The Miami Herald
2003-12-03
Section: Front
Edition: Final
Page: 20A

After walking a muddy path between two sugar-cane fields, University of Miami President Donna Shalala on Tuesday crouched down to talk to spindly thin patients and leaned over desks to quiz young nurses in this Haitian hamlet.

The former Health and Human Services secretary strode in and out of the labs, pediatrics wards and exam rooms during a whirlwind visit to the Bon Sauver Hospital in Canges and the Thomonde Health Center, both in Haiti's central plateau. ``I know a lot about rural health and rural health clinics,'' said Shalala, a one-time Peace Corps volunteer in Iran and Cabinet member in the Clinton administration. ``As secretary I traveled the world, although I never made it to Haiti.''

Read more: In Rural Haiti, Shalala Views a Pioneering Effort on AIDS