Family helping in Haiti for a year home for a visit

Will come home for good in February 2012 FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) - A Fort Wayne family who moved to Haiti for a year is back in town for a short visit after living there for three months.
After thinking about it for months, the Malmstrom family decided they were being called to help in Haiti. They put their house on the market and moved to Haiti at the beginning of the year.
Rick, a paramedic, and Liz, a nurse, are using their medical skills to heal and train in Haiti.
"Our goal is when we leave we won't need to be replaced. That the clinic will be completely Haitian-run," Liz said.
The Malmstroms are in Haiti with Mission of Hope Haiti. Liz works in wound care treating wounds that are sometimes harder to heal than in the United States because of the Haitian lifestyle and tropical weather.
"I try to figure out the best way to treat wounds in that environment and then teach nurses to do that on a daily basis," Liz said.
Rick works in the emergency services area treating patients with Haitian doctors. But he's also on a committee to get a nationwide 911 system started.
"A simple version of a 911 system and pre-hospital care we're training everything from the lay person knowing first aid all the way up to trauma in a hospital," Rick said.
The family's oldest son, Jake, also helps out when he's not taking his school classes online.
"Sometimes I'll go out with a team to a village and play with the kids or paint a house or help with whatever they need us to do," Jake said.
The family will stay there for a full year, but Haiti requires visitors to leave for a few weeks every three months. That's why they're back in Fort Wayne for two weeks.
While the family is happy to see Fort Wayne family and friends, they're anxious to get back to their Haitian home and the progress they're already seeing.
"I think it's really moving forward for us," Rick said. "I feel encouraged about the training and the progress and the happiness and joy we feel back from the people there."
The Malmstrom family will return home for a few weeks every three months. Their mission trip will be over in February 2012.
To follow their experiences on their blog, click here:
http://malmstromshelpinghaiti.wordpress.com/
http://www.wane.com/dpp/news/family-helping-in-haiti-for-a-year-home-for-a-visit