Rev. Victoria Yeghoyan Victoria Yeghoyan serves in L ogane, Haiti, with the Episcopal Church in Haiti and the H pital Sainte Croix as the Coordinator for Visiting Teams. She also matches the skills of the volunteers with the needs of the hospital and acts as a liaison between the American volunteers, the hospital, the Haitian community, and the Episcopal Church of Haiti. Haiti, an island in the Caribbean, is the poorest country in the Western hemisphere. The hospital has 120 beds, and physicians see an average of 150 patients a day on an outpatient basis. These health care workers serve people living in very remote areas and are often the only source of health care available to the population.
Tropical diseases are prevalent, along with malnutrition.
H pital Sainte Croix over the years has attracted many physicians and surgeons who volunteer time every year, providing rural health clinics and specialized operations that otherwise would not be possible. The hospital is also blessed with general volunteers willing to do painting, carpentry, or general maintenance work. Living with her grandparents in Haiti at an early age, Victoria saw mission service modeled, and she developed a special connection with, and concern for, the Haitian people. She has been a volunteer with the American Baptist Church in Haiti several times and before this position was involved in ministry with Haitian refugees in the San Francisco Bay area. Victoria says that despite their poverty and oppressive conditions, the Haitian people have impressed her with their hospitality, resilience, and charming personalities.