When Dr. Dale Wicklund of the VA Hospital in Tomah asked West Salem’s Darci Kolb if she’d like to join a medical mission to Haiti last October, he told her that he thought it would be good for her grieving.

Kolb, a nurse practitioner at the VA, lost her husband, Kenneth, a pediatrician at Gunderson Lutheran in Onalaska. He died May 21 after a long battle with melanoma.

“We were so in love and I miss him deeply. It’s OK for me to say that,” Kolb said. “The grief process is such hard work, but I’m a firm believer that helping others is therapeutic — I used to lead a bereavement support group to Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in West Salem.”

Still, Kolb had some reservations about being so far from her kids and about using up valuable vacation time. Eventually, though, she agreed to sign up for the trip

“As a nurse practitioner, I do the same things as a medical doctor, so they had a need for my skills,” she said.

The mission was sponsored by Gloria Dei Lutheran Church of Tomah. “They essentially work all year long to raise money for this mission — they also get some large contributions from Harvest International,” Kolb said.

The 18-member medical team departed from Tomah on Wednesday, Jan. 16. Besides Kolb, there were four physicians and a dentist. Each of the team members paid $550 toward airfare (and, of course, their time was donated as well).

The purpose of the mission was two-fold: They would journey to two small villages in southeastern Haiti to provide desperately needed medical and dental care — and they would spread God’s love and word by their works.

The mission flew to Haiti by way of Chicago and Miami. After landing in Port au Prince, they traveled by pickup truck to the small village of Gelee Beach. Starting on Friday morning, they set up a medical/dental clinic there that saw patients for two days.

Haiti is one of the poorest countries on earth and most Haitians have a hard life. Common ailments are back and neck pain, indigestion, malnutrition, scabies and parasitic infections. The crew also taught kids how to brush their teeth.

The team set up shop in a small church in Gelee Beach, and Kolb was struck by how grateful and eager the residents were to see them. “Before we opened, there were hundreds of people waiting to see us. They sat on benches set up outside the church and while they waited they sang songs of praise.”

Kolb said it a was very different providing basic medical care to people who spoke mostly Creole and French.

“All we had was a stethoscope, an otoscope (to look into ears), our hands and an interpreter,” Kolb said. “You don’t have time to ask for all the details — there is a lot of AIDS, malaria and typhoid. Each day I worked with the same interpreter. He soon learned exactly what kinds of questions I wanted to ask and was very, very helpful.”

As she worked, Kolb was reminded often of her husband. “It was with joy and sadness that I gave care in Haiti,” she said. “I so often thought of Ken, especially as I cared for children, since he was a pediatrician. I would think to myself about how Ken would give so much to this mission if he were here, and I could see the image of him in my mind caring for the little ones I held and examined. It made me miss him even more, but I knew how happy he would be — and proud — that I went to Haiti and did what I could.”

Kolb also was struck by the dignity of these poor people. “It was such a pride thing for them — they would show up to see us in their best clothes,” she said. She also was impressed by the contrast between the extreme poverty of the people and the stunning beauty of their homeland.

Before leaving Gelee on Sunday, the team attended a church service of thanksgiving. “It was absolutely awe-inspiring! They blew the roof off with their singing, their joy and their love of Christ,” she said.

During the service the team introduced themselves and sang two songs of their own. “We sounded pretty pathetic compared to them,” Kolb said with a laugh.

Afterward, the village prepared a thank-you dinner for the team. Menu items included fish, beans and rice, fried plantains, beet salad, coleslaw and fried chicken.”

After leaving Gelee Beach the team moved to a slum area of Les Cayes known as Savon. There they set up a clinic in a park pavilion right on the beach.

“We were the first to go into Savon because it was considered ‘the worst of the worst’,” Kolb said.

The pavilion was surrounded on three sides by rusted, corrugated steel-roofed shacks while, on the beach, pigs rooted through piles of garbage.

The crowds pressing forward to see the doctors became unruly toward the end when it became apparent that everyone could not be seen.

“It was kind of scary for us,” Kolb said.

Still, the clinic saw 550 people per day at that second site. Overall, more than 1,900 Haitians were seen during four days of clinics. The dentist was extremely busy as well, as he pulled about 250 teeth during that time.

After the last clinic, the providers sat down together and chose 55 patients to refer for further treatment paid for by charitable donations. “We were able to refer 55 patients for about $16,000 — which is pretty good compared with what it would cost in this country,” Kolb said.

“On our last night in Haiti, the Wray family ( local missionaries) came to our guest house and presented each of us with a CD that included video clips and pictures of our trip,” Kolb said. “I was brought to tears to see the highlights of our stay — the many lives we touched. When it was over, we all clapped and said how this was our greatest souvenir.”

Asked what images continue to stick in her mind, Kolb mentions a pair of 3-year-old twin boys. “They were healthy overall, but they had lost their mother and father. It made me think of my own twins (Kolb has a pair of 18-year-old twins, a boy and a girl).”

But what touched her heart more than anything was the simple appreciation she received for doing her work.

“If I told someone (through the interpreter) that their heart sounded good, they would light up with a smile,” Kolb said. “Often they would thank me when I was through seeing them. It was amazing to me how grateful they could be while living under such horrible conditions.”

That kind of sincere appreciation is probably one reason that some health workers keep returning again and again to Haiti to help its people. Kolb said she heard of a doctor from Michigan who flies down to Haiti one week a month. “When he’s there he does nothing but surgeries,” she said.

Kolb might have fallen under the spell of the Haitian people herself. “I would definitely go again,” she said, “and one of my twins would like to go with me if it works out.”

Kolb says that she’s learned that in helping others, people can also help ourselves. “I do believe it is helpful for the grieving to give of themselves, in whatever way they can,” she said. “It nourishes and heals the soul which is very heavy at times while grieving. I have seen people make big improvements in their grieving process when they begin (or go back to) ‘doing for others.’ I know I am definitely a better and stronger person because of our medical mission to Haiti.”