NEW YORK NURSE: June 2010
by Mark Genovese
Sister Mary Finnick will discuss her experiences in Haiti during that nation’s recovery from a disastrous earthquake at NYSNA’s biennial conference, Oct. 20 to 22.
A former member of NYSNA’s Board of Directors, Sr. Mary is director of the Matthew 25 House charity in Port-au-Prince. Since the quake in January, Sr. Mary and her staff have been providing medical care for numerous wounded and the soccer field next to the house continues to serve as a shelter.
“Yes, we still have quite a few living on the field,” Sr. Mary said as this edition went to press. “The medical clinic has been replaced by a tented school and an extension school tent to accommodate the children. I am hoping to get the number attending, but I can tell you we have two picnic tables for desks and tarps on the floor for them to sit on. We do have four movable blackboards and a tremendous desire to make the school work. It is an uphill battle!”
“It has been a hard day here as I search for sacks of milk to feed the kids in the tent city,” she added. “It is incomprehensible to me at this date that I cannot buy powdered milk! I am not asking anyone to give it to me, just that I need the big sacks as we have so many. I’ve contacted my last resource and I will go to the supermarket owned and operated by a family who has to be making a lot of money at this point. Ah well, tomorrow is another day.”
Sr. Mary expressed her appreciation to the many NYSNA members who have been following her courageous work during the past five months through widely spread e-mails and the Internet. “Thanks so much for the interest, concern, prayers, and monetary support I have received from so many of you in NYSNA. I have always been proud of how involved this organization has been in so many ways, constantly responding to those in great need, way beyond the borders of New York state.”