping to build awareness for the organization. She wants volunteers to have a life changing experience as she did.
“I knew that Haiti was going to be eye opening, but I didn’t expect it to rock me to my core. I didn’t expect it to change the way that I view not only the world, but my life,” Erin said.
Another thing Erin enjoys about volunteering is the lasting friendships she had made.
“There is something special about the bond that you make with other volunteers, the bond runs deep. There really isn’t anything like it,” Erin said. She still stays in contact with many of the volunteers from her first trip in 2015. Some she has volunteered with again and other she has meet up in “real life.”
Thank you Erin, for sharing your story with us!