Haiti will change you. You won’t come back the same.”

Mary Watkinson

Haiti Relief

WHAT: Comedy night fundraiser

WHEN: Saturday, April 8, 6 p.m.

WHERE: Franklin Court Community Room, Franklin Street, Bristol

COST: $50, includes show and two drinks

FOR TICKETS: Contact Mary Jo Tavares at 401-297-1399

Gleaming vacation resorts with pristine beaches full of happy tourists. Busy ports with cruise ships continually coming and going, dropping off and picking up thousands of vacationers for a stay in tropical paradise.

That is the vision most Americans have of Haiti … a place to get away from it all and live in the lap of luxury for a week on a Caribbean island. But hidden from the view of most travelers, beyond the fence that encircles Kaliko Beach Club or Abaka Bay Resort is a very different world, one in which its residents are largely living in abject poverty. The poorest country in the Western hemisphere, Haiti is plagued not just financially, but also environmentally, a frequent target of hurricanes and floods exacerbated by the country’s deforestation. Even the ground beneath the country is unstable. A devastating earthquake in 2010 killed more than 200,000 people and caused billions in damage from which the country is still struggling to recover.

The disasters pile up when funds to recover are not available, leaving Haitians to largely depend on the dedication and generosity of outsiders. One group of Bristolians is trying to provide just that, selflessly donating their time and money to make a huge difference in the lives of some Haitians.

Ken and Mary Watkinson recently returned from a trip to the Caribbean country that shares an island with the Dominican Republic, the couple’s seventh journey to Haiti since 2010. But the couple is not lounging by the resort pool of sunbathing on the beach. Instead, they are sleeping in tents covered by mosquito netting, enduring dark nights with no electricity and using a bucket as a toilet.

“It’s hard to see poverty like that, and have no one to blame it on,” said Mary Watkinson, a nurse who was inspired to help after the 2010 earthquake. “I don’t know why, I was just compelled.”

So Mary hooked up with a group of veterans who were traveling there to help, and the couple jumped on board. Since, they have gone back every year, most often traveling with a group from Haiti’s Child, an organization founded by former Rhode Island resident Marie Gabriel. Ms. Gabriel bought land in her native Haiti in the village of Lamonth, about 10 miles from capital Port-au-Prince, where she has developed a school and clinic to help “fulfill the educational, physical, and spiritual needs of the children and community.”

For their latest trip, the Watkinsons packed 17 bags full of medicine, cleaning supplies and personal hygiene items. With their own money — in addition to the expense of the trip itself — they brought bags of supplies including shoes — a particular necessity in Haiti — beads, pocketbooks and, perhaps most popular of all, soccer balls.

“They were using rags tied together as a soccer ball,” Mr. Watkinson said. “I brought out two inflated soccer balls. You should have seen everyone playing. Even the doctors were out there playing with whatever shoes they had on.”

The joy on the faces of the Haitian people was obvious, according to Dave Barboza, who accompanied the Watkinsons on their latest trip after the couple visited the Bristol Rotary Club to drum up support and donations for Haiti’s Child.

“These kids with a soccer ball, you might think you’d given them a million buck,” Mr. Barboza said. “I’m watching these kids with no shoes on rocky ground, and they’re in seventh heaven because Ken brought them a soccer ball.”

It wasn’t all fun and games. The group worked in the medical clinic, treating all sorts of ailments, including one woman with second and third degree burns suffered when her cardboard house burned down, kids with worms from eating mud cakes for dessert and urinary tract infections from bathing in a polluted river, and a man with a flaky skin condition so bad it looked like fur. Those at the clinic use whatever materials they can find — including Crisco to treat the skin condition — and provide the best medical care they can under the circumstances.

“It wasn’t the norm of what we’d do in this country, but we gave the best care we could,” Ms. Watkinson said.

“We were basically practicing bush medicine,” Mr. Barboza said.

They also taught English and classes on personal hygiene and respect for women in the largely male-dominated society, Mr. Barboza said. The group has also built a church on the compound, and tries to teach Christianity to the local people who mainly practice Vodou.

Mainly, the trips are about helping provide the basic necessities of life to a population that has little to nothing to sustain it. Mr. Watkinson gave out most of what he had — including even the shoes he was wearing, forcing him to fly home wearing flip-flops. It’s that kind of dedication and selflessness that make s a difference in a country that sees most of its working residents make as little as $2 a day.

“Yes, absolutely, in our little village, it’s making a difference,” Mr. Watkinson said.

And the difference is not just in the people the group helps, but in the helpers themselves.

“Haiti will change you. You won’t come back the same,” Ms. Watkinson said.

“The Sunday after we came back, we went out to eat and I ordered prime rib. There was so much food, I felt guilty,” Mr. Barboza said. “You don’t realize how poor these people are.”

The extreme poverty inspires the group to do as much as it can to improve conditions. It requires more than a few relief workers who shell out as much of their own money as they can afford. They need help from the community. To that end, Haiti’s Child, along with Bristol Rotary and Goods4Good, is hosting a comedy night fundraiser Saturday, April 8, at 6 p.m. in the Franklin Court Community Room on Franklin Street.

Tickets are $50, which includes the show and two drinks. For tickets, call Mary Jo Tavares at 401-297-1399. There are also sponsorship opportunities on the Haiti’s Child website (haitischild.org), and the group sells soaps made at Travis Family Farm in Scituate for $5. All proceeds go directly to Haiti’s Child.

Donating to the cause, or even making the trip to help in Haiti, is a life-changing, rewarding  experience, Ms. Watkinson said.

“Sometimes, I think we bring home more than we take, just with the satisfaction you feel,” she said. “It is a grind, but I can’t wait to go back. The little bit we do makes a huge difference.”