Friday, December 7, 2007

 

MWCC NURSING ALUMNA SERVING WESTERN HEMISPHERE'S POOREST

By Janice O'Connor

MWCC alumna Paula Mulqueen, R.N., comforts an orphan in Les Cayes, Haiti, where she and her husband, Dr. John Mulqueen, have established a health care clinic.

“Service to Humanity and the World.” These words, imprinted on the nursing pin presented to graduates of Mount Wachusett Community College’s R.N. program, are deeply ingrained in the heart, thoughts and spirit of alumna Paula Mulqueen. When she wears her pin or speaks the phrase, she recollects the hundreds of infants, children and adults she has helped care for in one of the poorest regions of the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere – Haiti.

Mulqueen, a 1994 graduate of MWCC who works as a pediatric and private duty nurse, spoke to a captivated audience of nursing students on Nov. 30 about Forward in Health, the nonprofit organization she co-founded with her husband, pediatrician John Mulqueen, M.D. The organization is dedicated to providing health care to Haiti’s most needy citizens in a rural area just outside Les Cayes.

The Gardner couple was inspired to begin organizing health care trips to Haiti several years ago after hearing a presentation by the Diocese of Worcester’s Haitian Apostolate. Initial sporadic visits to bring much-needed medical care to Haiti gained so much community support, that the Mulqueens were able to formally establish the nonprofit organization two years ago. FIH has been so successful in its mission, it is now preparing to build a permanent medical clinic on three acres of land it acquired for $6,200 with a donation provided by an anonymous benefactor. Fundraising efforts to build the two-story clinic are now underway.

Mulqueen, travel coordinator and outreach director for the organization, was asked to speak to the nursing students by Director of Nursing Nancy Duphily, who traveled to the Caribbean country in July with nursing professor Judy Giacoppe and a crew of other FIH volunteers. After hearing about the trip from their professors, the students were interested in learning more about the effort. Joining Mulqueen was Lindor “Roudy” Seraphin, Forward in Health’s on-site director in Haiti. Seraphin’s insight into citizens’ needs, weather conditions, political unrest and other critical factors are crucial in advising FIH on everything from urgent medical conditions to travel safety.

MWCC Director of Nursing Nancy Duphily and nursing Professor Judy Giacoppe joined Forward in Health this summer on a health care mission to Haiti. The photo depicts the open-air clinic and future site of a permanent clinic being established by the organization founded by Dr. John Mulqueen and Paula Mulqueen, an alumna of MWCC's nursing program.

Without access to health care, even the most common of ailments that can be cured with over the counter medicines in the U.S. can become full-blown health issues in Haiti when left untreated. Some of the most common ailments treated during the trips include respiratory illnesses, skin infections and dysentery. Sometimes patients arrive with more severe illnesses, such as typhoid and malaria.

“We hear and read about poverty. Until you are there and see it and breathe it and feel it and smell it, you really don’t understand it,” Mulqueen said. “This is a country where the unemployment rate is 75 percent. It’s not that they don’t want to work. It is a country with educated people, but there’s nothing for them to do.”

A typical family home is about the size of a one-car American garage, is constructed of wood planks and a tin roof, lacks electricity and plumbing, and uses wood or coal as a main source of fuel. Accommodations for the volunteers are at a mission house, which is palatial by Haitian standards. In addition to the time spent administering direct care to patients, volunteers visit an orphanage run by the Sisters of Charity, the order founded by Mother Teresa, and take in some local sites.

The students presented Mulqueen and Seraphin with several gifts, including a financial donation to the organization, an MWCC sweatshirt to keep Seraphin warm during his month-long stay in Gardner, and a duffle bag filled with medicine, lollipops and other supplies collected by student Christopher Davis.

"She just inspired me so much I wanted to go," said Duphily, who took her 16-year-old son on the trip and volunteered on a similar medical mission in Africa. The volunteers worked three days at clinics, visited the orphanage and a nursing home. The outreach trips are open to non-medically-trained volunteers, as well as health care professionals.

Nursing students presented gifts to Forward in Health following a recent presentation. Pictured from left arestudents Roland Nubuor, Joanne Pierre, Carolyn Jarvi, Forward in Health's Paula Mulqueen and Roudy Seraphin, Jenny Pierre, Director of Nursing Nancy Duphily and student Christopher Davis.

“Somewhere in all of us, we seek to help beyond our comfort zone," Mulqueen said. "The most important thing you need when you do any type of community service is passion. You need passion and you need compassion. We are not going to be able to save the world or save Haiti. We give the best possible care that we can give while we’re there, whether it’s eight days or two weeks.”

The trips are strenuous, but rewarding and life-altering, said Mulqueen. She recalled a day when a baby with a cleft pallet was placed in her arms by a young mother. Assuming that the correctable deformity was the reason for the visit, Mulqueen informed the mother of another clinic that treated ear, nose and throat conditions located just a mile away. The mother was astonished. “She said, ‘This can be fixed?’ She brought him to us because he had a cold. If this was the only baby we saw that week, what an outcome.”

Nursing student Christine Baer plans to volunteer in the future. "For me, personally, this presentation showed me how much one person with an education and a passion for something can accomplish. One of the reasons I became an emergency medical technician and wanted to get into nursing was to try to give back. I think one of the greatest ways for one to give back in the nursing field is to go to Third World countries. It's an experience for you, as well as for the people you're helping."

MARKETING STUDENTS LAUNCH GROCERY ANALYSIS PROJECT, AID FIRE VICTIMS IN EVERETT

Students in Professor Michael Greenwood's Marketing class initiated a supermarket price analysis in the region that determined the use of shopper discount cards do not save consumers money on standard items. Pictured are students Rich Hume and Gary Talbot, front row; and Professor Greenwood, project co-chairs Jessica Hogan and Esther DeVelis, Roberto Perez, Jennifer Cares, Elizabeth French and Ana Lacerda. The items were donated to victims in this week's inferno in Everett.

Interested in saving money on groceries? Then consider asking students in Professor Michael Greenwood's Marketing class where to find the best prices in the region. As a service learning project for area consumers, the business students initiated a supermarket cost analysis in North Worcester County and concluded that those prevalent plastic discount shopping cards do not equate into cost savings. The extensive, six-week study also determined that the average cost of groceries are pricier in communities closer to Worcester than in northern county towns and cities.

The project, funded by MWCC's student Marketing Club, not only provided a cost analysis, but ultimately benefited numerous residents who lost their homes in the massive fire on Dec. 5 in Everett, caused when a tanker truck transporting 10,000 gallons of gasoline exploded. Student Richard Hume, who led the charitable side of the project, made the necessary calls to make the donation to the American Red Cross Massachusetts Bay chapter aiding the families, and drove the bins of food an hour away to a shelter housing the victims.

The students completed a cost study based on grocery stores in six cities and towns in the region, to test whether the frequent shopping cards provide real value and savings. Project managers Esther DeVelis and Jessica Hogan reported that stores offering the discount cards, such as Stop & Shop, Shaws and the Big Y, have a higher average price than the stores that do not use cards. The study revealed that shoppers can save more money by buying their items at Market Basket or Hannaford's, which do not use the cards.

The students purchased 15 items during the week of Nov. 11-18, including milk, eggs, bread, canned vegetables, water, flour, sugar, pasta, cereal, peanut butter, jelly, soup, rice, coffee and tuna. Of the 15 food items, just seven were offered with a discounted price when the shopper card was presented. The four non-food items included toilet paper, dish soap, bar soap and toothpaste. None of these items were offered at a discounted price with a shopper card.

After comparing the prices, the students determined that the average price on the items at stores using the shopping cards was $45.23, compared to $40.96 for stores that do not offer cards. The least expensive store was Hannaford in Gardner, which charged $40.77 for the items and the highest was Shaws in Clinton, which charged $48.09. "That is a big difference when you're doing your weekly shopping," project managers reported in their findings. ""It may be beneficial to purchase particular products during sales, but not when you do your weekly shopping."

Greenwood anticipates that the project will be an annual Business School initiative as a service to consumers.

"These students represent the best of the best," Greenwood said. "They accepted the challenge, they worked through the stages of forming a team and achieving their goal. I couldn't be more proud of them."

More MWCC News:

• The Molly Bish Institute for Child Health and Safety and students in Human Biology and Anatomy and Physiology courses will present a Healthy Choices Fair on Monday, Dec. 10 from 4 to 8 p.m. in the North Cafeteria. The fair will allow students to demonstrate the results of their personal research into the area of healthy lifestyles and will focus on things that can be done in terms of education, physical training, nutrition and family role models to improve healthy lifestyles. Interactive exercises, posters, questions and answer are just a few of the many fun things that will be there. It promises to be an informative and thought-provoking evening of enjoyment for the entire family.

• The division of Student Services is hosting a Giving Tree and is seeking donations of gift cards to retailers where toys and children's clothing are sold, to help families in need in the community. Donations of gift cards, as well as stocking-stuffer items for children of all ages and gifts for children age 10 to 12, are being accepted through Dec. 12.

• The Greater Gardner Community Choir will present a Holiday Concert at MWCC on Sunday, Dec. 16 at 4 p.m. in the theatre. The concert will feature a wide variety of holiday fare including selections by Vivaldi, Handel and Mozart and traditional favorites. The choir, under the direction of Mary Chapin Durling, features 65 members from Gardner and the surrounding communities. Janet Paoletti is the accompanist. Tickets are $5 and are available at the Theatre at the Mount box office or by calling 978-632-2403. Box office hours are Monday through Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and 1:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.

• MWCC’s Practical Nursing program will hold its fifth annal Pinning Ceremony for the Gardner Class of 2007 on Friday, Dec. 14 at 6 p.m. in the Raymond M. LaFontaine Fine Arts Center auditorium. For more information, contact Kathy Suchocki at ksuchocki@mwcc.mass.edu or call at (978) 630-9544.

• Stressed? Why not schedule a relaxation massage to ease your tension? The MWCC Student Massage Therapy Clinic provides relaxation massage at a reduced rate to the public, faculty, staff and students. One-hour sessions with student massage therapists enrolled in MWCC's Massage Therapy Program are just $15 for students and MWCC employees and $30 for the general public. Many people have already discovered the advantages of this service as a way to relax and reduce stress. To schedule an appointment, call (978) 630-9212.