Elaine Knight has learned a great deal in the two-and-a-half years she’s been serving disadvantaged communities in Haiti. But the biggest takeaway for the Londoner has been her insight into the resilience of the human spirit.

Life has been a struggle for many since the devastating earthquake in 2010 killed more than 300,000 and left more than a million homeless. But Knight has been stunned by the strength that Haitians have displayed daily.

“I’ve learned how people survive,” she said over the phone from L’Estere, Haiti, where her London-based non-profit — LifePaths Global Alliance (LGA) — has been operating since August 2010. “Even when things are really desperate, people still get through it and they still have a life.”

Knight, too, has learned how to find strength amidst dire circumstances. That wasn’t always the case, she admits. When she first travelled to Haiti in May 2010, she remembers being in shock.

“I was overwhelmed, and I was crying a lot,” she said. “Even when I got home I would burst into tears. But then I thought, ‘Well, geez, they’re actually living it and they’re not overwhelmed.’ So I learned that you have to be patient and you have to have faith.”

She’s come a long way since then, and so has her organization — which has been making a real difference in L’Estere, a city two-and-a-half hours north of the capital Port-au-Prince.

LGA has started a clothing workshop, a rice project, an Internet café, and has supported schools and cultural programs in the city. But the organization’s biggest impact has been with its telemedicine service. Working with Dr. Joey Prosper, LGA is providing high-quality, low-cost health care to individuals who may otherwise go without.

Through telemedicine — specifically tele-videoconferencing — patients and doctors are no longer required to make lengthy trips (sometimes four or five hours) for medical appointments. And the health care is delivered for free, including medication.

“These are the poorest of the poor, so if they have a choice to eat or go and find out why they have a sore throat or an ear infection, they’ll go buy food,” Knight said. “That’s why we provide the health care free.”

In two-and-a-half years, LGA has provided care for more than 12,000 people.

Knight, who owns a health-care company in London, visits L’Estere three times a year for a few weeks each time and she says she really feels like part of the community now.

This past Saturday, LGA hosted a live concert for the third year in a row to commemorate the anniversary of the earthquake.

LGA is hoping to expand and open a telemedicine clinic specifically for women and pediatric care in the future. Knight says she’s committed to the cause.

“We’re going to be here for the long haul,” she said. “There are groups here like ours that are making a huge difference.”