Erismane (Mackenson) Dorelus used to be a teacher here in our school program at Coram Deo several years ago. He is now living in Fond Verettes. Fond Verettes is a mountain village along the Dominican border. Near where his family's home is there is a marker stone. On one side it reads Haiti and on the other Dominican Republic. As a joke we visited the other side of the border stone and the Dominican Republic. We spent some time watching villagers come back from the Dominican side and up the hill with sticks/wood that they would use for their cooking fires and to make charcoal. There are no border crossing guards there and it is an easy access point into the Dominican Republic. In the same way it is an easy access point for Haitian people in search of health care.
The other week Mackenson brought a woman here to Coram Deo who had a "fibrome" (fibroid tumor). She was searching for medical care to get this removed. We brought her to one hospital here in Port-au-Prince but they couldn't help her. Because the family has no relatives here in Port-au-Prince they decided to return back to Fond Verettes. The other day I talked with Mackenson and he said that they would try to enter the Dominican Republic and find medical care there. They will probably just walk down the hill and into the Dominican Republic.
The following article shows how many Haitians cross the border to the Los Mina Maternity Hospital. Until medical care improves in Haiti, the Haitian people will seek help across the border legally or illegally entering the Dominican Republic. Pray that the maternal health care system here in Haiti will improve.
4 HAITIAN BABIES ARE BORN DAILY IN LOS MINA MATERNITY HOSPITAL
(Dominican Today)
Santo Domingo.– Nearly 1,700 babies are born to Haitian mothers each year in Los Mina's San Lorenzo Maternity Hospital, an average of 4 babies a day, the hospital director Gregorio Rivas told reporters today.
According to the figures revealed, so far this year they have had 629 deliveries, 379 C-sections, 5,167 consultations and 1,185 hospitalizations. They have also seen 1,925 Haitians in the ER and nearly 3,223 consulted about birth control.
Rivas said many of the pregnant women live in areas close to the hospital, and others come directly from Haiti, with the added difficulty of not speaking Spanish. “This hinders communication between the women and the health personnel dealing with them,” he added.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
Wednesday, September 22, 2010
VIDEO - HANDICAP INTERNATIONAL
This morning we brought an elderly lady to the Healing Hands/Handicap International Prosthetic/Orthotic clinic at Poste Marchande here in Port-au-Prince. She needed some repairs to her artificial leg. While there we saw a dozen amputees waiting for help in the clinic. Since the earthquake the handicapped are more visible (which is good). Pray for organizations like Healing Hands and Handicap International who focus on helping the handicapped here in Haiti. Healing Hands will be opening their clinic at a new location in the Bois Verna section of Port-au-Prince in October. The earthquake destroyed their building but their work continues on. Pray for the planning and preparations of this move. It is great seeing the determination of people helping the handicapped. Maybe Haitian society will now change to an attitude of acceptance of the handicapped into Haitian society, rather than exclusion. To watch a video about the work of Handicap International here in Haiti follow the link to:
Working for Change in Haiti - Handicap International
www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0xX9edYcRA
Working for Change in Haiti - Handicap International
www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0xX9edYcRA
VIDEO - WHIRLWIND WHEELCHAIRS
I posted a video before about the work of Whirlwind Wheelchairs in the past. Since the earthquake this organization has been busy at building rugged all-terrain wheelchairs that are perfectly designed for Haiti's rough terrain on the streets of Port-au-Prince. To find out more information about this organization go to their website at www.whirlwindwheelchair.org. To see a couple new videos on their work here in Haiti and about their specially designed wheelchairs follow the link to:
Whirlwind and the Roughrider
www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOFjzfK54PM
Haiti Project with Whirlwind and the Walkabout Foundation
www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJQJ8pMsEcI
Whirlwind and the Roughrider
www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOFjzfK54PM
Haiti Project with Whirlwind and the Walkabout Foundation
www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJQJ8pMsEcI
VIDEO - HOLD ON 4 HAITI - PARTNERS IN HEALTH
Partners in Health is one of the leading medical mission organizations operating here in Haiti. They have a huge presence in the Central Plateau and are very well respected by the people. We have sent people out to their Cange Hospital when we couldn't get care here in Port-au-Prince in the past. This organization will be building a teaching hospital in Mirebalais with funding from the IHRC (Interim Haiti Recovery Commission). You can count on the hospital being built well. Dr. Paul Farmer is an American who is the driving force behind Partners in Health and he is a very determined individual. Dr. Ariel Henry who is a Haitian neurosurgeon is part of the Ministry of Health. He has helped us several times in the past at removing infected shunts and has even performed some shunt surgeries for some of the children we were trying to find help for. He never charged us for his services. Pray for the planning and construction going into this new teaching hospital and for Haitian neurosurgeons to be trained at this new hospital. It is great to hear about progress being made in Haiti!
The reggae band Steel Pulse has written a song called Hold on 4 Haiti and are giving the proceeds for solar electrification of the Partners in Health medical clinics. To watch a video of this STEP/PIH project follow the link to:
Steel Pulse - Partners in Health - Hold On 4 Haiti
www.youtube.com/watch?v=G36ijfvb_oU
Local and international doctors say it will represent a towering example of post-earthquake recovery.
``It's going to be a world-class hospital in the middle of central Haiti,'' said Dr. Paul Farmer, who has dedicated his life to improving healthcare for the poor in an impoverished Haiti and serves as deputy to United Nations Special Envoy Bill Clinton.
The hospital in the town of Mirebalais, 90 minutes north of quake-ravaged Port-au-Prince along a new asphalt highway through the central mountains, was in the planning stages long before the Jan. 12 quake.
EXPANSION SOUGHT
But after the quake killed an estimated 300,000 Haitians -- including nursing students attending classes -- and badly damaged both the nearby public hospital and medical school, Haitian officials asked to accelerate construction and expand the teaching hospital.
No problem, said Farmer, a Harvard medical school professor whom Clinton asked after the earthquake to help coordinate new healthcare facilities and medical care for the Interim Haiti Recovery Commission.
Farmer's Partners In Health, a nongovermental organization that runs about a dozen public hospitals with nearly all Haitian staffers along with Haiti's Ministry of Health, sought the blessing of the commission for the facility. Ground was broken for the hospital on Friday.
``Dr. Farmer's hospital ensures high quality training for more doctors and healthcare workers. It is an example of the significant opportunities that exist to help Haitians to build back better,'' Clinton told The Miami Herald. ``In the coming weeks, Prime Minister [Jean-Max] Bellerive and I are hopeful the Interim Haiti Recovery Commission will approve and fund many more reconstruction projects in order to help create a more prosperous future for the Haitian people.''
A SIGNIFICANT STEP
The hospital's construction is expected to take 18 months, and it is among 29 projects, totaling $1.6 billion, that were approved last month by the commission. Supporters say it's a significant step in what some have criticized as a slow recovery, and symbolizes where the Haitian government wants to go as it rebuilds: decentralizing the teeming capital by building facilities elsewhere, even in communities that were not badly hit by the disaster.
But the project also speaks to the ongoing challenges in achieving that effort. Only $10 million of the $15 million has been funded, and efforts are under way to raise the remaining money.
Despite a show of support for Haiti in the months after the quake, only 18 percent of the $5.3 billion pledged by international donors over the next two years has been disbursed, according to the U.N. Special Envoy's website.
Clinton, who co-chairs the recovery commission with Bellerive, has promised to personally lobby donors. He also has asked commission members to start approving projects in hopes of building donors' confidence and speeding up aid.
Still, the trickling of aid is frustrating, say those involved in rebuilding.
``Haiti is really difficult, but it's not an excuse not to work with the Haitian government, the Haitian people,'' Dr. David Walton, deputy director for Partners In Health, said as he prepped the site last week for the ground-breaking. ``The government is trying but it's difficult when you don't have the resources.''
Walton said it is possible to get things done in Haiti.
``If you have resources, if you have accountability, financial transparency and if you have will,'' he said. ``What Haiti needs is a major medical center in the Central Plateau that can serve complex medical cases. . . . Haiti cannot depend on and should not depend on aid groups to be able to provide medical care.''
TRAINING IS KEY
Haiti doesn't just need a large hospital in the Central Plateau, it also needs to train pharmacists, lab technicians and nurse practitioners, said Dr. Ariel Henry, a neurosurgeon and chief of cabinet for the Health Ministry.
``As a result of the earthquake, we lost health facilities, health training centers and human resources,'' he said, adding that Haiti already had a dearth of technicians and pharmacists before the quake.
Henry said the Mirebalais hospital, which will train these healthcare providers along with doctors and nurses, is among several the ministry plans to build. ``We don't want to put all of our assets in Port-au-Prince,'' he said.
Before the quake, the Mirebalais hospital was supposed to be a modest facility, not that much different from the community hospital Farmer designed in Lascahobas, another village in central Haiti.
That hospital, run by Haitians, cost $700,000. Farmer has always lauded the price in his speeches about how hospitals in Haiti do not need to cost tens of millions of dollars to build.
Then came the Jan. 12 earthquake.
``We just knew that it would not be a good learning environment for . . . clinical rotations,'' Farmer said about the quake-damaged Port-au-Prince general hospital.
``We went and talked to the minister [of health] and some of the deans, and they said build a big hospital, build it three times [larger than] you planned and make it a good teaching hospital.''
The reggae band Steel Pulse has written a song called Hold on 4 Haiti and are giving the proceeds for solar electrification of the Partners in Health medical clinics. To watch a video of this STEP/PIH project follow the link to:
Steel Pulse - Partners in Health - Hold On 4 Haiti
www.youtube.com/watch?v=G36ijfvb_oU
Below is an article about the new teaching hospital being built in Mirebalais.
RISING HAITI HOSPITAL A SYMBOL OF FUTURE
(Miami Herald) - By Jacqueline Charles
Local and international doctors say it will represent a towering example of post-earthquake recovery.
``It's going to be a world-class hospital in the middle of central Haiti,'' said Dr. Paul Farmer, who has dedicated his life to improving healthcare for the poor in an impoverished Haiti and serves as deputy to United Nations Special Envoy Bill Clinton.
The hospital in the town of Mirebalais, 90 minutes north of quake-ravaged Port-au-Prince along a new asphalt highway through the central mountains, was in the planning stages long before the Jan. 12 quake.
EXPANSION SOUGHT
But after the quake killed an estimated 300,000 Haitians -- including nursing students attending classes -- and badly damaged both the nearby public hospital and medical school, Haitian officials asked to accelerate construction and expand the teaching hospital.
No problem, said Farmer, a Harvard medical school professor whom Clinton asked after the earthquake to help coordinate new healthcare facilities and medical care for the Interim Haiti Recovery Commission.
Farmer's Partners In Health, a nongovermental organization that runs about a dozen public hospitals with nearly all Haitian staffers along with Haiti's Ministry of Health, sought the blessing of the commission for the facility. Ground was broken for the hospital on Friday.
``Dr. Farmer's hospital ensures high quality training for more doctors and healthcare workers. It is an example of the significant opportunities that exist to help Haitians to build back better,'' Clinton told The Miami Herald. ``In the coming weeks, Prime Minister [Jean-Max] Bellerive and I are hopeful the Interim Haiti Recovery Commission will approve and fund many more reconstruction projects in order to help create a more prosperous future for the Haitian people.''
A SIGNIFICANT STEP
The hospital's construction is expected to take 18 months, and it is among 29 projects, totaling $1.6 billion, that were approved last month by the commission. Supporters say it's a significant step in what some have criticized as a slow recovery, and symbolizes where the Haitian government wants to go as it rebuilds: decentralizing the teeming capital by building facilities elsewhere, even in communities that were not badly hit by the disaster.
But the project also speaks to the ongoing challenges in achieving that effort. Only $10 million of the $15 million has been funded, and efforts are under way to raise the remaining money.
Despite a show of support for Haiti in the months after the quake, only 18 percent of the $5.3 billion pledged by international donors over the next two years has been disbursed, according to the U.N. Special Envoy's website.
Clinton, who co-chairs the recovery commission with Bellerive, has promised to personally lobby donors. He also has asked commission members to start approving projects in hopes of building donors' confidence and speeding up aid.
Still, the trickling of aid is frustrating, say those involved in rebuilding.
``Haiti is really difficult, but it's not an excuse not to work with the Haitian government, the Haitian people,'' Dr. David Walton, deputy director for Partners In Health, said as he prepped the site last week for the ground-breaking. ``The government is trying but it's difficult when you don't have the resources.''
Walton said it is possible to get things done in Haiti.
``If you have resources, if you have accountability, financial transparency and if you have will,'' he said. ``What Haiti needs is a major medical center in the Central Plateau that can serve complex medical cases. . . . Haiti cannot depend on and should not depend on aid groups to be able to provide medical care.''
TRAINING IS KEY
Haiti doesn't just need a large hospital in the Central Plateau, it also needs to train pharmacists, lab technicians and nurse practitioners, said Dr. Ariel Henry, a neurosurgeon and chief of cabinet for the Health Ministry.
``As a result of the earthquake, we lost health facilities, health training centers and human resources,'' he said, adding that Haiti already had a dearth of technicians and pharmacists before the quake.
Henry said the Mirebalais hospital, which will train these healthcare providers along with doctors and nurses, is among several the ministry plans to build. ``We don't want to put all of our assets in Port-au-Prince,'' he said.
Before the quake, the Mirebalais hospital was supposed to be a modest facility, not that much different from the community hospital Farmer designed in Lascahobas, another village in central Haiti.
That hospital, run by Haitians, cost $700,000. Farmer has always lauded the price in his speeches about how hospitals in Haiti do not need to cost tens of millions of dollars to build.
Then came the Jan. 12 earthquake.
``We just knew that it would not be a good learning environment for . . . clinical rotations,'' Farmer said about the quake-damaged Port-au-Prince general hospital.
``We went and talked to the minister [of health] and some of the deans, and they said build a big hospital, build it three times [larger than] you planned and make it a good teaching hospital.''
Tuesday, September 21, 2010
photos - clinic - part 1
A couple of weeks ago, Dr. Karen McCarthy and a medical team returned back to Haiti to hold medical clinics. The team is enthusiastic. As soon as they got to Sherri's place from the Airport they headed over here to Coram Deo to hold the first clinic. During the week they were here they held 3 medical clinics at our place and 2 in Gonaives. At the 5 clinics they treated 1,000 people. We give the Lord thanks for those who come to Haiti to help provide medical care. The best news is that they are coming back again in November! Pray for the preparations they will be making for the next clinics. The elderly lady shown walking with a walker was injured during the earthquake when a wall fell on her while she was walking down a street. She was treated in the Dominican Republic. Since coming back to Port-au-Prince she had no follow-up care. Junior carried her on his back from a tent in a refuge camp to our truck.
The team used supplies that they brought as well as supplies from Sherri's and our place. The people are thankful for the care they receive.
This was a first visit to Haiti for Kathleen who is Dr. Karen's niece. Macdonald always enjoys helping out at the registration table.
It is good to provide for the medical needs of the haitian people but it is also just as important to address their spiritual needs too. Pastor Senord came to evangelize to the people as they waited to be seen. Some of the people who were waiting even asked him questions!
Lately we have had several situations where we found injured people at the side of the road. While bringing the elderly woman with the walker back to her refuge camp we saw this man laying by the entrance to the camp near the "moonshine" stand. He is one of the workers in the rubble removal program. While walking over some rubble he slipped and his leg was sliced open on some broken ceramic tile. The cut went to the bone. He went to a hospital and they stitched up his leg but they gave him no pain medicine. He was drinking moonshine to dull his pain. We brought him to see Dr. Karen and she provided something other than moonshine! The man apologized for drinking. Pray that his leg heals and that he doesn't hang out around the moonshine stand.photos - clinic - part 2
This man is another man we saw sitting at the side of a road outside of another refuge camp in our area. He called us over to him after we had brought someone back to the Adventist Refuge Camp. 10 days prior he had stepped on something that pierced through the bottom of his foot. His foot was bandaged but he was in a lot of pain and his foot was swollen. We told him that we would take him to see Dr. Karen and she told us that his foot was badly infected. We brought him to the Bernard Mevs/Project Medishare Hospital and they operated on his foot that night. The surgeon said there was a lot of infection. He was discharged from the hospital the next morning and joyfully went back to his tent! It sure is fun playing the role of the Good Samaritan!
This father brought his son to the clinic with a cyst below his eye. We brought him to the eye clinic at Grace Children's Hospital and they in turn referred him to General Hospital. Francilme had his surgery last week and we are awaiting the test results on the cyst to find out if it is cancerous or not. Pray for healing for Francilme and that he doesn't have cancer.
This young boy was in misery. His abdomen and legs were both very swollen. We transported the mother and son to Hopital Nos Petits Freres/Soeurs and they admitted him as an emergency case. Pray for healing for him as well.
These 2 patients both had heart abnormalities. We brought them to get an echographie. The boy has a mitral valve prolapse and the woman has a pulmonary problem affecting the heart. The haitian doctor that did the echographie noticed her skin color. She was applying a chemical cream regularly to her skin so that she would be a lighter color. I call this "Michael Jackson Syndrome". He is of the opinion that the chemicals are causing lung/heart damage. Pray that Haitian women accept the color of their skin and don't turn to chemicals to change their skin.
This young boy sits in front of our gate everyday with the lady who sells cookies and candies. I always thought that the woman who is holding him in this picture was his grandmother. Today she told me the story of "Dieusibon" ( translated as God is Good). A few years ago while she was downtown at the large outdoor market area (Crois des Bossales) she walked past a garbage pile and heard a baby crying. She stopped looked and then figuring that she was hearing things she moved on again. She heard the crying and turned around and saw a baby in the garbage. Someone had thrown him away as a piece of living garbage. Her heart was touched, she picked up the baby and brought him home. Since then she has been a member of her family. This woman is a special woman. Pray for "God is Good" and for the woman looking after him.photos - various - part 3
When we hold medical clinics it doesn't take long to hand out the entrance cards. We usually only go to the small refuge camps in the area that don't receive much help. The people come up to us as soon as they see us and ask for cards.
This man came to the house the other day. He has a large tumor on his neck. The sad thing is that he waited too long. He couldn't eat anymore and the tumor was starting on his tongue too. We brought him to the Bernard Mevs Hospital and never heard from his family again. I think he has died. There is a lot of attention from the world on Haiti right now. Pray the medical system advances so that people don't have to suffer needlessly.
Anya Boer visited Haiti last year and taught Manu and Benson how to sew. Manu was trying on a shirt the other week and showed me that it was ripped. He told me not to worry as he would fix it himself. This is "tailor Manu" at work!
Benson is sewing a button on his shirt. Thanks Anya for showing the boys these skills!
Christian Light School is open and Manu and Benson are enjoying going to school every day. Pray for Sherri Fausey and her staff at Christian Light Ministries as they provide a christian education to poor children in the Delmas 31community.
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