Greco's first trip to the country in 1971 was a requirement of the surgical residency program at Yale Medical School. What he found there surprised him. Not only did we do all kinds of surgery every day, but I learned lessons on life, politics and the triumph of the human spirit. He volunteered for another three-month stint in 1972. The hospital serves a population that has little income.
People pay what they can.
Greco says that malaria, typhoid, TB, gastroenteritis and malnutrition are prevalent problems in Haiti. Unfortunately, we are all victims of the press. Most outsiders only know about Haiti's political problems, nothing about its culture or about its art. Greco has traveled the country collecting Haitian art. These early trips set the stage for a lifelong attachment to the hospital and its founders, and to the country.