[Editors note: This is the second installment in a two-part series about Hannah Barker. >>Read the first installment]

Aquinas junior Hannah Barker has long dreamed of becoming a doctor. Not just any doctor though; a doctor in a third-world country, helping those less fortunate than herself. After spending her sophomore year volunteering with the non-profit organization Rays of Hope for Haiti and helping to raise donations to aid the victims of the 7.0 magnitude earthquake that struck the already improvised country last January, Barker knew she had a connection with the people of Haiti.

Through a contact at Rays of Hope, Barker was introduced to Father Rams, a priest who runs a school, clinic and orphanage in Port-de-Paix. Father Rams invited Barker to join him in Haiti as a volunteer for the summer, and Barker spent seven weeks traveling the devastated country and offering her help wherever she could.

Barker spent her first week in Haiti in Port-au-Prince learning the logistics of how to deliver donated medical supplies to those in need. She witnessed the negotiations that take place between organizations and the Haitian government in getting clearance to pass relief supplies through customs, and got to help personally deliver some of those supplies.

She spent time visiting an orphanage and playing with the children staying there, and also traveled around to the numerous tent cities sent up after the earthquake left more than one million Haitians homeless.

“Most people I met had lost their homes in the earthquake and now live in tents,” says Barker.

After spending some time in Port-au-Prince, Barker traveled to Port-de-Paix to work with Father Rams and the Missionaries of Charity, who run a large facility that serves as an orphanage, clinic, nursing home and religious school. Barker spent most of her time working in the clinic and orphanage, helping prepare and distribute medicine to the children and patients. Everyday she also helped feed and bathe all the children in the orphanage.

“I bonded with the children that I worked with there so much,” says Barker. “They called me ‘Canna’ and taught me how to play games with rocks, which were as fun as toys to them. On Saturdays, the day before church, almost everyone wanted their hair brushed and redone, so sometimes I would spend my day simply braiding their hair.”

Barker had the opportunity to travel to La Gonave, an island off the coast of Haiti, for a week-long medical mission with members of Rays of Hope and a group of doctors and med students from Wayne State University. After the three hour trip on a 40-foot sailboat, the group arrived on the island and spent the next week providing free medical services to the local citizens.

“One part of the island, which we had to get to by boat, hadn’t received medical care for six years,” says Barker.

This part of her trip provided Barker with the most medical experiences, as she mainly worked at the makeshift nurses’ station seeing almost 300 people every day. Working with a translator, Barker assessed patient’s symptoms, took their blood pressure and temperature, and gave them worming medication.

Barker says she learned so much during her time in Haiti that she has a hard time describing it all to people.

“I learned how to live in extremely hot weather without air conditioning,” she begins. “I learned how to start an IV, learned to speak some Creole, learned how to dance the ‘Kompa’ and how to barter for fresh mangos. I learned that even though there are U.N. troops stationed all over Haiti, no one there knows what they do. I learned that even though it had been four months since the earthquake, Port-au-Prince looks like it was just hit yesterday.”

Perhaps most importantly, Barker learned she’s now more determined than ever to become a doctor and dedicate her life to helping the people of Haiti. She plans to return to the country the first chance she gets.

“The most important thing I want people to know is that I followed my passion,” she says. “While I was scared beyond belief at times during my trip, if I hadn’t continued I wouldn’t have the experience I do now. I learned a lot about how hard but beautiful life can be.”