Note: Holly Graham left for Haiti last month to rebuild schools and school infrastructure destroyed by the earthquake. That story can be found here. Her mission ended prematurely when she was involved in a car accident, and called Global Rescue for help:

I was volunteering and doing some research in Haiti this year when I unfortunately got into a car accident.

I was bruised and battered, nothing too serious but I needed to get to a doctor. This is a normal response in the U.S., even if it’s just precautionary, but while accidents happen everywhere, what ensued afterwards alerted me to the differences in standards that we just take for granted.

There was no ambulance, no police and we were turned away from one health center and then brought to another where there was no water. I truly began to panic. This was not how the trip was to go, nor did it reflect how much work we had gotten done already. The chaos of the accident left me not only afraid, but also feeling my own bit of chaos.

My phone was lost in the accident, and I needed to get to the internet and realized then that even that can take a while in Haiti. When I did get online the next day (I had been teaching computers, but the internet can get knocked out and is always a struggle) I immediately contacted Global Rescue, who immediately started making arrangements for me. This allowed me time to get ready to go, talk to my family and get to a doctor.

It is tough to want to help and see the world–all of the world–and then privately wrestle with your own “standard”. I think most of us never want to appear as though we think the developed world is the only way, but there are many ways to define one’s standards. Simple structures like car inspections and guard rails, for example, suddenly become so important because they are precautionary, and yet they are so common to us that we rarely stop to consider that importance.

I have worked in inner city schools in Boston and Philly, and water and ice and Tylenol are pretty standard. Haiti is different. Knowing I had Global Rescue settled me down. I knew I was going to get medical care and get home, and it made the situation easier to deal with, and kept me from over reacting.

So while I am unsure as to how to appropriately thank Global Rescue for all the things that they do, including allowing the world to be accessible while maintaining your safety, I think the one thing that stands out is that I was able to stay calm instead of worrying about getting myself to a hospital, or focusing on all the things that went wrong—or, really, any other things that would have slowed the process of my return. In short, Global Rescue stayed with me from start to finish, including multiple check-ins after I got home.

Haiti is not a country to be ignored, because they need a lot of help, especially sustainable help that provides them with a foundation to get them to a place where precautionary measures are standard. I hope I do not ignore it, I hope I get past the accident and get it in me to go back and keep helping. With Global Rescue on my side, it will probably be the difference between persevering vs. fearing.