Dr. Jesse M. Colin, PhD, RN, FRE, FAAN and Dr. Mureen L. Shaw, DNP, ARNP-BC from the College of Nursing and Health Sciences (CNHS) recently appeared on local radio station WSRF 1580 to discuss the school’s outreach and partnerships with Haiti.
During the broadcast, Colin and Shaw discussed the school’s mission trip to Haiti earlier this year, the multi-collaborative efforts to come for the spring 2017 Nursing Study Abroad with Amor En Acción, the Center for Community Service Initiatives (CCSI), the nursing school, Faculte des Sciences Infirmiere (FSIL), and the BSN program that Colin co-founded in Haiti. CCSI is currently focusing on initiatives in the areas of health care and education to benefit communities in Haiti.
Long-standing partnership
CNHS has been involved with nursing education in Haiti for approximately 15 years. Initially, CNHS provided educational support to the faculty at Notre Dame D’Haiti for its three-year nursing program. The faculty came to Barry’s Miami Shores campus for nearly three weeks to attend classes, where they learned pedagogical approaches, curriculum development, teaching style and advising. Barry continued its relationship with Notre Dame D’Haiti by providing guidance and support.
Colin met with the school’s faculty in Haiti on several occasion to facilitate the relationship between both institutions. In 2001, she conducted an assessment of the infrastructure at L’Hopital St. Croix in Leogane to determine how the hospital could support the proposed school of nursing.
The school — FSIL (Faculty of Nursing Science) of the Episcopalian University — opened in 2005 as the only baccalaureate program on the island. Colin is one of the co-founders of FSIL, and she teaches in the program on an as-needed basis.
CNHS continues to work with the faculty in Haiti, providing support and guidance. FSIL currently has an enrolment of 145 students. Since 2009, it has graduated approximately 70 students and has been designated by the Ministry of Public Health and the Ministry of Education as the top nursing program in Haiti. In the past two years, the school started a Family Nurse Practitioner program. Its current enrollment is 12 students, and the first program graduation is scheduled for 2017.
Recent Developments
Seven Barry students and two faculty members visited Haiti’s Northwest region during spring break this past March.
CCSI, along with Amor En Acción — a lay missionary organization of the Archdiocese of Miami — facilitated the alternative spring break trip to the island nation. There, as part of Barry’s Alternative Spring Break, they began building a partnership between the university and the Archdiocese of Port-de-Paix, Miami’s sister diocese.
The nine-member group met with local leaders addressing health and education issues. They also facilitated activities at Nan Palan and Menvyel, much to the delight of the village children.
Shaw, along with an assistant professor Dr. Sean Buckreis from the Adrian Dominican School of Education, were there specifically to explore avenues for CNHS and Barry’s the School of Education to develop engagement opportunities with community partners in Port-de-Paix.
Founded by Dr. Alicia Marill, associate professor of theology and director of the Doctor of Ministry Program, Amor En Acción has been working with local bishops of Haiti and the Dominican Republic since 1976.
The group visited schools, hospitals and nonprofit organizations to learn from local leaders about social issues facing rural communities in northwestern Haiti.
Shaw will teach an international service-learning course in the spring semester and will take a small group of nursing students to Haiti. Service-learning courses, which integrate course work and community service through critical reflection, are an essential component of Barry’s community engagement program.