Delivery of supplies for Shada

We had our first delivery of supplies from AmeriCares today, using the German Help One helicopter service to bring it from Port-au-Prince.

To make the most of the helicopter, we coordinated this with three patient discharges from Haiti Hospital Appeal. The plan was to complete three runs between CAP and PAP but unfortunately there was a fault with the helicopter so the other trips had to be postponed.

Because of this fault we actually had to unload the helicopter of the supplies and put the spinal patients into it whilst the engine was still running and the propeller still going, which was slightly scary!

We hope to receive AmeriCares supplies for Cotelette and Jacquesyl in the early in the New Year. We will continue to work with German Help One helicopter service, brought to Haiti especially to help with transporting cholera supplies around the country.

Physical Rehabilitation Services in Cap Haitien

There is good news on the future of rehabilitation services offered in Cap Haitien.

The network team met with Anne-Vierge, the Haitian voluntary Physiotherapist working at Action Sanitaire yesterday to discuss their services. She has changed the structure of her caseload to allow for quicker discharges and therefore a greater capacity to see new patients. She is setting up a referral form and information sheet to promote the service.

Haiti Hospital Appeal in Quatier Morin is also officially opening up their rehab unit next week. They are starting with a series of patient assessment days and from there will run an inpatient and outpatient rehabilitation service.

Dr Moise, a Haitien rehab physician who has been providing ongoing input to the spinal patients since the earthquake will be attending two days a week. They have also employed a Haitien physio to work initially for three days a week, with the two therapy assistants already employed by the NGO.

As a physiotherapist I will be providing assistance with setting up the unit. I also hope to provide education and development sessions to the physiotherapists and assistants at both Haiti Hospital Appeal and Action Sanitaire.

We will post more information to our yahoo groups site as soon as we receive it.

Hannah

Visit to the Cholera Treatment Centres in the town of Trou-du-Nord

Juline, myself and a spanish-speaker went to Trou-du-Nord to find out more about the cholera treatment in this area, having been unsuccessful in obtaining any information over the phone.

We first visited the Merlin CTU/C which opened up 2 days ago on the west side of Trou-du-Nord. This facility is run purely from tents, with a maximum capacity of 50 beds. They currently have 13 patients and have had no deaths. It appeared to be a very well-run, organised structure working to the cholera guidelines of plan a,b and c.

We then visited the Hospital in Trou-du-Nord run by the Cuban Corporation. We met with the lead doctor to find out more about their cholera services in Trou-du-Nord and around the North and North-East Departments.

Unfortunately we were not able to get much information from him. He explained that they have treated a total of 1662 cholera patients at that hospital. They currently however only have 2 patients.

The Cuban Corporation and Merlin are now in agreement that Merlin will be the main treatment centre in Trou-du-Nord from now on. They are working on promotion of the Merlin CTC so patients come straight to them. However the Cubans said that they will continue to fully treat those patients that come to them, rather than redirecting them.

He couldn't give us any information about any other Cuban run health facilities or cholera treatment centres, but did confirm there is a cuban ctc in Fort Liberte. He said he does not have access to email.

Update from OXFAM

I met with Humpfry from OXFAM on Friday who gave me the following update of their work:

Areas they are working in:
Limbe
Bas Limbe
Borgne
Cap Haitien:
Petit Anse
Fort Saint Michel
Shada
Conasa
Nan Banan
Cite de Peupe
Cite Lescot
Bas Ravine
Tivotine

WASH
They are providing WASH education through these areas throughout the communities.

WATER TREATMENT
Provide chorination to the regional reservoirs (through SNEP and MSPP).
Provide chlorination to private reservoirs (ie visiting water tankers) at Fort Saint Michel and Shada Provide aquatabs to the companies manning hand pumps
Mann wells to provide chlorination to buckets taken from well.

SNEP is a governmental organisation that OXFAM has been working with, but apparently SNEP has discontinued. Therefore any areas not assisted by OXFAM should contact Ferm from DINEPA directly on 34634760 (French and Creole).

He also explained that their emergency contingency is to provide aquatabs to an area/ water source. After about 1 month they look to replacing this with chlorination as a more sustainable method.

Distribution of cholera supplies to St Raphael

Today St Raphael collected their supplies we reserved from the USAID delivery, including 15 boxes of Lactacted Ringer solution. The USAID supplies have now all been given out.

Notre Dame de la Merci in Robiuard

Use of World Food Program Warehouse

Juline and I had a successful meeting with the World Food Program today. We have secured some space at their Cap warehouse to help us increase our capacity to distribute cholera and general medical supplies around the North and North East. Located near to the Chilien UN helipad and logistics base, it is in a prime location to link with the UN and use of their landing spot.

We are hoping to use it as of next week. This picture shows just one of their two warehouses. They also have tents to provide further storage where necessary.

More USAID distribution

Today, Juline and I supplied Bon Samaritan of L'Acul with full cholera supplies, including 240 litres of lactated ringer solution.

Hannah Steadman
Cap Haitien Health Network
(509) 38922129

Soap Pick Up From Labadi with Chilien UN support

Today I successfully collected the next batch of Clean The World soap from Labadee and brought it to our in-town warehouse. It was the first time we have used the UN for transportation, and it was a very smooth and hassle-free collection. The UN not only provided us with the truck and driver, but enough staff to allow the pick up of soap to be timely and efficient. The security of using the UN also meant villagers of the passing communities didn't try to theive boxes from the open trailor, which they have attempted to do in the past.

Hannah Steadman
Cap Haitien Health Network
(509) 38922129

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Distribution of desperately needed cholera supplies

The team was successful in distributing over half of the USAID supplies sent in yesterday by UN helicopter. Not only that but the news of available supplies published on our yahoo group site meant 5 more unsupported health facilities have been brought to light. One case is of Benifaisance Hospital, Ranquitte, in the North Dept, who are treating up to 45 new cholera patients a day, with only 2 nurses and 3 other support staff. They have not received any NGO support in the 9 weeks they have been receiving cholera patients. Today we were able to provide them with 1200 litres of Lactated Ringer IV fluid and many more relevant supplies.

We hope to distribute the majority of the remaining supplies tomorrow, before the inevitable riots start again on Sunday or Monday.

Hannah Steadman
Cap Haitien Health Network
(509) 38922129

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USAID Supplies arrived and ready for collection

Today Juline and I faced the logistical challenge of obtaining the eagerly awaited USAID Cholera supplies. The helicopter landed this afternoon filled with lactated ringer solution, IV sets, ORS, Antibiotics and gloves - much needed by many facilites throughout the region.

It took all afternoon to get the supplies safely to storage, to stock check and inform the relevant clinic leads, but it is now ready for distribution. The vast majority of supplies will be collected tomorrow morning by 12 different clinics from around the North and North-East Departments; all listed as requiring further support with cholera supplies.

Hannah Steadman
Cap Haitien Health Network and MSF
(509) 38922129

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Five clinics provided with cholera and water treatment supplies

This afternoon we provided five clinics with cholera supplies and other supplies from our stock. St. Suzanne’s Clinic , St. Elizabeth’s Clinic, Caracol, Borgne Health Centre, St. Lutheran Clinic, Madaline and Port Margot: all received chlorox and aquatabs. Those which are CTU/Cs also received IVs and IV fluids and we also provided some non-cholera related clinical items to all the clinics.

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Disabilities in Shada

Disabilities in Shada

Juline and I did a follow up visit in Shada today with regards to two of the initial patient visits. The first lady, with weakness down one side said she had been feeling worse since the cold weather has started and spends a lot of her time in bed.

I encouraged her to continue with the stretches and to move around regularly to prevent worsening symptoms. On discussion on what she enjoys/needs to be doing on our last visit, it transpired that she is very keen to be able to start sewing again. She struggles mainly because her arm shakes when she uses it which makes her lose control and co-ordination. Today we looked into this: by sitting at her table, with her arm supported on a pillow she was able to use it well enough to sew a straight line along two pieces of fabric. Her end goal is to be able to sew some clothes to sell, therefore on our next visit we will look at ways we can make tracing a design onto fabric easier for her.

The second lady we saw was the lady who has lost the use of her legs and has spent the last 7 years on the floor. It was wonderful to see the change in her today. Firstly, her bed room is now fully set up to optimise her function: it is at the right height for her to be able to stand up from, but without getting wet from flooding. Not only has she been practising standing up and sitting down, but she also been walking with the frame we gave her on the last visit. She can now safely walk around her room, allowing her to access the things she needs to cook, clean and wash her dishes. She still relies on neighbours to fetch water, food etc, but her quality of life is much improved.

Hannah Steadman
Cap Haitien Health Network and MSF
(509) 38922129

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Cholera Relief in Tovar/Grison-Garde

Dear All,

A very good evening to you. Hope this finds you well, thanks to God.

Well, I wanted to share those pictures with you. I was able to
serve Tovar-Grisongarde, the methodist school and the orphanage again
today. I gave soap, clorox and Aquatabs to everyone there for cholera
prevention.

Thanks again for your help! We don't know what we would do without
your help! It means a lot to us!

Blessings to all involved!

Eugene Maklin MD

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16 pictures for you--- Cholera relief in Nativity Village

Dear All,

Greetings from Cap-Haitian. I pray this finds you well, thanks to God.

I wanted to share those pictures with you. I was able to distribute
soap, Clorox, and Aquatabs to the people living at Nativity Village
today. You may know that it is one of the poor areas in Cap. That
means it is a vulnerable area for cholera.

My deepest thanks to you for your efforts for my country! Your help
means a lot to us! You are a blessing!

In His Name,

Eugene Maklin MD

 

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Distribution of supplies

Hannah and I went to Labadee to pick up some supplies, we load up the truck and took them to the warehouse.

This week we have the person that is in charge of the clinics to come and pick up some supplies they will need. For example father Medenel of St.Suzanne came and pick some supplies, the pastor Etienne of Danda clinic pick up some supplies too.

The ECH church came and pick up there soaps that Clean the world had given us to the clinics. We have given soaps to the clinics that's in our network list.

Dr.Eugene and I cleaned up the warehouse by organizing the boxes that belong to the clinics and hospital. We are going to contact some of the hospitals to come pick up some supplies.

Purchasing Aquatabs and Bleach

Dear All,

Good evening to you. Hope this finds you well, thanks to God.

I wanted to share those pictures with you. I got chance to pick up
the money from Western Union office this morning. I paid $ 1100 US for
a case of Aquatabs, 70 cases of bleach($ 80 HT per case) and I paid
for transportation. I have the receipts for you. I will see if I can
scan them to you tomorrow. I put all the stuffs at Luckner's
Warehouse. Greg and Hannah can also use them to share to the
communities.

My deepest thanks to Haiti Help Med members for helping us fight
the cholera!!!

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Soap, Chlorox, Aquatabs for people in St-Suzanne

Dear All,

Good evening to you all. Hope this finds you well, thanks to God.

I wanted to share those pictures with you, taken by Juline (therefore not pictured) who helped me. I was able to help
people in St-Suzanne with some soap, Chlorox and Aquatabs to purify the
drinking water. You may know that there had been 5 deaths due to
Cholera there.

My thanks to everyone for helping fight the cholera.

Blessing to all involved!

Eugene Maklin MD

For The Haiti Mission of PUMC

For Cap Haitian Health care Network

Consultant Medical for Hospital St Francois, Vaudreuil.

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Initial Visit to Organisation des Handicapes de Fourgerolle

Greg, Juline and I visited Organisation des Handicapes de Fourgerolle, in Fort Saint Michel this afternoon.  They provide a day centre once a week for 103 people with disabilities.  They have a volunteer physiotherapist (outreaching from Action Sanitaire) who visits to provide some therapy input.
 
Their vision is to extend the day centre to five days a week to provide people with disabilities with:
- Psychological and peer support and are keen on addressing the barriers of stigma with disabilities in the community
- Education to help with employment options
- Input from doctors and nurses
- Food during the day
    
With regards to cholera
 
They are NOT providing treatment for cholera and they are NOT a medical centre/clinic.  however, they are finding many of their 'patients' are coming to them for help with cholera symptoms as many taptap/taxi drivers will not take them to the CTCs.  The facility are therefore helping families with payment for transport to local CTC (currently gymnasium).
 
Actions
 
We:
- Educated the whole team (6 staff) on WASH principles
- Emphasised importance of early treatment
- Informed them of the new ORP opening up in FSM (5 min drive away) (should be opening in 2-3 days) and showed them site
- Investigested together the new Oxfam/Konbite Sante WASH point 100m from their site - providing hand washing training, ORS (1 box daily at each point) and as from tomorrow treated water from communal tank. 

- Gave them the contact number of Action Sainitaire to link with their psych team
- Contacted Oxfam to ask them to provide further WASH training so they can provide it to their clients.
- Contacted CBM to consider applyication of funding for Day Centre Project

Riots in Cap Haitien

As many of you are aware, there were some very violent demonstrations and riots in Cap Haitien yesterday.

Cacooned inside my downtown apartment I had a very acute awareness of what was going on.  By 10am the streets were crowded.  People running in hoards through the nearby square towards the MINUSTAH.  Shouting was constant, chanting and gunfire every few minutes throughout the day until about 10pm.

When the odd mob would pass my apartment  I would see my curious Haitien neighbours quickly close their doors and  return inside for safety.

Vehicles would occasionally charge up the road, must have been about 40-50mph: very fast given the state of the roads and the amount of people on the streets.

There were many reports of rocks and other missiles being thrown with no specific target.  Barricades have been put up all over the town, with no access to enter or leave the town other than by foot up until recently.  I was also informed that the MINUSTAH eventually made the decision to evacuate themselves from town last night.

Reports by Al Jazeera and BBC Latin America say that at least one man was shot dead as an act of defense by the UN.  At least 10 others were injured and are being treated at Justinien Hospital, as was reported on the local news last night.

Today everything seems to be much quieter.  There was an eerie atmosphere driving around Cap Haitien this morning.  The streets were almost empty except for a few passersby.  A dead body half wrapped in a sheet had been abandoned near the town square in direct sunlight.  Tires have been left burning in the middle of the roads and barricades are still in place all over the town.

As the day draws on the streets seems a little busier.  I can hear more gunfire every couple of minutes, but nothing too violent has passed close to me.

This situation is obviously having a detrimental effect to what can be provided to the Cholera victims.  MSF have been unable to receive their latest supplies or reach out to those clinics in the rest of the region so desperately needing support.  With one truck and a warehouse looted, many supplies are being wasted.  The network is still waiting on deliveries, but with the situation as it is, it poses many security concerns with regards to storing and distributing supplies.

Update on Cholera Treatment Planning

Summary of today's events:

1. Meeting with Fiona Stephenson (RN, representing HHA); Dr. Toussaint (MD, HHA) and myself as representative from CHHN and affiliated physio of HHA.

// Discussion of implementation of how to deal with current caseload with reference to MSF and WHO guidelines.

2. Meeting with Fiona Stephenson and Helmi (MSF Co-ordinator) and myself

//

a)  Discussion of feasibility of using HHA site as CTC // MSF have resources, but no land secured.  Looking for land to accommodate >1000 patients in total, using as few sites as possible.  HHA have land in appropriate location.

b) Discussion of ability for MSF to provide resources to sites other than the 6 they are supporting currently. // Are happy to do this but do not have the resources currently - hopefully within the next few days.  They need list of sites currently requesting support so MSF can map them.

c) Discussion of human resources // because the North region is the last to be supported by MSF there are relatively fewer supplies and HR here.  Although more on the way it is important we recruit local staff to help at the sites, mainly as auxillary staff.  MSF have the capacity to provide wages.

3. Trip to HHA to gauge potential of opening as CTC

//

Enough land to accomodate at least 200 patients.  Will be useful if difficulty finding larger expanses of land.  Helmi and HHA to continue planning.

4. Visit to CTC in Quatier Morin with MSF

//

Currently 80 patients.  2 deaths today.  Supported by MSF - supplies brought in yesterday.  Staffed well, but needs to improve on cleaning techniques and use of IVs (overused).

Minutes from Health and Water and Sanitization Meeting 13/11/10

Attendees: Dr. Jasmin Ministry of Health, Axnick Woody Paul, Ministry of Planification, UN, Oxfam, MSF, WHO, UNICEF, Cap Haitien Health Network

 Two teams: planning and prevention

Update from Dr Jasmin re current situation with cholera epidemic

840 cases, 57 deaths in Limbe, Cap Haitien, Plaisance, Bornge, Portmago

46 cases in Milot

?data for Quatier Morin

A lot of problems with treatment in Cap Haitien, Limbe – with regards to capacity because all surrounding communes bring their cases to Cap and Limbe.

There are increasing deaths in these communities –entire families are being wiped out.

Problem with lack of transportation and security at night

Two main issues: treatment and awareness

Issues re corpses

Important to discuss the issues: no plan, no contact

MSPP and WHO training has focused on health so it’s important to make an integrated plan to ensure the training is carried out in rural communities and with other partners.  WHO don’t have enough capacity to cover all the areas, therefore they aim to focus on the health human resources. So they need other partners to duplicate the training to others rein schools and churches.

It’s very important to determine the area where the departments are going to be deployed.  E.g. Oxfam have the training tools for cholera, but cannot cover all areas.

OXFAM

Have two teams on the field: to make intervention in different areas of Cap.  E.g. Shada to implement chorination of water.  Oxfam team begin to treat water with SNEP (gov. recommendation for water treatment).  Gov and Oxfam working together to treat the water and implement training, once the needs assessment has been completed (tomorrow).

Comment: important to integrate all the actions of all the partners.

Smaller organisations are providing training and education in schools, churches etc but we have little information about their roles and therefore leads to difficulties integrating work.

No one is taking whole responsibility to train those in churches, schools.  Difficult to remove staff away from clinical areas to provide training.

Other areas of concern is the potential increase of cases in private clinics.  It’s very important to stop the rapidity of the epidemic, therefore it is very important to make plans and support the hospitals/health services that are accepting these patients.

We need to know which players will do something re sanitization so we can plan for those areas not already covered.

Next week the Ministry of National Education are planning some training with school teachers around Cap Haitien.  We need to know exactly which schools this training will happen in.

MoP: health NGOs can help with sanitizationn e.g. education, transportation, logistics – want training to be completed by creole-speaking trainers only – not through translators as risk of poor accuracy of message.

Plan for communication in the mass media:

MoH has produced a series of educational promotion in TV, local radio, but many people don’t have access to these media. Starting megaphone campaign.

Mr Woody Paul (MoP) is planning to meet with the pastors in the region re education through churches

WHO: emphasizes again the importance of managing the deceased as they are also a risk of infection for others. Scouts cover the whole of the country.  They can be used to continue the messages re sanitization.

Suggestion: to ask the community leaders and pastors to take control of their own communities re organizing appropriate sanitization

Oxfam: important to make sure training is effective to allow for continuity and accurate dissemination of information.  Would like to provide ‘train the trainer’ programs.  For this need no. to target, training tools, enough fliers.  Suggest 30 persons for this role.

Training for: The scouts, the schools, the churches

Corpses

Normally private organisation that provide this, although they are reluctant to receive cholera contaminated corpses.  Therefore it is important to work with government, mayor etc to ensure this issue is dealt with.

For meeting with all organizations with this problem.  At present, to use the religious leaders to give the message that dead bodies are very contagious.

Important to set up cholera centre: possible near airport (as well as gymnasium).  Many other services are now being stopped e.g. maternity to meet the demand of the cholera.

Actions

Oxfam and Scouts to meet re training

Mayors of the north will be meeting on Monday at Delegation du Nord – to disseminate information to their own communities

IOM to meet with community workers on Tuesday

10-2 tomorrow – meeting of all international radio stations with Ministry of Health

Two cluster groups formed:

Health – WHO, MSF, Dept of Health

Water and sanitation – OXFAM and UNICEF

Shada disability clinic continues

Juline and I returned to visit two of the housebound individuals we saw last week in Shada.  One major acomplishment was, with a lot of man power, we completely changed the layout of one of the ladies rooms so that she was able to sleep on her newly lowered bed without getting flooded.  It was wonderful to see her beaming smile when she lay on the bed - the first time she has managed this independently in 7 years.

We visited another patient who also has significant weakness and poor sensation in both his legs.  He is normally carried in and out of his house and placed in a wheelchair by his brother everyday.  I advised him and his brother about starting a stretching and standing program to help maintain the lengh of his muscles and keep his bones strong.  He also walked a few steps using a pair of crutches, which he managed reasonably well.  With some practice, and a step to be made by his family, he should have the potential to mobilise around his home and out to the street.

Haiti Hospital Appeal – response to requirement of medical aid

Over the last three days the clinic at Haiti Hospital Appeal of l’Hopital Convention Baptiste d’Haiti in Quatier Morin have started receiving their first cases of cholera.  Equipped only to deal with day and limited overnight cases, they are currently acting as an interim centre to provide immediate rehydration before transporting the patients to Justinien Hospital.

The support team distributed some requested aid to them this morning.  They have reported 9 suspected cases so far.  The network will continue to provide support with the likely influx of cases.

visit to the Orphanage of Notre Dame De La Medaille Miraculeuse

Accompanied by another network support team member, I visited the Notre Dame de la Medaille Miraculeuse orphanage, which has been operating for four years.  We had the opportunity of taking a tour of the entire compound with the assistance of the orphanage Director Mrs. Claudette Leconte, and Laurence Desvignes who supports the Haitian-run service.  At this present moment the orphanage has 104 children to care for, from the new born baby to sixteen year olds.

               

The main discussion points and outcomes of our visit:

We discussed their need of supplies and promoted the use of the Citizen Action Team Relief Database.

They currently have volunteer Medical Doctor that provides input once a fortnight.  She reported it would be benificial to have more medical input.

They discovered through a test a couple of months ago that the water being used at the orphanage is not very clean, and with the rapid spread of Cholerea it has made them increasingly concerned about their water supply.  Hannah agreed to provide a water purification kit as a trial.

They also reported they would be more than happy to have volunteers to help provide activities for the children, if they are able to provide their own accomadation and transport.

It was nice to see how happy the children were:  They gave me the impression they felt at home, they all had good manners, they would all be playing with their age rank, not so much running around and only would speak french to you not creole.

First visit to Action Sanitaire

Action Sanitaire is a Haitian NGO that is newly known to the network.  Hannah and I visited them today to find out more about their work and introduce them to the network. The doctors, who also work at  Justinian set up the project after the earthquake.  They were driven to help the earthquake victims and started a clinic, rehab center and mobile clinic.  Since then they have continued to provide services to the communities of Cap-Haitien, with a team of 4 doctors, 1 physiotherapist and a support team.

It was fantastic to find out there is free access to rehab in Cap-Haitien. We observed the physiotherapist name  Anne-Vierge Compere working. We saw children and adults with a variety of conditions and Hannah worked with the physiotherapist to provide some advice and education.  They have agree to set up a training program to further develop Anne-Vierge.  It would also be beneficial to explore ways in which the centre could incresae their capacity to provide rehab, given the overwhelming lack of these services in Cap Hatien.

We also made a contact with a man that works with SEIPH who co-ordinates all the centers in the north region that work with children who have disabilities.

[caption id="attachment_311" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="lab room"][/caption]

 

[caption id="attachment_316" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="pharmacy"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_314" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Therapy Gym"][/caption]

Minutes from Ministry of Health and Planification Meeting: action towards Cholera Epidemic in the North Region 11/11/10

Statements in bold indicate either problems identified with no fixed solution or action plans.

 

22^nd October – first case in north – Ba Mer Limbe

After two weeks, we started receiving patients from Concorde in Cap.

90% of patients received at the gymnasium have been from outside Cap Haitien.

Youngest death: age 3

The 2 hospitals in Limbe are both at maximum capacity.  There is a lack of medication.

The gymnasium in Cap is full (852 people diagnosed; 70 deaths to date) (next to Justinien Hospital)

Main problems identified within community:

• Not enough clean water – people forced to drink infected water.  MSPP trying to instigate system to treat this water.  Are looking at creating a chlorine-treated reservoir (300 gallons)


• Canals are full after heavy rainfall therefore nowhere for dirty water to drain to


• People are afraid to help each other as they are afraid of it spreading

Using TV, schools, church as means to educate and advise the communities, but feel this is not enough as not enough people are accessing these services.  Would like to action a megaphone campaign on the streets.

We need to come together as one so we can make a difference in fighting the cholera.  We will have to fight many battles and will lose people along the way.  But we should come together to find a solution.

Comment: Water has become expensive and difficult to find.  People are anxious. 

If the spread continues at this rate, it is estimated that 10,000 people in the north will be affected within the next few months.

The Mayor’s comment : understands the problems.  Gave example of patient with hypertension treated for cholera but was negative – later died.

Need more tents to be able to treat more people.  Difficulty in getting hold of more tents – Haiti cannot provide them themselves.  The UN have money reserved for the Director of Healthcare/MSPP but have not received it yet.

Discussion on where to accommodate patients: tents, rooms for temporary use – no decision made

There are 300 water systems ready to go – costing HT$2,500

Trying to get more trucks of treated water but cost HT$600 per truck (some HT$300)

What can we all provide to help?

List to be sent round by email this afternoon so all organisations can state how they can help.

Please contact the network if you would like access to this list.

Disabilities in Shada

Hannah and I went to Shada to visit a few people who have disabilities. We visited two people in their own homes because they are unable leave their house due to the disabilities. The first lady we met has weakness on one side of her body since March 8th 2008. Considering she had not left her house in two years we were very surprised to see her manage to work a block away from her own home just by using an old 2x4 wooden stick. Hannah has given her some advice on how to move her body and encourage her to use her weaker side more.

          

The second lady was not able to stand own her two feet without someone being there. She is living by herself and therefore she is reliant on her neighbours to provide her with food,wash her clothes, bring her water to wash herself with. Her bed is too high for her get on and off so she has been sleeping on the floor for 7 years. She explained to us that she became disabled whilst at work running a small market stall. She  stepped on a battery which she believed had a voodoo curse on it. Hannah has asked  some people to lower her bed and we will return to see her on Saturday with some equipment for her and to start a therapy program.

We have arranged with mme Bwa for a disability clinic to be held on Saturday to continue this work.

We also met a wonderful guy name Simeus who is currently a student living in Shada and has a severe foot deformity. I could see he is a strong man that has a lot of courage because he plays soccer and it does not brother him what other people think of his disability. We talked to him about what he thinks of helping others with their disabilities and he was more then happy to help provide peer support.

Cholera Cases at Bord De Mer Limbe

For the past two days the Network Support Team has been working with a group of visiting medical professionals at the Haiti Village Health clinic in Bord De Mer Limbe. Throughout the two days of clinic we had several patients present with severe dehydration and excessive diarrhea. After seeing multiple separate cases like this our team became concerned about the possibility that the cases could be linked to the wave of Cholera being seen in Haiti. Through our good relationship with the health ministry (MSPP) we were able to contact Dr. Jasmin, MSPP Director for the North, who immediately dispatched his staff to investigate our concerns.

His staff performed an initial rapid Cholera test for one of our patients, which was positive. The MSPP representatives then transported this individual and another whom we were concerned about to Cap Haitien. The other patients who had presented with similar symptoms had all responded well to oral rehydration methods and antibiotic treatments. In order to serve the patients that arrived with these severe symptoms our team established an impromptu inpatient ward which also helped to separate patients from the general population. We monitored these patients throughout the two days we spent at the HVH clinic, including administering IV rehydration when necessary.

While the the cases we saw were either transferred or stable, the HVH clinic is now faced with the prospect of other possible cases that could arise in their area. They have several visiting volunteer physicians as well as their usual Haitian staff to handle the situation. In the meantime the MSPP continues to work on their plan to provide treatment and combat the spread of Cholera as the situation progresses.

Please keep the people here in Haiti in your thoughts as they deal with this issue and the possibility of a severe storm later this week. We will continue to work to provide care for those we see at our clinics throughout the week and also work with our many partners to help address the issue of Cholera. For those who can provide assistance or are looking for ways that they can help please feel free to contact our Team. We are trying to stay abreast of the situation and work with other organizations and the local authorities to help them manage the response in any way we can.

 

Cholera Information Campaign

We distributed some flyers to the clinics of For Haiti with Love, the Lutheran Clinic in Madelin, and Haiti Hospital Appeal. The information provides step by step instructions on proper hand-washing. It also shows people how to create their own rehydration drink using water, sugar, and salt. The clinics were happy to receive the copies and will distribute to patients to help them learn how to prevent the spread of Cholera.

We also distributed some important supplies to For Haiti with Love. They received gauze, anti-biotic ointment, hydrogen peroxide, and a few containers of Silver Sulfadiazide cream we had received from Grassroots United in Port-Au-Prince. The cream is critical for the clinic in the treatment of there many burn victims.

Open Door Haiti Medical Shipment

Yesterday the Network Support Team helped receive a shipment of medical supplies at the Cap Haitien airport. The supplies are bound for the Open Door clinic in Bois De Lance. The supply shipment came about through great coordination amongst a number of different groups. ALFA AERO and Bahamas Habitat worked together to arrange for the plane and pilot - a Texas man who donated his time and aircraft for the purpose. They took out all the seats to fit the 60+ boxes that were shipped down.

Upon arrival at the Cap Haitien airport we met the supplies and with some creative negotiating were able to clear them through customs. It is worth noting that custom's officials at the airport are paying particularly close attention to the expiration date on all supplies coming into the country. They went through nearly every box checking expiration dates, even on toothpaste and soap. Keep this in mind when arranging any donations for shipping!

Visit with Help Bring Hope for Haiti

On Friday I met with Patricia Eddy who is the chairman of the board and founder of HBHH. They drill water wells for clean water in St-Suzanne. Agriculture is a huge effort that create jobs and food for the people and the community of St-Suzanne. HBHH provides medical assistance they through two clinics, one in St-Suzanne and one in Cottlete where HBHH has a doctor that comes in every Wednesdays to check up the people of the community. St-Suzanne's clinic runs 5 days a week Mondays-Fridays with a doctor that stays on site. HBHH has a student sponsorship where they sponsor a children in danger of losing their place in school because their parents can't afford school.They have 3 schools, the first one is in Cottlete, 2nd one is in St-Suzanne and the 3rd one is in Trou-du-Nord. HBHH have scholarships funds for the children that are done with high school. They teach them how to become teachers and medical doctors to help and bring their education back to the people in their village. They also have vocational training is for the women of St.Suzanne training them how to sew,cook and learn basic hygiene. HBHH goal is to produce high quality merchandise that can be sold both locally and also within the U.S. Patricia's goal is to help Haiti in becoming a better country. I enjoyed my time with Patricia and look forward to continuing to help her on her trips to Haiti.

Network Team Returns to Cap

Ralph and I returned this week to Cap Haitien after spending the week at the NHAHA conference in Port-Au-Prince. In addition to our activities at the conference, we spent part of Friday afternoon visiting one of SOIL's composting toilet sites in Cite Soleil. Friday is the weekly dumping where they place nearly 600 gallons of dry feces into a composting site that will later be used to start a community garden. The Friday dump has turned into a community activity as many local kids are out on the cement soccer field playing and enjoying the visit from the SOIL staff. As part of the effort to combat the current cholera outbreak SOIL placed health promotion materials in each toilet.

On our drive back from Port-Au-Prince and over the mountains we got word from Network members that the Ministry of Health was placing a staging clinic at the top of the mountain on the drive between Gonaives and Limbe/Cap. The purpose was to assist anyone who might be trying to travel with cholera from the areas of St. Marc and Gonaive to the north. Government officials had gotten word of some folks who were attempting this as hospitals in the Artibonite were reaching or overcapacity.

We had the opportunity to go by the hospital in St. Marc on our drive back as well. Many reports had suggested that the condition was dire their. While the hospital appeared full and there was quite a bit of traffic in and out of the gate, we did not witness anything that looked like the situation was out of control. We say that keeping in mind that the loss of those people who have already died from the outbreak is tragic, but it appeared at the time that while the hospital was stressed it was managing.

NHAHA Thursday Notes

There have been many presenters today and a short summary and highlight of most is included below. Please feel free to email me at gmparker1@gmail.com if you have questions about the presentations as I'd be happy to try to expand more on what the presenters said or try and grab them for a question.

Dr. Claude Surena (President of Haiti Medical Association): He spoke about the human resource issues within the Haitian healthcare system. Primarily the concerns are the incentives (financial and non-financial) provided to physicians and nurses. The system must do a better job of incenting its healthcare professionals to advance their work and stay in the country. He noted that it is a difficult problem as the Haitian budget for healthcare is very low. Much is done to try and train professionals but compensation for this training is not often in place. At the moment most healthcare professionals source additional work from NGO's to supplement their incomes, but this is not always a sustainable solution.

Dr. Rosier Morales (MSPP): The doctor spoke about Haiti's National Plan and its healthcare implications. The outline was very general but suggested that the country needed a decentralized system and that current priorities were to adapt to the needs post earthquake as well as establish a foundation from which to build capacity for the future.

Dr. Enrique Ginzburg (University of Miami Global Institute): The group has put forth a proposal for increases in Critical Care Centers in Haiti. These are trauma centers capable of handling burns, heart attacks, strokes, and maternal emergencies among other things. He suggested that to capitalize on the momentum of the earthquake 16 trauma centers be built throughout the country. The Bernard Mevs center would serve as a launching point that could train necessary professionals in an expedited fashion and in turn they would train more professionals. This exponential process would put healthcare workers through 6 months of training each and create capacity for 16 trauma centers. It is an aggressive plan for which much support and consensus building will be necessary before it becomes reality.

Dr. Diane Jean-Francois (Catholic Medical Mission Board):One of their primary projects has been increasing the health systems capacity to deal with amputees. Particularly they want to be able to provide them with prosthetics and have a coalition including Hangar Orthopedics and the Albert Schweitzer Hospital in Haiti (among others) that are part of the effort. They are also focused on education for amputees and training in the trade of making prostheses.

Pediatrics Breakout Session: This session focused on the reduction of infant and neonatal mortality rates as well as nutrition programs. AS one would expect the mortality statistics for infants and newborns are quite bad although it has steadily improved for infants but not so much for neonates. One of MSPP's initiatives is to try and guarantee perinatal service access to all mothers and children. Many of the neonatal deaths are the results of conditions that can be effectively managed through proper perinatal care. Children's Nutrition Program from Jacmel also spoke about their long existing child nutrition program. They use an integrated approach that includes acute malnutrition treatment, nutrition education (Positive Deviance Hearth Programs to educate mothers of moderately malnourished), and clean water programs. The programs are overseen buy Haitian trained "monitrices" who monitor the children through the Ready To Use Therapeutic Foods(RUTF) programs and PD Hearth Programs. The RUTF program for severely malnourished uses Medika Mamba from Meds and Foods For Kids.

Stay tuned for updates from tomorrow's sessions and possibly video of a key speech or two!

 

Safely Arrived In Port-Au-Prince

After a two day journey Ralph and I safely arrived in Port-Au-Prince this evening and are staying with some other Network members at the Healing Hands Guesthouse. We will be attending the National Haitian American Health Alliance Conference here over the next three days and will provide summaries and updates on the blog as fast as we can.

Our drive from Cap Haitien was an interesting one as we encountered some fog coming over the mountains during yesterday's leg to Gonaives. Ralph was very concerned that I not drive off the "cliffhangers" and he said that I proved my mettle as a driver by navigating them successfully. In Gonaives we were graciously hosted by Pastor Michele Morriset and had an opportunity to learn more about their mission and tour the hospital they have. We left them several boxes of medical supplies for which they were very thankful. I was fascinated to meet Dr. Clair who moved to Gonaives after finishing her medical school in France 25 years ago and has been working with Pastor Morriset's mission ever since.

While we are here at the conference our colleagues are busy back in Cap Haitien as they have been spending time with Clean The World during their visit to the north. After we all met William Lowery and his team at the airport yesterday Juline and Brunel went with them to Labadee and learned more about the organization's program and then spent some time this morning delivering soap with them in the Cap Haitien area. This was the soap that Ralph and I had traveled to Labadee to pick up last Saturday. We used some real creativity and some help from the Royal Caribbean staff to carry three pallets worth of goods back over the mountain to Cap Haitien in only two trips in the Team Vehicle (photos below).

On a more personal note, tonight was the first time I have had an internet connection robust enough for Skype so I was able to talk and see my parents (and dog) for the first time since arriving here which was exciting (mostly for my mom).

Shada Visit/Haiti Hospital Appeal

Today Juline and Greg visited the Shada clinic with Ashley from SOIL. It was Greg's first trip into the Shada neighborhood, which sits below the bridge in Cap. The neighborhood is one of the city's poorest and sanitation is worse there than most places in the city. Today was a busy day for Dr. Jeanty, the clinics only clinician. With Dr. Jeanty and the clinic staff we discussed information about the clinic and using it as a site on Friday's for a malaria research project we will conduct using Rapid Diagnostic Tests from the Science with A Mission organization. Greg will be in the clinic on Friday's assisting Dr. Jeanty and running the malaria project and is very excited about helping out in the neighborhood. Today we also had the great pleasure of seeing Madame Bwa who has been delivering babies in the Shada area for 54 years. Nearly every person we passed spanning several generations had been birthed by her including Dr. Jeanty.



After we finished at the Shada clinic we went to visit Haiti Hospital Appeal's children rehab center. The children here all have various physical or mental disabilities. They spend 1 - 3 days a week at the center and the remainder of the week with their families. The staff there works so patiently with the kids and provides various therapies to help with their mobility and functioning. They also school someof the children and work with their families on techniques to improve the quality of life for the children. Juline and Greg spent nearly 3 hours there playing with and helping to feed the children. It was a very hard place to leave as the children were so enjoyable to be around. (Juline was too embarassed to have picture of her dancing for the children posted.)

We then met with Phil, who is the Treasurer for the organization building and operating Haiti Hospital Appeal. He toured us around the campus which includes the 24/7 clinic and the spinal cord rehabilitation unit that housed many spinal cord injury victims from the earthquake. The spinal cord center has discharged a majority of these patients who have returned home after completing much of their therapy. Each discharge has been trained to sew and given a sewing machine to provide them with a potential job skill.

Phil showed us the new buildings under construction on the campus which include a surgery unit, maternity ward, neonatal ward (with 5 incubators), and pediatric ward. The facility is quite impressive and the enthusiasm of Phil and the other staff was evident.

Haitian Ministries' Clinic Visit

Today we had the opportunity of visiting the Haitian Ministries' clinic in Lassoudray. The organization also supports a clinic in nearby Labruyere, which is run by the same medical staff. The two nurses and administrator alternate between the locations, serving the Lassoudray community on Tuesdays and Thursdays and the Labruyere community on Mondays and Fridays. On any particular day they transport essential equipment and supplies back and forth between the clinics.

[caption id="attachment_127" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Staff Photo"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_128" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Consultation Room"][/caption]

This system appears to work well for both the staff and communities as the distance between the clinics is manageable for the staff and the residents do not have to travel such long distances if they need primary medical care services.

We arrived during a busy clinic session as 10 – 15 people awaited care. A big thank you to the staff for accommodating us in the midst of this and we hope to help them in the immediate future with much needed supplies and over time with continued collaboration and dialogue.

Shada Clinic and For Haiti With Love Update

Shada Clinic

Today we had the pleasure of meeting with Ashley Dahlberg who is leading SOIL's efforts in the north which include the Shada Clinic. We had a productive discussion regarding the clinic which recently added a second day each week. It is now open both Wednesdays and Fridays. The Team will visit the clinic Wednesday with Ashley as I have never seen it before and hope to learn more about their needs. I also hope to help out in the clinic on Fridays and will potentially be using it as one of the sites for a malaria research project I am conducting as part of my work here.

For Haiti with Love

We also had the opportunity to meet with Pastor Presume and Roseline Dehart of For Haiti With Love. The organization operates a clinic in Cap that has a focus on treating burn victims. Burns are a very common injury for those in Haiti, particularly children. Burning trash and open charcoal cooking stoves unfortunately lead to many potential accidents.

The nurses at the clinic said that they typically see in excess of 60 people each day and are busiest in the morning. Burn victims are treated free of charge at the clinic and given follow up appointments for additional care of their wounds and re-bandaging. We arrived at the clinic to the cries of a 4-year old boy who had just been bandaged up for burns on his torso and both forearms. He had been pushed into a charcoal stove while playing with some other children. While I am confident that the good work For Haiti with Love is doing will help heal him, the obvious pain he was in and the look on his face is emblazoned in my memory (photo below).



The nurses at the clinic gave us a list of needed supplies and we hope to soon be able to help them out with those as we expect several shipments to arrive at any time. They reported that at times they even run out of the cream they use to treat the burns and gauze making it difficult for them to serve patients at all.

Our last stop of the day was the Orphanage and school that For Haiti with Love Operates. They have 50 girls at the orphanage who were all wonderful and had a great time joking with me in my limited Kreyol and playing with the hair on my arms (I have found that most children in Haiti are fascinated by this). The girls all looked very healthy and that is testament to the work they do their at the orphanage. They also operate a 1st through 6th grade school that has 158 students including the orphans. (Sorry we don't have a better picture but Dr. Kaplan says a professional photographer will be Team's next addition.)



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was a very productive day and we look forward to more to come!

First Week Adventures and Impressions

Hello All,

For those I do not know or have not met yet, my name is Greg Parker. I have recently joined the Network Support Team and will be working with them in Haiti for about 6 months. I arrived in Cap Haitien a week ago today and have been busy getting to know the team, many of the various Network facilities, and adjusting to my home at the Sonje Ayiti house in the Babiole neighborhood of Cap.

I won't recount all of our activities from the past week, but instead offer my general impressions and observations as well as promise much more frequent blogs from our team here. As has been the case with each of my previous visits to Haiti I was immediately struck by the contrast of the beauty of the landscape and the degree of the poverty. These elements are evident from the plane window before touching down and even more stark when driving through the streets of Cap and the surrounding areas. Poverty has brought about a lack of nearly all basic services, but it has not diminished the hospitality or spirit of the Haitian people. Everywhere we visit we are warmly received. I am particularly struck by the kindness and excitement of the children. Having been a middle school teacher in the states I have a particular fondness for working with kids, but am also well aware of how difficult they can sometimes be. In Haiti I am blown away by the character of the children be it a group of them singing for you, a girl caring for her younger siblings while transporting a load of goods home atop her head, or a classroom full of orphans diligently listening to there teacher while working with minimal and often substandard supplies.

As I continue working with the Team over the next several months I hope to be able to repay some of the hospitality and warmth I receive here with incremental improvements to the availability of healthcare in the region. To do that will require working closely with many of you and I look forward to that opportunity. Please let me know how we can be of assistance to you and allow me to help you with communicating and working with our team down here.

Best,

Greg Parker

gmparker1@gmail.com

Haitian Cell: 3-997-8891

Soap Deliveries

Dear Dr Ted,

 

 Good morning to you. Hope you are well, thanks to God.

 

 Well, I wanted to tell you that Brunel (Jean Louis) and I were able to distribute the soaps yesterday after clinic. We gave 1 box to St-Anthony's clinic ( I may give another one to them on Monday), 2 boxes to Lutheran clinic in Madeline, 3 boxes to HHA ( 1 for the clinic, 1 for the Hospital and 1 for the Children's home), 2 boxes to Shada clinic,  2 boxes to Soil. We will give 2 boxes to OMS and 2 boxes to ForHaiti later. We took pictures while were distributing the soaps. I will forward them to you later.

 

By the way, it mentions that there are 200 bars of soap inside each of the box.

 

Take good care!

 

Eugene Maklin MD 

   

  

Team Does First Soap Pick Up

Working with Network partner Clean the World (www.cleantheworld.org) on their program to bring in soap they have recycled to distribute to the poor in Haiti is one of our major projects for the Network Support Team.  Clean the World has a close partnership with Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, for which they will be recycling soap and who will bring it on their ships to Labadee. 

[caption id="attachment_87" align="alignnone" width="614" caption="gate at RCCL complex at Labadee"][/caption]

Dr. Eugene and Ralph got the soap in 75 boxes from the people of RCCL, and packed it all into our Network vehicle.

[caption id="attachment_88" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Dr. Eugene hauling soap"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_90" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="...and Ralph, too!"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_91" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="rear seat full of boxes of soap"][/caption]

This shipment of soap is going to be distributed mostly (5000 bars) to a group working with the earthquake victims in Leogane, and some will go to a few of our Network partners; there will be a regular flow of these in the coming months and years so that we can provide soap to every clinic and organization according to their needs.

Rapid Cross Country Medication Distribution

[caption id="attachment_68" align="alignright" width="150" caption="Les, Dr. Eugene and Ralph organizing the meds"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_69" align="alignright" width="150" caption="Team discussing med needs with staff"][/caption]

The Network was notified last weekend that there were essential medications, many of them injectable, about to expire at the Port-au-Prince depot of our friends Grassroots United. We offered to have our Network Support Team distribute the meds to patients who can use them now, before they expire, in the local area hospitals. It happened that Les from Grassroots was flying to Cap, and Ralph helped direct him from the airport to his hotel. Dr. Eugene and Ralph then brought him in our Team's new vehicle to Justinien Hospital, where they brought the meds to staff persons working in patient care areas to distribute them where they could be used.

[caption id="attachment_78" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="Les and Dr. Eugene with Justinien staff"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_79" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="going through the meds at Justinien"][/caption]

Some of the meds were also brought to Haiti Hospital Appeal clinic and hospital and Hopital St. Francois de Sales.

[caption id="attachment_77" align="alignnone" width="150" caption="at the pharmacy of Hoptial St. Francois de Sales"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_72" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Les and clinic doctor at Haiti Hospital Appeal with Network car "][/caption]

Meeting With Microcredit ladies of Shada -- July 28, 2010

There are eight hard working women in the microcredit program. The ladies travel to the DR to purchase things to resell, they use the benefit money to repay the loans and to send their children to school, pay rent, and to feed their family. The ladies have some difficulties with the money because its too small, with the amount of money that was given to the ladies they use half to pay transportation and the other half to purchase the things. Due to the fact of the money being low they can only purchase little things like salt, onions, and potatoes.  The lady's dreams are to purchase more things then what they already have, for example shoes, cloths, bed sheet ect.. Sometimes the ladies go weeks without selling their items that they purchase because the people don’t buy them. The ladies are asking to add a little bit more on their money. The ladies want to thank everyone that help them be a part of the program.

 

 

 

 

We got it figured out!

We found a repository on Wordpress of some lost posts by the Team and have posted them as you can see. 

Ralph writes:

"That is the best news I have heard all years, the countless days we have been spending , trying to get this right not to mention consulting every computer specialist that we ever lay eyes on, it was all worth it, be ready to get more blogs than you can ever imagine." 

Get ready, here they come....   TK

Day 1 at St-Anthony Clinic (Food for the Poor, Inc)

On monday we visited the clinic at Nativity village that Food for the Poor bulit in Cap-Haitian. After sitting down talking to the doctor we learned that the clinic need meds. The pharmcy doesn't even have more then 50 meds for the people, so when the people of the community come for a check up the doctor has to send them to go outside of the village to buy them.  But the the people don't even have money to buy the meds.

[caption id="attachment_50" align="alignright" width="150" caption="Dr. Eugene consults with a patient"][/caption]

Meeting with Konbit Sante at Justinien Hospital

On Tuesday, July 17, we met with  Jose Raymond who is the administrator and Jimmy Belliard who is the supply chain coordinator for konbit sante. and throughout our meeting we came to the conclusion what konbit sante primary goals are,which is to help provide the  necessary resources that the Justinien doesn't have,and they would pretty much like the support of the ground team of Cap Health Network.  In doing so we have to cooporate with one another, to see if we can meet up with the Hospital needs, as far as medical supply or equipment they would want or need.

[caption id="attachment_47" align="alignright" width="150" caption="Team with some of the staff and visiting students of Konbit Sante"][/caption]

0n behalf of the ground team of Cap Health network

ralphlouis32@yahoo.com     (509) 3759-1511  or (509)3441-1546

jorgen235@yahoo.com           (509)38 16 -44 49

Shada Community Clinic

Wednesday I went to the clinic in Shada. I have spoken to the doctor, Dr. Jeanty.  We found out the name of the man with the beard who has been volunteering to organize the dossiers; his name is Michel Miguel-Ange.
 

[caption id="attachment_43" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="Dr. Jeanty seeing a patient"][/caption]

The doctor has seen 47 people today but she is receiving 150 people, but because there's no more meds left she had to see 47 people.
 
There is only one doctor working at the clinic, the doctor said if one more doctor was here at the clinic they could of work together and they would of see more then 150 people and the clinic would of open two days a week. I have met this woman in the clinic her child has been sick ever since Sunday but she has to wait until the clinic to open, which is on wednesdays because she didn't have any money to go to a other clinic.
 
The children's common sicknesses are:
Worms because of the water they drink and play in the dirt and we all know shada is not a clean area.
Flu
Malnourishment because there parents can not afford milk for the baby and they feed their children anything they can find.
 
The adult common sicknesses are:
Vaginal infection because of the water the use to take a bath, the people mostly buy water but for those who can not afford to buy the water they use water from a well and that leads to infections.
 
The doctor has asked us if we can help get a lab room because she need to do some lab work for the people to know what type of sickness they have for her to give them meds. She used to send them to another clinic that has a lab room but the people don't go because the cost for an exam is too high.  The doctor said its really important  to have a lab room to do the exams.
 
The clinic is too small for them.  Mdm Bwa was telling us they found two rooms next to the clinic but it cost to much for them to buy it. Mme Bwa wanted us to help her buy that two room which cost $4,440 us.
 
Mme Bwa have given me a list of meds she needs for the clinic.

Juline Mauricette, Team Member and Shada clinic liason

Cap Haitien Health Network Support Team

Team is Out There...

While they are still figuring out how to tap into the blog, our new Network Support Team has been getting around to our members and community.  After orienting with myself and Dr. Eugene, they have been to clinics at Nativity Village, Shada, OMS, Tovar, For Haiti with Love burn clinic, and the following hospitals:  Justinien, Haiti Hospital Appeal/CBH, the new site at Labruyere, and St. Francois de Sales.  They have met with Dr. Jasmin at his office, Konbit Sante, and AIDG. 

[caption id="attachment_37" align="alignleft" width="150" caption="With some of the staff and interns at Konbit Sante"][/caption]

 

[caption id="attachment_39" align="alignright" width="150" caption="with staff of For Haiti With Love burn clinic"][/caption]

This week, they will be spending some of their time with The Haiti Mission team which is doing clinics this week, and helping to try to place the Network's first biodigester at Dr. Ford's orphanage, and later in the week with Tom Larkin of Haiti Marycare, who is coming to work on receipt of a container.  They will be working in coming weeks with introducing solar cookers to the food vendors of New Hope for Haiti and checking on the solar lights that have been distributed at Nativity Village.  Ralph will hopefully get a chance to visit Dr. Woodard's new project in Gonaives.  The Team will be helping to spread the word of, and submit cases for, our new telemedicine service with the Swinsen Charitable Trust (see the links section of our Yahoo group website for more info). 

In August, we hope to be receiving 2 interns from the US on their first visits to Haiti and the Team will get to participate in an important gathering organized by Ilio Durandis and Haiti2015.  At the end of that month, we hope to get a chance for the Team to work with the special vasectomy mission team from NSVI that is coming to Cange, Ounaminthe, and, we hope, Cap Haitien.

The Team is also hoping to receive it's vehicle as soon as this week (and get hopefully not too much valuable experience dealing with customs on its release!)

I am looking forward to everyone having the chance to share in the Team's experiences in as close to real time as possible, when each member finally is able to "break in" to this blog!

Any members of the Network who want to contact the Team can call them at 3441-1546 or email Ralph (western region liason) at ralphlouis32@yahoo.com, Juline (eastern region liason) at juline08@hotmail.com, or our intern, Joseph, at jorgen235@yahoo.com

Have a great week, Ted

Ted Kaplan, MD for the Cap Haitien Health Network

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Team launched, blog launched, here we go!

Welcome to the Team blog of the Cap Haitien Health Network's new Network Support Team.  Here, our Team members, Juline and Ralph, and intern, Joseph, will be able to share there experiences visiting with, learning from, and assisting our members and member organizations.  This is also a great way for our members and anyone interested to learn what is going on in the Network and with its organizations, and how they might help us in our mission to improve health and healthcare for the people of northern Haiti.   Ted Kaplan, MD  for the Cap Haitien Health Network