My First Visitor at COTP

I had my first visitor at COTP last week.  It was so fun to have Jess down here visiting me.  The two of us first met in Haiti when we were both volunteering at Bernard Mevs, in Port Au Prince.  We traveled together when I visited COTP for the first time and she was with me on my trip last November when I decided to move here.  So it seemed only fitting that she'd be my first visitor in my new home.  It's so fun to have someone from home who has had a glimpse of my life here in Haiti.  Someone who has seen where I live.  Someone who also knows these kids' names and has held them in her arms.  Someone who knows what it's like to ride a moto through Cap Haitien.  Someone who has experienced the beauty of Haiti's mountains and beaches with me.  Someone who considers a week spent visiting an orphanage in Haiti to be the perfect "vacation" from life in the States. 

Jess has a gift with photography.  She blessed us last week by snapping a ton of candid pictures of the kids and even doing a few family photos.  Here is a peek at Jess' week at COTP...

From me, B, and all the kids at Children of the Promise, thanks for visiting Jess!  Hurry back! 

Children of the Promise has given permission for the posting of the photos on this site.  Photos taken of  the children in the care of Children of the Promise are not to be posted publicly without explicit permission given by Children of the Promise.

Nurses' Week

In light of Nurses’ Week I was reflecting a bit on my nursing career. I realized yesterday that I’ve been a nurse for ten years now...how the heck did that happen? I’ve also been a nurse practitioner for four years, which hardly seems possible either. There have been so many memorable moments in ten years of nursing, many laughs, and many tears. 

I worked in pediatric oncology and bone marrow transplant for ten years in the States. Though it could be unbelievably challenging at times, I loved my job. I loved the kids that I took care of. I loved the way I got to build relationships with them and their families. I loved celebrating the big milestones with end of chemo parties or singing to kids as they rang the end of treatment bell. I loved that even on the toughest days, when the medicine and treatments weren’t enough, I could at least love these kids and their families through those dark times. Yes, working in pediatric oncology is tough, but I loved it as well as the challenge of taking care of such medically complex patients. 

Taking care of those patients was certainly a challenge. Those kids would sometimes come with years of past medical history. We’d order countless diagnostic tests, give them dozens of medications in a single day, and place them on ventilators and dialysis. Every resource of modern medicine was available.  

Now I'm at the absolute opposite end of the spectrum. I’ve seen kids die from malnutrition and diarrhea in hospitals in Haiti. Resources are scarce. Conditions that could easily be managed in the States, are often a challenge here. I’m not ordering CT scans, administering stem cell transplants, or performing procedures in the operating room. My work days are so very different here, and yet I love it just as much.

Thank you to all of the nurses and nurse practitioners that have taught me along the way. After ten years of working in pediatric oncology and serving on many short term medical mission trips, I've worked alongside some of the most compassionate, empathetic, and incredible individuals you could ever hope to meet. Happy Nurses' Week to all of you!

Yes, there have certainly been many memorable moments in my ten years of nursing. There have been so very many kids, in both the States and in Haiti, that have left their mark on my heart. I look forward to seeing what the next chapter brings.

One Month In Haiti

It's been just over a month since I moved to Haiti, though sometimes it seems like a lifetime ago that I was in Florida. I have no idea how to sum up the first month here.  I didn't expect the transition to be easy, but it has been much harder than I anticipated. There have been good days. There have been bad days. But there hasn't been a single day that I've doubted that I'm right where God wants me to be.

Sometimes I find myself just stopping to think how incredibly lucky I am to live the life that I do. Don’t get me wrong, life in Haiti comes with its fair share of challenges, but it’s full of a lot of beauty and grace too. Feeding a baby, dancing with a room full of toddlers, playing with kids beneath the mango tree, these are the little moments that fill up my days. I am so glad that God called me to Haiti, to Children of the Promise. This calling isn’t always easy, but it’s worth it. These kids are so very worth it. I live a blessed life indeed.

"Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.” -1 Corinthians 15:58

Children of the Promise has given permission for the posting of the photos on this site.  Photos taken of  the children in the care of Children of the Promise are not to be posted publicly without explicit permission given by Children of the Promise.

The next big adventure...

In 2010 I made my first trip to Haiti. A group from my hospital was going to assist in the relief efforts following the earthquake. I had been on a few medical mission trips in the past, and this seemed like a great opportunity to use my skills to serve the people of Haiti. I had no idea how that decision would go on to change my life.

Over the next several years, I made ten more trips to Haiti, spending the majority of my time volunteering at a hospital in Port Au Prince. God continued to grow my heart for Haiti and I was falling more and more in love with the country and its people. At the end of 2012, I decided to spend a few months in Haiti, to help me decide if moving there full time might be in my future. The experience was incredible but I came back to the States with the realization that, although I loved the organization I was working with, it wasn’t the right fit for me to make a full time commitment to. So I just continued to pray, “God if you want me to go to Haiti, lead me to the right place.”

In July I was in Haiti volunteering for a week at the hospital in Port Au Prince. Through a roundabout series of events, I ended up having the opportunity to visit Children of the Promise (COTP), an orphanage in Cap Haitien, for a couple days. I immediately felt at home and, call me crazy, but by the end of the weekend I knew that on some level I would play a role in COTP's future. I saw how COTP was striving to meet the physical, emotional, and spiritual needs of the kids and families in their care, and it was something I wanted to be a part of. After a month of prayer, I emailed the directors of COTP and we began discussing what it would look like for me to join their team. As it turns out, they were actually praying at the same time that a nurse practitioner would consider joining their team.

In November, I made my second trip to COTP. At the end of my time there, it became abundantly clear, this was where God was leading me. My skill set as a nurse practitioner is a perfect fit for COTP’s need for a medical manager. I’ll be overseeing the medical care of the kids in the orphanage, helping to train Haitian medical staff, and assisting with many of COTP’s other programs including their prenatal program and formula program. Looking back, I can’t help but see how all my experiences in Haiti over the past five years have lead me to this place and helped to equip me for this role.

God has called me to serve in Haiti and I couldn’t be more excited to follow His lead and to join the team at COTP. Prayerfully, I’ll be moving to Cap Haitien by March 2015. This next season of life is sure to be a crazy one, and I humbly ask for your support as I embark on this new endeavor. 

Above is a list of expenses I will incur during my first year. As medical manager, my goal is to fundraise, not only for my own expenses, but also for the medical budget of the programs I’ll be overseeing at Children of the Promise. Please consider becoming a monthly supporter of $30, $50, $100, or whatever amount is comfortable. I would love to have a team of at least 25 monthly supporters before I leave for Haiti. The sooner I reach my goal, the sooner I can get on the ground in Haiti and start caring for the children there. Please help me to reach my goal by March 2015.


Monthly pledges and one time donations can be made online at www.childrenofthepromise.org. Please type in “Courtney Irwin” in the designation box. If you prefer, you can also mail a check to Children of the Promise at PO Box 123, Prinsburg, MN 56281. 

I would love your help!

• Pray, Pray, Pray

• Individuals to become monthly supporters

• Churches and Businesses to partner with me

• Donations to help fund specific needs

Thank you for your prayers and financial support! I look forward to keeping you updated on my work in Haiti.