Hatters Unite in Haiti

A Haitian boy shows off his photo.
Photo of Stetson alumni Betsy Aldrich Stange and Josie Tulka Cyffka in Haiti
Betsy Aldrich Stange ’85 (left) and Josie Tulka Cyffka ’84 spent a week together as part of a medical mission trip to Leogane, Haiti. Josie is now a registered nurse living and working in Madison, Wis. Betsy is a lieutenant colonel (retired) in the U.S. Army and lives in Ormond Beach, Fla.

My Stetson roommate (Josie Tulka Cyffka ’84) and I were back sharing a dorm room for a week — this time in Haiti working for a medical mission team (an extension of Notre Dame University). We are helping in the fight against lymphatic filariasis, more commonly referred to as elephantiasis due to massive swelling of the legs.

This was my fourth trip to Haiti in about 15 months. I’ve gone each time with a urologist from Daytona Beach, Dr. Marty Dineen, who is part of a program with a goal of eradicating lymphatic filariasis by 2020. Men are uniquely affected by the disease, and through this program Marty and others have already operated on nearly 1,200 men, helping to bring dignity back to their lives.

A Haitian boy shows off his photo.
A Haitian boy shows off his photo.

Marty is a longtime friend, and I promised him that once I retired from the Army Reserves I would go down with him on one of his trips. I spent a week helping out and playing gopher as he and his colleagues performed surgery. (Remember, I have a finance degree and was a transportation/logistics officer in the Army.) I said I would go back if I could go when the clinic team was also there so that I could play “embedded photographer” and go out among the folks. It was an amazing experience.

A few months later, I went again when both the surgical team and clinic teams were there. To me, the neatest thing was figuring out how to share my passion for photography. A simple photo — something that we think nothing of — is a treasure for most of the Haitians we have encountered. I sorted out how to take a photo and in a few minutes physically share that photo with the Haitians by creating my “mobile print lab.” Being able to share with them my time and talent was truly a treasure for me!

About five years ago, Josie returned to school to become a registered nurse (RN). Coincidentally, she did her microbiology paper on lymphatic filariasis, and so she was even more aware of the struggles of the Haitian people. Josie flew down from Madison, Wis., spent a day with her mom in West Palm Beach, and joined our group en route to the Miami airport, so we could fly together with the team to Leogane, Haiti.

What began in the early 1980s as two complete strangers paired together in DeLand as freshmen at Stetson is now yet another example of Hatters being “forever connected!”

By Betsy Stange ’85

Note: This article originally appeared in the Spring 2016 issue of Stetson University Magazine. To read the entire magazine, click here. The next issue of the magazine is scheduled for publication this fall.