When she thinks back to Haiti, there’s one image that always creeps into Bonnie Clair’s mind. “There was a little boy who had a dirty pair of shorts on,” she says. “I saw him in his bare feet on the barren ground with animal droppings everywhere and I just stood there and cried. That one image stands out in my mind because it shouldn’t be like that.”

Clair, MSN, RN, a retention project manager at Cox Health in Springfield, MO, went on a medical mission trip to Haiti for a week in March. It was seven days she’ll never forget. After a few weeks of letting the experience sink in, she candidly shared her thoughts, images, and memories with us. Her story, in three parts, will appear on our site Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Here’s Part I, the beginning:

Why did you decide to take this trip?
Basically, it kind of birthed in me when I was at a conference (the 2008 Joyce Meyer Ministry Women’s Conference) last year. During the presentation on medical missions, I could hardly sit in my seat. I literally felt compelled to go. I have been given so much. I was born in this country, educated in this country, have a family, and have a home. I had to give something back. So I wrote a prayer in my notebook telling God that if he gave me the money, I’d go. Three weeks later, I had the money.

How did you get the money?
I was real specific with God. I wrote that it couldn’t be money I already knew about. I knew I was getting a $3,000 check to pay off my grad school tuition, so that couldn’t be it. But when the check came, it was almost $6,000. I thought it was a mistake, but it wasn’t. [The amount Bonnie received was more than she anticipated]. It was just God’s sense of humor.

So you didn’t do this through your job?
No. It was through Hand of Hope, the world missions’ arm of Joyce Meyer Ministries.

Had you ever done anything like this before? No . . . but there was just this enormous need to go.

Why Haiti?
Every few months, a medical team from Hand of Hope goes to different countries. The Haiti trip was the next one open and that needed volunteers, so that’s the one I applied for. In total, there were 26 people on the trip.

How was it getting there? What went through your mind on the plane ride?
For me, coming from Missouri, it took three planes to get there. I had never gone through customs or had to get a passport before. Those logistical things were new experiences for me. And flying over the ocean was a little bit … well, you look out and it’s just water everywhere. That was a little bit nerve racking. I kept thinking to myself, What if we need to make an emergency landing?

What was the first thing you saw when you landed?
The Haiti airport is not like anything we have here in the States. There are no gates. You disembark from the plane, walk across the tarmac, and go into a building that feels like it’s 500 degrees! One unexpected thing was a Haitian band playing as I entered the terminal. Everything is like stepping back in time. Customs was a big room with long, confusing lines. Interestingly, there was very colorful artwork hanging high up on the walls; I didn’t understand what the images represented. Also, there was just one baggage area. It was nerve racking waiting for my bags.

But they came, right?
Yes, mine were there the very last time the carousel came around!

Editor’s Note: For part II of Bonnie’s trip, be sure to check back on Wednesday.