A Bayside mother and son duo took their humanitarian efforts overseas in a medical mission to Haiti.
Sarah Barrett Wren and her 18-year-old son Christopher teamed up with about 30 others for an eight-day journey in late January to help the poor. The group of clinicians provided health check-ups to about 1,200 locals.
Nova Hope for Haiti organized the trip. The non-profit group is dedicated to providing medical assistance to the impoverished country.
“It’s an incredible and inspiring experience,” Barrett, 55, said. “It really gives you a chance to use your skills and expertise on people who wouldn’t otherwise have access to care.”
The nurse practitioner has made the trip at least four times, but it was a milestone for her teenage son.
“It was just really eye-opening because it’s just a completely different world there,” said Christopher, a graduating senior at Chaminade High School in Mineola.
“Everything we have, we take for granted over here, and they have nothing over there,” he said. “You go over there and see kids begging food. It just makes you feel so lucky for what you have.”
Christopher, who is going to Colgate University in the fall, was considering a pre-med track before the trip.
He said his week of volunteering sealed the deal.
“This just really makes me want to do it,” he said. “It definitely did change me.”
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