tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-77635890129108546192024-03-13T20:15:32.959-07:00Hispañola Health PartnersLouise Lindenmeyrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16868999881703637483noreply@blogger.comBlogger48125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7763589012910854619.post-4564601410118720642023-03-08T08:07:00.229-08:002023-03-11T05:18:47.908-08:00This Old Haitian House<p></p><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjOI6GkjKPuUf9ZwMnLZXsmSCY52t_fMxxlpxFA5LZBhsO2M7wmdTEkgeBVTwGZPb0NNmnvQ2cRWLAFYkJ2Si0K-xVD37OOV2YA-I_x3hPYWZpOCwxv5-_EDC1KXuGVG-nRCpPGstxjrsH47ujp56YivBPfsAsegUPVqnxVVhvp1_5p5XwpZwMs2MY9=s975" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="150" data-original-width="975" height="49" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjOI6GkjKPuUf9ZwMnLZXsmSCY52t_fMxxlpxFA5LZBhsO2M7wmdTEkgeBVTwGZPb0NNmnvQ2cRWLAFYkJ2Si0K-xVD37OOV2YA-I_x3hPYWZpOCwxv5-_EDC1KXuGVG-nRCpPGstxjrsH47ujp56YivBPfsAsegUPVqnxVVhvp1_5p5XwpZwMs2MY9=s320" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;"> Please visit us and donate at: </span><a href="https://www.hispanolahealthpartners.org/" style="font-size: 13px; text-align: center;" target="_blank">Hispañola Health Partners</a><br /> </span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL91vTXz_cstRucOTGEqhcw4gi7HqdqnmnIDbSMo1m2LBDfeMx1TUoyH_gbarttgc0NimrkQrqxyc2OWo4f1yKc6l1MtWjpRLntV3fuezrZ7oU20ajABHGOidrnVL1FYq4nLGwkaQrPKibUtdDGN_7OwBweHlLb8VrM4uBzVb-nzL44MJday1TT876/s4032/Elric's%20creation%20at%20PG.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL91vTXz_cstRucOTGEqhcw4gi7HqdqnmnIDbSMo1m2LBDfeMx1TUoyH_gbarttgc0NimrkQrqxyc2OWo4f1yKc6l1MtWjpRLntV3fuezrZ7oU20ajABHGOidrnVL1FYq4nLGwkaQrPKibUtdDGN_7OwBweHlLb8VrM4uBzVb-nzL44MJday1TT876/s320/Elric's%20creation%20at%20PG.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Fretwork frenzy at Playa Grande Beach Club</b></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">March 11th, 2023 - I returned from the isle of Hispañola a few days ago after traversing from the eastern edge of the DR to our home base in southeast Haiti. I have been a fan of older architecture in Haiti for years, but it wasn't until I visited Elric Endersby's magnificent designs in Cabrera, DR (see left and visit <a href="https://www.playagrandebeachclub.com/design" target="_blank">https://www.playagrandebeachclub.com/design</a>) that I realized the depth of what I'd been looking at. The <i>tragaluz</i>,<i> </i>or decorative vents at the tops of windows and doors, high ceilings and shutters help ventilate these old buildings, gracefully inviting the breeze inside. Fretwork inside imitates this lacey art form. "Gingerbread" houses built in the early 20th century were so well built that only 5% suffered damage from the huge earthquake in 2010. One quintessential sample of this style is the Hotel Oloffson in Port-au-Prince, a favorite of ours back in better days.</span></div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghSJdGQJAQTzAgerxSdtCJQ2HbFUAy4CPmiVFS00bSk7ERap_Ooff6X5vJ2PMERW06-SGF6P5zy8nPOsTu0hxMPoqJph9kaR6ZafyyunR-dM9IMnpRuPlpkOCM414FjbuSiz_fzOF0QtsPETqPoAXBUA8s5O9yNNYItfalCoz_DV8v4GlIVys88gyE/s2048/IMG_1021.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="317" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghSJdGQJAQTzAgerxSdtCJQ2HbFUAy4CPmiVFS00bSk7ERap_Ooff6X5vJ2PMERW06-SGF6P5zy8nPOsTu0hxMPoqJph9kaR6ZafyyunR-dM9IMnpRuPlpkOCM414FjbuSiz_fzOF0QtsPETqPoAXBUA8s5O9yNNYItfalCoz_DV8v4GlIVys88gyE/w302-h317/IMG_1021.jpg" width="302" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>The Oloffson</b></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;"><img alt="Old commercial building in Grand Gosier, 4 miles from our clinic" border="0" data-original-height="2016" data-original-width="1512" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiONw_VLtTSGg8Ror5bXS9klhrtYLio-w4_RSGx7c5ji8BLYjF2U4Cd_AtIAAacU7M-IEDb0BTPDs3MQcqG67-7pUKmlC8sXkEN6hwYpdogTUOOC9VUlxPe1wQm_T_dJ1dqTjG-BCsE0y0poRYXgk6unu7EZetekgtQcMa1I2D9eIMvh_qrJudkINhB/w259-h320/blue%20doors%20with%20fillet%20GG.jpg" width="259" /></div><b> A commercial building near us<span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span></b><br /><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiONw_VLtTSGg8Ror5bXS9klhrtYLio-w4_RSGx7c5ji8BLYjF2U4Cd_AtIAAacU7M-IEDb0BTPDs3MQcqG67-7pUKmlC8sXkEN6hwYpdogTUOOC9VUlxPe1wQm_T_dJ1dqTjG-BCsE0y0poRYXgk6unu7EZetekgtQcMa1I2D9eIMvh_qrJudkINhB/s2016/blue%20doors%20with%20fillet%20GG.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span> <b> </b><b> </b></span><b><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span></b></span></div><div><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div><div><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeZc71-X8ONg1xfq0zfsxsC8pVuAB_iFqJP5B0uCze3z_34JoBqeJjChQnv8yIejmBerzakWs3JkkCENvZYJ8o41NOgxse9rGjHbishqZ3Ce0zU4-o46HHrQL7nCqucWaTwfcDejEFyMYXb1k4sKPumE52mZkKhWZihVnm1gdVCiYCGrFiCawceOnz/s4032/funkytown.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjeZc71-X8ONg1xfq0zfsxsC8pVuAB_iFqJP5B0uCze3z_34JoBqeJjChQnv8yIejmBerzakWs3JkkCENvZYJ8o41NOgxse9rGjHbishqZ3Ce0zU4-o46HHrQL7nCqucWaTwfcDejEFyMYXb1k4sKPumE52mZkKhWZihVnm1gdVCiYCGrFiCawceOnz/s320/funkytown.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>A fixer-upper, good health care nearby</b></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-size: medium;"><span style="font-family: georgia;">I'm partial to the funky ones in our region of Haiti that pop out like petunias from the dull norm of cinder block and cement. T</span><span style="font-family: georgia; text-align: center;">he <i>tragaluz</i> shown below imitates vodou designs, <i>vèvè, </i>that honor individual gods and are etched on the ground in cornmeal during religious ceremonies. </span></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMlza8Jr4BtmxitHLJnQA9qU6KaqDS8-_-7EvkUKCUj8OHoxINVDXcNnAERTfUlMP16x9mF2hDOxat-ZImVoBrRHsRD5BulirDB6ZBFpG4n4Gg410gDyxc8HCPVUM1g-xWr1WViLHminrxGm3AfMSgf6V4dj9NlHaRcrfPhuEivBy1hVIshJ0WDTL3/s4032/veve%202.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="223" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhMlza8Jr4BtmxitHLJnQA9qU6KaqDS8-_-7EvkUKCUj8OHoxINVDXcNnAERTfUlMP16x9mF2hDOxat-ZImVoBrRHsRD5BulirDB6ZBFpG4n4Gg410gDyxc8HCPVUM1g-xWr1WViLHminrxGm3AfMSgf6V4dj9NlHaRcrfPhuEivBy1hVIshJ0WDTL3/w297-h223/veve%202.jpg" width="297" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Vèvè, Grand Gosier!!</b></td></tr></tbody></table><div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-b0fc67d7-7fff-b337-e145-d2e481a46e75"><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEittKz0QGbc_Alsg4zo_o1IaGorcBw4Jjg6reAQ36e3u5T4BX9Uc2UQU3h55XXDsRPIQ2TRVPgvPqGRBhtvo6n1OCW4WOtI3tSgZJVTkqtLt0ZC8iZwxH8HvlVgHKFypUfeuryE0_asc-IM-Q4_p_EA1COsbJ-Kn0z8i5VDowu_8MW5OysIJH_lXc1L/w400-h300/IMG_0911.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="400" /></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Pink patina to die for with vèvè in neighboring Thiotte</b></td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEittKz0QGbc_Alsg4zo_o1IaGorcBw4Jjg6reAQ36e3u5T4BX9Uc2UQU3h55XXDsRPIQ2TRVPgvPqGRBhtvo6n1OCW4WOtI3tSgZJVTkqtLt0ZC8iZwxH8HvlVgHKFypUfeuryE0_asc-IM-Q4_p_EA1COsbJ-Kn0z8i5VDowu_8MW5OysIJH_lXc1L/s2016/IMG_0911.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></a></div><br /><span style="font-size: medium;">Pardon my digression, but I love a little break from the flying bullets and burning tires, cholera, malnutrition, and gang saturation of our failed state. The reality of living in a war zone has now settled deep in our fabric: we have learned to work around it and with it, at the same time join forces with other NGOs to find solutions to help release Haiti from its death grip. We in the Southeast are fortunate that gang violence does not hit us directly, however, the effect of the paralysis of Haiti's commerce and its people is widespread. Transporting goods to the clinic is now costing double - we have to send items purchased in Port-au-Prince nine hours overland instead of the usual four. And pay the gangs their "fee." And risk kidnapping. Our community can not visit family or continue with their studies outside of our zone without risking their lives. </span></span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVH1h3d7MfN0JeToxWH_2oR1tBO4fgCGTfgAiuw1PWLpLE2PN35y5yy_gusnnn-U95nYR1AsXyTrHM2NMF0qu1cv91vu7sqW-w7nQ7lFxtf_st40STVy44NCC34YyMAgEYghZOk1fcjeZqsvNbo8oXCBU_2T7G1_WQD3KaEfSig1W7H6dhzffcDG49/s1720/Roberto%20at%20HC,%20Patricia%20Borns%20photo.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1147" data-original-width="1720" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVH1h3d7MfN0JeToxWH_2oR1tBO4fgCGTfgAiuw1PWLpLE2PN35y5yy_gusnnn-U95nYR1AsXyTrHM2NMF0qu1cv91vu7sqW-w7nQ7lFxtf_st40STVy44NCC34YyMAgEYghZOk1fcjeZqsvNbo8oXCBU_2T7G1_WQD3KaEfSig1W7H6dhzffcDG49/w320-h213/Roberto%20at%20HC,%20Patricia%20Borns%20photo.jpg" width="320" /></span></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b style="font-family: georgia; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dr. Peigne, our inspiration</b></td></tr></tbody></table><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;">We have also experienced a terrible and ironic </span></span></span><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium; white-space: pre-wrap;">loss. On July 13, 2022, our dear friend, board member, the original HHP medical director, and early visionary who helped me start on-the-ground operations in Haiti, surgeon-dad-native of southeastern Haiti, was senselessly murdered in Florida. After escaping the violence of Port-au-Prince to reunite with his family in the US, he was a victim of our own gun violence. Our strength prevails, thanks to Dr. Peigne's leadership and belief in improving the lives of his people. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span><span style="font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; vertical-align: baseline;"><span style="font-family: georgia; font-size: medium;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; text-align: left;">Despite the sorrows, dangers, and chaos surrounding HHP and our partner clinic and birth center, our impact is greater than ever. Thanks to generous support from Americares and our private donors, our outreach programs that help the poorest of the poor, are thriving. A cholera prevention project, a traditional birth attendant program, cervical cancer screening and treatment for HIV-positive women, and mobile clinics all boost the delivery of quality health care to those most in need.</span><span style="font-family: georgia; text-align: left;"> </span><span style="font-family: georgia; text-align: left;">Our clinic's lab, pharmacy, emergency room and birth center are seeing 50% more patients than last year. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify; white-space: pre-wrap;"><span style="font-family: georgia; text-align: left;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: justify;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNX-rjlwwdtS3UxdU-dh6irH6SlohvzpD4mWNJrz-NQZ9MzKgzbzWsZulwH7spBpBM1XCS5A9s1E8I8s5FSx1upW8L2Q-N6hVU1HjTtuAgWGt6AQEYKxIbiDYD4rHITwYeoa1_ExXsfvNEplwwEraBsfYH1IhDdWwBNkm7ECwLHbjc7YcdWJSV4cBJ/s4032/IMG_1367.jpg" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNX-rjlwwdtS3UxdU-dh6irH6SlohvzpD4mWNJrz-NQZ9MzKgzbzWsZulwH7spBpBM1XCS5A9s1E8I8s5FSx1upW8L2Q-N6hVU1HjTtuAgWGt6AQEYKxIbiDYD4rHITwYeoa1_ExXsfvNEplwwEraBsfYH1IhDdWwBNkm7ECwLHbjc7YcdWJSV4cBJ/s320/IMG_1367.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b>Matwòn Toussaint with baby she delivered</b></td></tr></tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><b><img border="0" data-original-height="2016" data-original-width="1512" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUKTPwlrejkE_C4OVuAdZR2Dj9H50jKiZmlnP5QWi7MBa7gpDbqfCA2GVSx9SsAnKj8ShNdFJpMTqzSRm4PBjpqAsl4gvtXBrw7IA66CBe4zDe9_-PbSgm92CgA_FN6XINbsUf9rrBuV5foGIJnUmpBJSvLBVLx4e5wwlp6qX3HLLn9qWbIGZ0bf0Z/s320/Louise%20with%20baby%20mobile%20clinic%20feb%2023.jpg" style="font-family: Times; font-size: medium; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;" width="240" /></b></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: left;"><b>Mobile clinic with Dr. Jean Pierre</b></td></tr></tbody></table></div><span style="font-family: georgia; text-align: left; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b><br /></b></span></div></span></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span id="docs-internal-guid-6df8034f-7fff-7455-46ea-f48126675b6a"><span style="font-family: georgia;"><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><br /></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I hope these words and images help you palpate the delight it has been to work in Haiti for over the past 10 years. As always, I wish I could bring every one of you here to savor a few seconds of this unplugged world that tweaks the senses. I am confident that better days await the Haitian people, who are tattered but tenacious. HHP will be by their side until that new dawn. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;">All my best and <i>avek lanmou</i>, </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="background-color: white; line-height: 1.38; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Louise</span></p></span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: small; text-align: justify;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: georgia; font-size: x-large; text-align: center;">Please visit us and donate at: </span><a href="https://www.hispanolahealthpartners.org/" style="font-family: georgia; font-size: x-large; text-align: center;" target="_blank">Hispañola Health Partners</a></div><br /><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br /><br /></div><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><p></p></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br />Louise Lindenmeyrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16868999881703637483noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7763589012910854619.post-31931317645851192232022-01-19T05:11:00.022-08:002022-01-19T05:59:55.307-08:00Back in the Saddle<p><span style="font-size: x-large;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjOI6GkjKPuUf9ZwMnLZXsmSCY52t_fMxxlpxFA5LZBhsO2M7wmdTEkgeBVTwGZPb0NNmnvQ2cRWLAFYkJ2Si0K-xVD37OOV2YA-I_x3hPYWZpOCwxv5-_EDC1KXuGVG-nRCpPGstxjrsH47ujp56YivBPfsAsegUPVqnxVVhvp1_5p5XwpZwMs2MY9=s975" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="150" data-original-width="975" height="49" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjOI6GkjKPuUf9ZwMnLZXsmSCY52t_fMxxlpxFA5LZBhsO2M7wmdTEkgeBVTwGZPb0NNmnvQ2cRWLAFYkJ2Si0K-xVD37OOV2YA-I_x3hPYWZpOCwxv5-_EDC1KXuGVG-nRCpPGstxjrsH47ujp56YivBPfsAsegUPVqnxVVhvp1_5p5XwpZwMs2MY9=s320" width="320" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;"> Please visit us and donate at: </span><a href="https://www.hispanolahealthpartners.org/" style="font-size: 13px; text-align: center;" target="_blank">Hispañola Health Partners</a><br /> </span><div><span><span style="font-size: xx-large;"> </span><span style="font-size: xx-large;"> </span><span style="font-size: xx-large;"> </span><span style="font-size: xx-large;"> </span><span><span style="font-size: x-large;"> </span><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1262" data-original-width="1253" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiX_2Hr8D7QNrtDy6V7YMdGHoRgO83NWqidResRuLdWLANaRa2j2nyHWVqawwkjmrwFpAb0Mdl7GZnWxLTFG-W3mRo4caxEQ0pgKrgZpGKMiUK6srXoBOuoRkpOi5rcZCvaa2zbgKCzFZUnThv8-kIVTjFoQxg3r911XY3YSbCFB0l5k7Bj3Ho7qJzK=w398-h400" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="398" /></span></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sandy, my <i>chofê </i>in Haiti has upgraded his ride</td></tr></tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiX_2Hr8D7QNrtDy6V7YMdGHoRgO83NWqidResRuLdWLANaRa2j2nyHWVqawwkjmrwFpAb0Mdl7GZnWxLTFG-W3mRo4caxEQ0pgKrgZpGKMiUK6srXoBOuoRkpOi5rcZCvaa2zbgKCzFZUnThv8-kIVTjFoQxg3r911XY3YSbCFB0l5k7Bj3Ho7qJzK=s1262" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><strike></strike></span></a></div><br /></span></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">January 18, 2022 - Last week when I got back to Southeastern Haiti after being absent since May, I had a lot of ground to cover. As the director of Hispañola Health Partners, a US-based NGO that helps design and support health programs that benefit the rural Haitian community, I had reasons to visit the remote corners of our 300 square mile region. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">Loose rock and powder-fine dust rule the steep roads, but with Sandy's driving prowess, complete with a sound system that blasts Haitian <i>kompa, </i>as we bump across the countryside I feel as secure and happy as a kid on a rocking horse. With the new addition of the aerodynamic parasol, the ride is cooler than ever.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i>Kompa</i>, the national dance and sound obsession is sampled here by JBeatz:</span></div></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/s_uJ4lW4xEc" width="320" youtube-src-id="s_uJ4lW4xEc"></iframe></div></div><p><span style="font-size: large;">The first few visits I made were to women who had recently given birth at home. Our program, <i>Ann Bay Lavi Jaret, </i>or "give life a helping hand," was designed by the staff of our partner clinic in SE Haiti, Centre de Santé Union de Grand-Gosier (CSUG). This program helps sharpen the skills of the 18 traditional birth attendants or <i>matwòn</i> who attend the vast majority of the births in our area. Trusted neighbors, <i>matwòn</i> use folk medicine, prayer, and a little Vodou to help women who live in remote mountainous areas with conditions too harsh to reach a health center in the throes of labor. This program fills the gap between the innate skills that the <i>matwòn </i>have and the safe birth practices that our midwife presents in the 5-month course. </span></p><div><br /><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjJxaR1Bfegfoj8d6fOgswXQOOVVZyKyFezSlEFviMlZA-qsNq5JwInHQm09cwMgu6hkvl9dcfaYriRPz3Nh1LFh8WKz_f_OYsY8_dv--vYFHp2hRKGbxhhSnK-sIy-20VS7JJb9gQherVezSw4dEyVWXMfEPYEAqF_F8CHmI5T_dfU5CMnEa_ZwGNS=s2016" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjJxaR1Bfegfoj8d6fOgswXQOOVVZyKyFezSlEFviMlZA-qsNq5JwInHQm09cwMgu6hkvl9dcfaYriRPz3Nh1LFh8WKz_f_OYsY8_dv--vYFHp2hRKGbxhhSnK-sIy-20VS7JJb9gQherVezSw4dEyVWXMfEPYEAqF_F8CHmI5T_dfU5CMnEa_ZwGNS=w400-h300" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Matwòn </i>Cherinor Gustave , 42, received his calling through a dream when he was 18</td></tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><h2 style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiKwHcUC9QfbGhSwlVvSCLaWaqAXAFoSjI1Yw1BFNscw_da-Ghpb0G5EZcbViNc4e8l-rXgTzNLKMFZ0khNzsSwbRFzJhq2D0vhCsVXysop_JL9eqHWzTfoSilu3brNK4sM5NJse0JwflD_KG2NTl2LA2NrYw4IdoZUdCMZ-5AXwqGxetzr8XVwaEvo=s2016" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEiKwHcUC9QfbGhSwlVvSCLaWaqAXAFoSjI1Yw1BFNscw_da-Ghpb0G5EZcbViNc4e8l-rXgTzNLKMFZ0khNzsSwbRFzJhq2D0vhCsVXysop_JL9eqHWzTfoSilu3brNK4sM5NJse0JwflD_KG2NTl2LA2NrYw4IdoZUdCMZ-5AXwqGxetzr8XVwaEvo=w400-h300" width="400" /></a></h2><span style="font-size: large;">To visit this 3-generation family, Cherinor, I, and the midwife traveled 45 minutes by motorcycle and 2 hours by foot up a steep mountain path. Our midwife spends a lot of time in the field, making an average of two prenatal and one postnatal visit for every patient the <i>matwòn </i>care for. 15 births/month!</span><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj_jdVPuw1LuHpbPJ_30_vlCRezb33_7cBgR2d2ryT4aWLXkX7XOORPYOEbLVWzRSZZ9omhgtFfsuk8sljIZ9mK9D9qsTW-qkq1FMMVdO4WYG4_cnaxftuJqoBaPEo274xai8TL8ToW4q1X7hXj2BSrY6zdMku_qlIB-LdzeeAPoRQpI0Pp4csx07Ii=s1512" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="1512" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEj_jdVPuw1LuHpbPJ_30_vlCRezb33_7cBgR2d2ryT4aWLXkX7XOORPYOEbLVWzRSZZ9omhgtFfsuk8sljIZ9mK9D9qsTW-qkq1FMMVdO4WYG4_cnaxftuJqoBaPEo274xai8TL8ToW4q1X7hXj2BSrY6zdMku_qlIB-LdzeeAPoRQpI0Pp4csx07Ii=w320-h320" width="320" /></span></a></div><span style="font-size: large;"><div>Weighing babies that are born at home help us get baseline data to use for improving outcomes. This is a hammock my kids used for their stuffed animals years ago, attached to a hanging scale used for weighing fish. We also include age at birth, length, hemoglobin and head circumference as criteria. </div></span></div></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px;"><div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgvymw9Dd69yAU3yuDQ2W_H5Ps3OqA0LSJY0ajtrK2BIxAqnXyld-jkymiZk-xISqBFEeRW_tDBGKTkhdnCi6PhV1ipqVQcts_6KiShI1hmgNSe8EmxXWNR2qvsujOXnYIbDo5k3csxU8f3mpBw7m6Yg9cPXJ2oB80_g6QvFD1oXCxzLPU_GoLs_GEL=s4032" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: justify;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgvymw9Dd69yAU3yuDQ2W_H5Ps3OqA0LSJY0ajtrK2BIxAqnXyld-jkymiZk-xISqBFEeRW_tDBGKTkhdnCi6PhV1ipqVQcts_6KiShI1hmgNSe8EmxXWNR2qvsujOXnYIbDo5k3csxU8f3mpBw7m6Yg9cPXJ2oB80_g6QvFD1oXCxzLPU_GoLs_GEL=w400-h300" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Mezon Nesans Fanmi,</i> our new birth center, was built by the community, HHP and Women International Leaders <a href="https://www.wil-gp.org/">https://www.wil-gp.org/</a></td></tr></tbody></table></span></div></div></blockquote><div><span style="font-size: large;"><div><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">On January 12th, 18 <i>matwòn</i> received diplomas for completing the </span><i>Ann Bay Lavi Jaret </i><span style="font-size: large;">course. They are in front of our new birth center at CSUG, along with clinic staff.</span></div></span></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><span style="font-size: large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhQtLL0PrlaPxFsHA__jxjxqDG2mB48vVQJGKmEv2RniJtg4SxlFWKO887plogDY9ngiSCx8hVYVVGcPfkjFixGmGONI0Op3hl3sWMt9w0FiZoMI4-69HBSepxbNrciyk1GqKz_FKT5fw4SoTRrOt70bxEIh7a-z_DKYWbFmXXqqtebFaIN-c1LHKFK=s2016" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1512" data-original-width="2016" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhQtLL0PrlaPxFsHA__jxjxqDG2mB48vVQJGKmEv2RniJtg4SxlFWKO887plogDY9ngiSCx8hVYVVGcPfkjFixGmGONI0Op3hl3sWMt9w0FiZoMI4-69HBSepxbNrciyk1GqKz_FKT5fw4SoTRrOt70bxEIh7a-z_DKYWbFmXXqqtebFaIN-c1LHKFK=w320-h240" width="320" /></a></div>Another program I needed to visit serves more than 200 HIV+ women in our region. <i>Fanm Vanyan</i>, or "Valiant Women," is an extension of the cervical cancer screening and treatment HHP has been providing women in the region since 2013. Women living with HIV are almost 5x more vulnerable to invasive cervical cancer. Community health workers who distribute the women's medications house to house recruit and educate them about the dangers of cervical cancer and arrange a meeting spot for the testing. I went on a 4-hour ride to find one of these women who did not have the money to pay for transportation. We arrived at her humble home where she lives alone with her 4-year-old son. She was young, shy, and scared but we held her hand and gently coached her while we did the test and treatment right there on her bed. 67% of the HIV+ women we test need treatment. </span><br /><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhjxnMS1ElVtobG5YvAcuU9ekGFZkfJ0Tir_lEOd3CU2lN403Aqj9HKsJCgtP_9J8-zhr7jO-89YvgXq3D-CNCI4Imur95wNc6tHL15hybv7RO-lrBg-hUGOmakLaumBci0rLugl__LGN8cMx7LNUjv4et6n2kGuK2kle97g4UHffq3du3EO8pSKOS9=s1040" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="780" data-original-width="1040" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhjxnMS1ElVtobG5YvAcuU9ekGFZkfJ0Tir_lEOd3CU2lN403Aqj9HKsJCgtP_9J8-zhr7jO-89YvgXq3D-CNCI4Imur95wNc6tHL15hybv7RO-lrBg-hUGOmakLaumBci0rLugl__LGN8cMx7LNUjv4et6n2kGuK2kle97g4UHffq3du3EO8pSKOS9=s320" width="320" /></a></div>Last May we didn't think things could get much worse in Haiti as we dodged roadblocks and heard about more and more kidnappings. Then came the presidential assassination and earthquake in the Southwest Department. The misery of poverty, lawlessness, political turmoil, a fuel crisis, and natural disaster, all wrapped up and dished out to the struggling, honest, hard-working people of Haiti just seemed too much to bear. However, 2021 was a stellar year for HHP and our partner clinic, CSUG. We constructed a birth center, <i>Mezon Nesans Fanmi</i>, in 9 months, which now shines like a jewel for everyone to enjoy. The first baby born there (above) was one of our own, his mom is our nurse/pharmacist. There is room at the birth center for medical personnel so Haitian doctors and nurses doing their "social service" can come and work with us for a year, no charge! <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgczhxLQDXMw2ybA2wML8ZX1mj2YQ-ZuVgaNeik8fpOeVkZ63Q7tgt7PHxcX4ywd5hhkypLh2mN84qHULjylopXMCoZvtYfv93fxwsfqHJNJ-dV4OJmBL59BupQm6w2TukXKFTRqDajriYMpYRZKpbfphDl3MMM2GlaPLFnOE9a0ogg_aMSVZb_8SYS=s3246" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2351" data-original-width="3246" height="232" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEgczhxLQDXMw2ybA2wML8ZX1mj2YQ-ZuVgaNeik8fpOeVkZ63Q7tgt7PHxcX4ywd5hhkypLh2mN84qHULjylopXMCoZvtYfv93fxwsfqHJNJ-dV4OJmBL59BupQm6w2TukXKFTRqDajriYMpYRZKpbfphDl3MMM2GlaPLFnOE9a0ogg_aMSVZb_8SYS=s320" width="320" /></a></div>Let's hope we can find the joy and inspiration to meet each day of the year ahead. I'm stunned by the beauty of our world when I walk 5 miles down the hill from our clinic to the edge of this mystery.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">I wish you could join me, Louise</span></div>Louise Lindenmeyrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16868999881703637483noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7763589012910854619.post-66941783976482350602020-03-02T04:43:00.000-08:002020-03-04T03:50:33.427-08:00Lavi se Dwol <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Pvpa-g4GYto/WMP5rC8Kp0I/AAAAAAAAB8s/jmX9Jw2O890SoC5FEdHiE-4g9__owXF3gCPcBGAYYCw/s1600/HHP%2BLogo%2Bcopy.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="150" data-original-width="975" height="49" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Pvpa-g4GYto/WMP5rC8Kp0I/AAAAAAAAB8s/jmX9Jw2O890SoC5FEdHiE-4g9__owXF3gCPcBGAYYCw/s320/HHP%2BLogo%2Bcopy.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">Please visit us and donate at: <a href="https://www.hispanolahealthpartners.org/" target="_blank">Hispañola Health Partners</a></span></div>
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<i style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">L</span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">avi Se Dwol ," </span></i><span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large; text-align: center;"><span style="text-align: left;">Life is funny," is one of the thousands of phrases seen painted on the colorful trucks that crawl over the impossible roads of Haiti. This one stuck out for me, because unlike the usual appeal to Jesus to spare the driver, this admitted to the ridiculous roulette of existence here. Rereading Graham Greene's </span><i style="text-align: left;">The Comedians, </i><span style="text-align: left;">he too endorsed a sense of humor in this land some 55 years ago. This "beautiful and bedeviled country," he wrote," is a dark blend of terror and farce."</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span>It wasn’t quite what we intended, to walk 26 miles over the mountains behind Port-au-Prince to Jacmel alone. We meant to bring curious friends of HHP for a funky donor tour over the backbone of Haiti, reaching an elevation of 5000 feet, then a descent to the sea on the other side. But due to the chaos here over the past year - frequent protests involving huge crowd <i>manifestations, </i>tire burning roadblocks, flying bullets fighting the corrupt government - our friends opted to try it another time when the situation is a bit more placid. We understand, <i>lavi se dwol.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Optimistic nonetheless, we figured we needed to try out the path ourselves if we were ever going to bring along paying guests. Peter Halle, Hispañola Health Partner’s board president, Dr. Daniel Antoine, our resident doctor in our clinic in SE Haiti, and I agreed to this journey together. We started in Kenskoff, a region above Petionville, at the crest of the peak from which all of Port-au-Prince pours downward.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">We stayed our first night at Kay Ronald, (see Airbnb addresses below) a lovely and fascinating architectural whimsy that twists around the terrain of the mountaintop, created by Haitian architect Ronald Blain. We took off after a breakfast of herring and eggs…..up the hill further by motorcycle. We walked a gentle ascent for a few miles in the midmorning sun, but with the unfortunate burden of 20-pound backpacks (we were going to be in transit for 5 days), we realized we would need a little assistance. </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Jcm4cgJzyuc/Xlp4_kAGekI/AAAAAAAAC-w/Dvszv_0D628CFrN_DArSfl8gJBXqmMteQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/Furcy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Jcm4cgJzyuc/Xlp4_kAGekI/AAAAAAAAC-w/Dvszv_0D628CFrN_DArSfl8gJBXqmMteQCLcBGAsYHQ/s400/Furcy.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QvzJuB-edhU/XlqZwmoOXPI/AAAAAAAAC_0/aDOFPyW7uv0M3cty0XpiR6za7yGwMn-pgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/628x471.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="419" data-original-width="628" height="212" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QvzJuB-edhU/XlqZwmoOXPI/AAAAAAAAC_0/aDOFPyW7uv0M3cty0XpiR6za7yGwMn-pgCLcBGAsYHQ/s320/628x471.jpg" width="320" /></span></a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">We climbed and sweated, straddled motorcycles and slid in the mud and rocks along the Haitian national route 101. No truck or car could ever traverse these narrow peaks, we left them behind in Kenskoff. We felt humbled by people walking along with us who do this every day with burdens much heavier than ours on their heads and backs, I also sympathized with the donkeys, who occupy the lowest rung of the hauling hierarchy. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;">Don't Wanna Be Your Beast of Burden</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">We staggered to the top of Tet Kay Jak, the highest altitude on the national highway and then continued on for a few blessedly flat kilometers through </span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif; font-size: x-large;">Parc National La Visite. </i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">One of two national parks in Haiti, it is covered with Hispaniolan Pine</span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif; font-size: x-large;">, </i><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">and is so cool and misty you need a jacket in mid-afternoon. We arrived at Kay Winny in time for a big thermos of mint tea. Unoccupied for 7 months because of the national crisis, we were the first guests to open a new chapter for the place. This is rugged tourism at its best, I thought, as I wrapped my weary muscles in a duvet. The candlelight cradled me after a goat stew dinner and a warm beer. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;">Kay Winny </span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">A rapid descent the next morning to the sea on Haiti's southern side by foot and moto, then fast forward to our arrival by skiff to Belle Anse where I was meeting our supervising nurse for <i>Ede Tèt Nou, </i>our female cancer program. We were scheduled to see a few women who had been treated for positive HPV (precancer of the cervix) and needed follow up. This program screens and treats 1600 women in the rural and remote Arrondissement de Belle Anse for breast and cervical cancer. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0kHn6TDMOXE/Xlp6pd4da0I/AAAAAAAAC_M/Ca-BnUqILIIh7IjvUI2rpnY-QGlEU0T8ACLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/ETN%2B2%2Btraining.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0kHn6TDMOXE/Xlp6pd4da0I/AAAAAAAAC_M/Ca-BnUqILIIh7IjvUI2rpnY-QGlEU0T8ACLcBGAsYHQ/s400/ETN%2B2%2Btraining.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Training session for <i>Ede Tèt Nou</i> for community health workers at our health center</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: x-small;">On the beach in Belle Anse</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">Crumbling, hot and slightly decadent is Belle Anse, a great place for a stranger to gently perish of solitude. The sound of the relentless surf heaves a billion loose stones at every sigh. On the beach, trudging through drifts of slippery stones, my sole companion amidst the piles of plastic bottles mixed with seaweed and the resident swine, is a ten-year-old boy who watches me stumble, mockingly. Life here is not easy but neither is death. I knew a fellow whose coffin split in two while banging in the waves in the boat that was bringing him to his proper funeral miles down the coast.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">As I lie inside the balcony of the Jel Hotel, I wonder if anyone should feel compelled to advance this place, or is it better to leave it to decay respectfully without outside tampering? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">As a wild, endangered specimen of postcolonial Caribbean life, hard looks of manual labor is on every face, child to crone. Muscles of the arms and backs peek through clothing while I watch the beach-launching of boats, the hauling of 5-foot bags of charcoal, the shoveling of stone and sand. This prototype of the working man has been virtually lost in other Caribbean nations, replaced by the soft labor of tourism. At least this place belongs to them.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;">When I eventually got to our clinic in Marjofre (CSUG), I arrived on time to help usher this baby into the world. Will he know a better Haiti or is misery as imprinted here as his DNA? </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">born yesterday</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: large;"> HHP/CSUG has just entered into a new chapter with the hiring of a skilled birth attendant and the drawing of plans to develop the second story of the clinic into a birth center and residence for staff. This will move us into a 24-hour care center. Thanks to the generosity of our donors, we were able to provide 3 days of dental care to the community for a modest price of $1.62/visit. This was the first time in 3 years that dental care has been accessible to our population. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">It's <i>kanaval</i> time in Haiti but the president called off celebrations in Port-au-Prince for the threat of violence. Yet here in our gentle corner of the country, we enjoyed some traditional music and dance with our neighbors. They remember you, the people who give their support from so far away, on this day of grace and simple beauty. We thank you deeply, Louise</span></span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #444444; font-family: "arial" , "tahoma" , "helvetica" , "freesans" , sans-serif; text-align: center;">Please visit us and donate at: </span><a href="https://www.hispanolahealthpartners.org/" style="font-family: arial, tahoma, helvetica, freesans, sans-serif; text-align: center;" target="_blank">Hispañola Health Partners</a>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">Twobadou music</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dzhIqfM2srDBIQik87g-Rqk5qEsp-QIizZNxvT4SS2lmxCV8vdrWMC0K5SY4yCRSYxke0GGRFQckr1fg3Qn9Q' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></span><br />
<span style="font-size: medium;"><i>Calibrian</i> dance and song, Marjofre</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Kay Ronald <a href="https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/18395646" style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif;">https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/18395646</a><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Kay Winny </span><a href="https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/25476515?source_impression_id=p3_1583080609_MEePUETC1k5R1PDd">https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/25476515</a></span>Louise Lindenmeyrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16868999881703637483noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7763589012910854619.post-20750306759591400202019-05-29T04:49:00.000-07:002019-06-01T05:42:21.137-07:00Haiti, Cherie<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zlmxKGtKwa0/WCiSwrhekeI/AAAAAAAABxI/XJljgEWRV889mhxyQn-S_o3J8kOLAqjRQCPcBGAYYCw/s1600/HHP%2BLogo%2Bcopy.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="150" data-original-width="975" height="49" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zlmxKGtKwa0/WCiSwrhekeI/AAAAAAAABxI/XJljgEWRV889mhxyQn-S_o3J8kOLAqjRQCPcBGAYYCw/s320/HHP%2BLogo%2Bcopy.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Balboa was one of the first Europeans to see Les Cayes in 1504, a Haitian port town in the south that exports coffee, sugar and vertiver. Homemade cargo ships with no motors dot the coastline. Read more about Haiti sailboats here:<br />
<a href="https://www.passagemaker.com/destinations/history-of-haitian-sloop" target="_blank">https://www.passagemaker.com/destinations/history-of-haitian-sloop</a></td></tr>
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On May 16, 2019 we hit the tarmack of Toussaint Louverture International, Port-au-Prince, with a different plan in mind. I usually head for our clinic in the southeastern mountains as soon as I can, escaping the suffocating grip of the capital. This time I, board member Peter Halle and our resident doctor Daniel Antoine were heading out in the other direction in order to visit a well respected birth center near the southern city of Les Cayes (<i>Okay</i> in kreole, from Aux Cayes). HHP is helping to create a birth center at our clinic, plans are to hire a midwife and be in full swing by the fall. It was Friday of a holiday weekend and we had a 2 pm appointment for a grand tour at Maison de Naissance in Torbeck. Half way through the 5 hour trip from Port-au-Prince our bus refused to move and we spent 3 hours sitting by the side of the road with a blown clutch. We finally arrived there at dusk for just a cursory look. Maison de Naissance is one of a mere handful of midwifery centers in Haiti, providing the hospitality of a home rather than the impersonal feel of a medical center<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">. </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Maison de Naissance Torbeck<br />
<a href="http://globalbirthinghomefoundation.org/" target="_blank">http://globalbirthinghomefoundation.org/</a><br />
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<span style="font-size: small;">Presently 95% of our mothers give birth at home because there is no other logical alternative if your baby decides to come after clinic hours. The situation contributes to several negative outcomes - infection, hemorrhage, prematurity, infant mortality. The birth center will provide support for moms with family planning, prenatal visits, 24/7 on-call service and a training program for the traditional birth attendants who have been the only support system for pregnant women until now. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: left;">Young hopefuls demonstrate with T-shirts saying "Under our flag,</span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: left;"> let's have a dialogue about change in Haiti"</span></td></tr>
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Bumping across Okay on foot the morning of Haitian Flag Day, we had to skirt around a <i>manifestasyon </i>in the city center; there have been demonstrations against the government since last summer when a corruption scandal was exposed concerning government confiscation <span style="font-size: small;">of funds meant for social programs. </span>The country has been paralyzed by patchy violence which has caused the nascent tourist industry to tank as the US State Dept ordered the departure of non-emergency personnel and ranks it a "Level 4: Do not travel."<br />
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Knowing all this, I left for Haiti this time with a twinge of fatalistic dread. Yet besides a few roadblocks, police in balaclavas with rifles and remains of burning tires in the street, I never felt unsafe. It helps to weave into the Haitian fabric, using public transport and traveling with Haitians instead of inside an NGO's SUV with tinted glass. In fact, I was delighted by the funky surprises of Okay like this old drug store.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">old apothecary shop</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">the facade - a future look for CVS?</td></tr>
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While in Okay we stayed at the guesthouse of the Business Technological Institute, or BTI, Haiti's first community college. Opened in 2004 by the Episcopalian Church of Haiti, BTI had 140 students in the first graduating class. This year 1200 students will graduate and 70% of them will find jobs in their field. A big chapeau to its intrepid leader, Dr. Ajax, both a visionary and a really nice guy. Oh yeah, the food at the guesthouse is AMAZING and there are cases of wine in the dining room...love those Episcopalians!<br />
<a href="https://www.bti-haiti.org/" target="_blank">https://www.bti-haiti.org/</a></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dr. Kesner Ajax, an Okay treasure</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Okay's architectural je ne sais quoi</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Another Haitian seaside attraction</td></tr>
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<span style="text-align: left;">Getting back to what I came here for: Centre de Santé Commune de Grand-Gosier, the clinic in the remote corner of southeast Haiti that HHP has been partnering with since 2013, is thriving. With programs in hypertension, cervical cancer screening, children's vaccinations, family planning, prenatal care and soon-to-be a midwife-centered </span><i style="text-align: left;">mezon nesans</i><span style="text-align: left;">, we are on fire. Attracting more support from the Haitian Ministry of Health, foundations and the private sector, we are grateful for the energy fueled by your sustained belief in this little miracle. Thanks so much, Louise</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A recent grad from our hypertension project - her bp dropped from 224/150 to 130/84<br />
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Please visit us and donate at: <a href="https://www.hispanolahealthpartners.org/" target="_blank">Hispañola Health Partners</a></div>
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thanks so much </div>
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HAITI, CHERIE </div>
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</style>Louise Lindenmeyrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16868999881703637483noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7763589012910854619.post-79840766492311828952018-06-11T04:32:00.000-07:002018-06-13T03:57:09.944-07:00Heroes and Saints<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zlmxKGtKwa0/WCiSwrhekeI/AAAAAAAABxI/XJljgEWRV889mhxyQn-S_o3J8kOLAqjRQCPcBGAYYCw/s1600/HHP%2BLogo%2Bcopy.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="150" data-original-width="975" height="61" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zlmxKGtKwa0/WCiSwrhekeI/AAAAAAAABxI/XJljgEWRV889mhxyQn-S_o3J8kOLAqjRQCPcBGAYYCw/s400/HHP%2BLogo%2Bcopy.png" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://hispanolahealthpartners.org/" style="font-size: 12.8px;" target="_blank">please donate to hispanolahealthpartners.org</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tHj4zToSxlg/Wxef71QsfsI/AAAAAAAACZI/J3cdcaCTZis7CLUtQRk968KBLZS6YlN0QCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_5267.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><i><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tHj4zToSxlg/Wxef71QsfsI/AAAAAAAACZI/J3cdcaCTZis7CLUtQRk968KBLZS6YlN0QCLcBGAs/s320/IMG_5267.JPG" width="320" /></i></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;"><i><u><br /></u></i></span><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b><i><u>June 12, 2018</u></i> Over the years working
internationally, I have met a lot of heroic characters doing spectacular things
but nothing lights me up like the legacy of Larry and Gwen Mellon. Last week I
had the privilege of teaching cervical cancer screening and treatment to Haitian
doctors, nurses, and midwives at the Hôpital Albert Schweitzer(HAS), on the
grounds of the Mellon's famous facility.</b></span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cumRa5Y79TI/Wxeft7b6NOI/AAAAAAAACZM/nMuVk6ovR1IqpPJ55qzcSfeMys9CT8ebwCPcBGAYYCw/s1600/building%2Bat%2BHAS.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: x-small;"><b><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="240" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-cumRa5Y79TI/Wxeft7b6NOI/AAAAAAAACZM/nMuVk6ovR1IqpPJ55qzcSfeMys9CT8ebwCPcBGAYYCw/s320/building%2Bat%2BHAS.JPG" width="320" /></b></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: xx-small;"><b>Charming stone buildings dot the HAS grounds under massive shade trees</b></span></td></tr>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-osH69v_w8Og/WxefkrfGeTI/AAAAAAAACZA/GYkN1rDyjtIdhvxL8XrrndEX_Awb6itSgCPcBGAYYCw/s1600/evening%2Bat%2BMellon%2Bhouse.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b><img border="0" data-original-height="480" data-original-width="640" height="300" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-osH69v_w8Og/WxefkrfGeTI/AAAAAAAACZA/GYkN1rDyjtIdhvxL8XrrndEX_Awb6itSgCPcBGAYYCw/s400/evening%2Bat%2BMellon%2Bhouse.JPG" width="400" /></b></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">3rd world vegetation laps up to midcentury modern at Mellon House</span></b></span></td></tr>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: small;"><b>William Larimer
"Larry" Mellon, son of Gulf Oil founder and CEO, established HAS with
Gwen in 1956. A sensitive misfit from the huge Mellon empire, Larry split the
gilded life and his studies at Princeton to turn cowboy in the late 1930s,
starting a simple ranch in Pecos County, Arizona. The war soon followed and he
served the Office of Strategic Services in counter-intelligence. He
returned to branding and roping in '45 and married Gwen, another renegade who
escaped the routine of rich housewife, supporting 3 kids by working at a dude
ranch. The couple was settled into a comfortable routine when Larry read an
article about Dr. Albert Schweitzer in <i>LIFE </i>magazine in 1947. The work of this Renaissance man who established a hospital in the jungle of Gabon, West Africa, impressed
him so intensely that two weeks later he decided to head for medical school, at
age 39. He and Gwen started a master plan for opening a hospital modeled after
Schweitzer's and settled on Haiti. She agreed, "we don't want to sit
around looking at the damn cows for the rest of our lives."<o:p></o:p></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: small;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: small;"><b>I worked here with H3 Missions </b></span></span><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=http://www.Facebook.com/H3Missions&source=gmail&ust=1528971462283000&usg=AFQjCNHJJ4bDl2jnTEtOROaG7qPoUDIfUQ" href="http://www.facebook.com/H3Missions" style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-size: 16px;" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><b>www.Facebook.com/H3Missions</b></span></a><b style="font-family: "courier new", courier, monospace;">; the project involved 17 volunteers from the US who trained 10 members of HAS's team in pap smear, visual inspection with acetic acid, cryotherapy, colposcopy and LEEP over a two-week period, screening and treating 900 women. Funding was by Rotary International. All equipment to continue the work was left behind for a regular screening program.</b><br />
<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: small;"><b><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GljghxQmq4M/WxefngtMkoI/AAAAAAAACZE/EOVtIaDjipQi-MV1kZa3IpE6sMmPu2KtACPcBGAYYCw/s1600/Dr.%2BPetitsoeur%2Bshowing%2Bfemale%2Banatomy.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="480" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GljghxQmq4M/WxefngtMkoI/AAAAAAAACZE/EOVtIaDjipQi-MV1kZa3IpE6sMmPu2KtACPcBGAYYCw/s320/Dr.%2BPetitsoeur%2Bshowing%2Bfemale%2Banatomy.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-size: xx-small;">GYN Dr.Petisoeur demonstrates female anatomy in my class</span></b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: small;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: small;"><b>HAS is a 131-bed hospital that serves the people of the Artibonite Valley, an area of about 600 square miles. When Dr. Mellon got there the Valley was rife with the diseases of poverty: tetanus, TB, malaria, malnutrition and a dismal infant mortality rate. Mellon and his wife, now gone for several decades, have left the hospital and large network of preventive and outreach services to a team that is 98% Haitian. It is a jewel to behold, particularly for folks like me who hold a fascination for success stories when it comes to long term health care solutions in low resource settings. </b></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black;"><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: small;"><b><br /></b></span></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ck1TFu945xI/WgGgkKifSCI/AAAAAAAACJY/Z22Fvy8j6bEYG3QUlF38OE1m2NXjk-A5wCPcBGAYYCw/s1600/clinic%2Bsummer%2B17.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><b><img border="0" data-original-height="581" data-original-width="1032" height="225" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ck1TFu945xI/WgGgkKifSCI/AAAAAAAACJY/Z22Fvy8j6bEYG3QUlF38OE1m2NXjk-A5wCPcBGAYYCw/s400/clinic%2Bsummer%2B17.JPG" width="400" /></b></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: orange;">HHP</span>'</span>s Centre de Sante Union de Grande-Gosier (CSUG)</span></b></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: small;"><b>But allow me to be a proud parent and brag about another functional health care system, that of HHP, whose growth many of you have witnessed since birth. I am happy to announce that since the beginning of 2018 we have been awarded several grants for new programs in the community. </b></span></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Wqtr1LdygpU/Wx2TS8PFtXI/AAAAAAAACaI/vcosn5w-f2U7ZD226z-1BSgGKupi_dQGgCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_5285.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><b><img border="0" data-original-height="222" data-original-width="487" height="181" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Wqtr1LdygpU/Wx2TS8PFtXI/AAAAAAAACaI/vcosn5w-f2U7ZD226z-1BSgGKupi_dQGgCLcBGAs/s400/IMG_5285.JPG" width="400" /></b></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: xx-small;">The hypertension team and me at CSUG</span></b></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>High blood pressure is the most common diagnosis at our clinic in SE Haiti and threatens the entire family structure with the real possibility of death or debilitation of the family's primary wage-earner/caregiver. Responding to the lack of community understanding about hypertension and its impact, HHP proposed a six month pilot project.Using our well-established network of community health workers,1800 members of extremely remote communities around our region will be educated
and screened about this disease and its impact. With the support of our
staff and resources, assessment and treatment will be initiated for those at
risk. The results of this project will be used to create an
efficient model for reaching rural people with hypertension
nationwide. We are thrilled that the Harney family of Salisbury, CT supported this program with a $7000 gift. Americares and a local pharmacy in Sharon, CT helped provide medicines for this project. We are also proud
that the program proposal was penned by one of our Haitian doctors, as we
encourage our staff to sharpen their skills in capacity building as they move
towards self-sustainability.</b></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: small; text-indent: -4.5pt;"></span></b></div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: small; text-indent: -4.5pt;"><b>HHP was given a $27,000 grant from Conservation, Food and Health Foundation and $1500 from
Women International Leaders of Greater Philadelphia to continue our fight
against female cancers in southeastern Haiti. This
project, <i>Ede Tèt Nou</i>, or “Helping Ourselves,” will bring an innovative method of self-testing for cervical cancer to women in the far corners of the
countryside. Again, a network of community health workers will be
central in advancing this project, which also includes awareness raising
and screening for breast cancer. Collaboration with some key
organizations in Haiti helps shape the circle.</b></span></div>
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<b><br /></b>
<b><span style="background-color: white; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">"I don't ever really get discouraged-I have a way around it," Larry Mellon said. "We came here to give what we could, what we have, and that's all we can do. Gwen and I both want to be buried where we drop, and that is not important except that it means we stay until the end of our time. We want to finish up as best we can."</span></span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: small;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lhPFReAQK-g/Wx00YuQMF6I/AAAAAAAACZw/GMPxtKa64_Qo5zKpTZ-rMUaHOr_x3pqkgCEwYBhgL/s1600/20180531_130306.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-lhPFReAQK-g/Wx00YuQMF6I/AAAAAAAACZw/GMPxtKa64_Qo5zKpTZ-rMUaHOr_x3pqkgCEwYBhgL/s320/20180531_130306.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b>You could join St Pierre in holding the key to our future by owning this antique vodou flag ($750)</b></span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><b><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace; font-size: x-small;"> All the best, Louise</span></b><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="font-family: "helvetica neue", arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: medium; font-weight: bold; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Pvpa-g4GYto/WMP5rC8Kp0I/AAAAAAAAB8s/jmX9Jw2O890SoC5FEdHiE-4g9__owXF3gCPcBGAYYCw/s1600/HHP%2BLogo%2Bcopy.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" data-original-height="150" data-original-width="975" height="49" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Pvpa-g4GYto/WMP5rC8Kp0I/AAAAAAAAB8s/jmX9Jw2O890SoC5FEdHiE-4g9__owXF3gCPcBGAYYCw/s320/HHP%2BLogo%2Bcopy.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://hispanolahealthpartners.org/" style="font-family: Times; font-size: 12.8px;" target="_blank">please donate to hispanolahealthpartners.org</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</span></div>
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</style>Louise Lindenmeyrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16868999881703637483noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7763589012910854619.post-39057894841203359822017-11-10T07:34:00.001-08:002017-11-11T04:56:15.250-08:00Haiti Haute Couture<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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November 10, 2017<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shop in Thiotte<br />
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<span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">Esteemed Followers: A recent NY Times article investigating the negative impact of donated clothes from the West on the market for locally sewn clothes got me thinking about Haiti's couture (see article below). Haiti's affair with the used clothes market started in the early 60s; the identifying term then used was <i>Kennedys</i>. The present day term for piles and piles of bound up duds from our ubiquitous charity dumpsters is <i>pepe</i>, which signifies anything imported which otherwise could be created here, hence pepe rice, pepe chicken. Now Haitian women wear pepe t-shirts from Canyon Ranch or Pine Woods Christian Camp with pink leggings or denim minis rather than the common homemade garb of the pre-Kennedys era. However, almost every day my eye catches a few homegrown dresses as they pass on the street or up close as someone sits in the clinic for a consult - their hand sewn buttonholes and delicate needle work call my attention as if it were the latest issue from a Paris fashion house. I decided to dedicate this edition to the home-sewn dress of the Haitian woman. May it survive pepe, Kennedys and beyond!</span></div>
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<a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/12/world/africa/east-africa-rwanda-used-clothing.html" style="font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: small;" target="_blank"><br />"East Africa Curbs Imports on America's Hand-Me-Downs" by Kimiko de Freytas-Tamura</a><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">photo by Patricia Borns*</td></tr>
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<span style="color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; text-align: justify;">I am no expert on the topic - my data is purely observational</span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; text-align: justify;"> over my last 6 years in Haiti. The women who wear these dresses are generally </span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; text-align: justify;">post childbearing age but still contributing to family and society - selling goods, keeping animals, cooking meals. It appears there are 2 styles - a shirtwaist style with a large collar in generally bright colors, and a style in navy blue which is reminiscent of a sailor suit.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sailor style</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">traditional homemade shirtwaist</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">incorporating a hint of sailor suit<br />
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; text-align: center;">I grew up in a seamstress-managed household. Our kitchen, </span></span></span><span style="color: #333333; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: black; text-align: center;">where the 40's era Singer sat, was a domain </span></span><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">for measuring tape, tracing wheels, tailor's chalk, tiny pieces of pattern tissues. My mom was magic at making Vogue fashions of the day; suits made from elegant fabrics with bound buttonholes and silk linings with a perfect fit. Under her supervision I cranked out a few prom dresses, dozens of a-line mini skirts and even a surfer girl 2 piece with lacing up the back side. Hence my nostalgia every time I see a treadle sewing machine on someone's porch in Haiti. How pleased I was to meet Nadège, a teacher and seamstress who lives close by in Marjofre. She sewed up for me a </span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif; font-size: medium;">kostim devosyon, </i><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">or devotional dress, </span><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">in time to wear to the </span><i style="font-family: georgia, "times new roman", serif; font-size: medium;">fet Gede</i><span style="color: black; font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">, which is the November 1st vodou celebration of Papa Gede. He is the beloved and feared traffic cop who directs </span><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif; font-size: small;">the coming and going at the crossroads of life and death. We had been invited to a local party and I wanted to fit in!</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-family: "georgia" , "times new roman" , serif;">Me and Nadège showing off the kostim devosyon</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small;">Calling Papa Gede later that evening</span></td></tr>
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<b style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-size: x-large;">CLINIC UPDATE:</span></b><span style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: center;"> </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: center;"> some portraits of what's going on in the world of HHP</span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our new clinic sign with all services offered; hundreds of patients seen every month</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;">clinic ruff back in 2013</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lab services started in September '17 *</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">we've gone green in '17</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Visiting Univ of Colorado epidemiologist Alice White working with Dr. Antoine on a study of hypertension in the region 11/17</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>Ongoing cervical cancer screening in 4 health centers in the Arrondissment of Belle Anse sponsored by Hispañola Health Partners</b></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cervical cancer screening supervision in action *</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Every clinic needs a chicken *<br />
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Fet Gede with kostim in action *</div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><b>* Photos/video by Patricia Borns</b> Thanks for your interest in this blog; for appreciating the inside view of Haiti and supporting the growing impact that HHP creates in the SE department. Come visit us sometime!! All my best, Louise</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px;"><a href="http://hispanolahealthpartners.org/" style="font-size: 12.8px;" target="_blank">please donate to hispanolahealthpartners.org</a></td></tr>
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Louise Lindenmeyrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16868999881703637483noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7763589012910854619.post-33026704155945425072017-03-12T06:10:00.002-07:002017-10-15T04:15:22.650-07:00Night Opera<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">OUR CLINIC: for the people, by the people photo by Patricia Borns</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Haitian spirits in the darkness</td></tr>
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<br />March 2nd, 2017 Marjofre, Commune de Grand Gosier, SE Haiti:</b> For years now I have had a box seat at the night opera every time I sleep over in Marjofre. Well, honestly to be more comfortable I retreat a row back into the dress circle, to my mosquito-netted bed just inside the open balcony door which overlooks the <i>wout prensipal</i>, or main drag of rock and dirt. The evening starts with a punishing mix of burnt out speakers blasting <i>kompa</i> or <i>reggaeton</i> backed up by the high pitched squeal of the generator that powers them. This is usually coming from directly under my bed, where sits the courtyard of the "Love People Bar Resto." The racket is often punctuated with black-outs due to the blessed malfunction of the power source. By 9:30 the gasoline has run out and all that remains is the trilling laughter of a few drunk tenors as they inch their way off stage. I can hear silence for the first time in hours. Footfalls on the road below, sometimes just two - scrape, scrape on its surface, other times a shuffling lilt of hooves, a 3 against 4 rhythm, donkey or horse. More silence. I hear a truck coming from way in the distance and above the baritone of the engine a choir of voices sings as they ride atop the load - hymns in brilliant harmony rising from peaks of charcoal and plantains. It reaches its climax as they approach my balcony and then fades rapidly, before I can get out of bed to see what passed. More silence, maybe I fall asleep. Dogs begin to take the stage, one at a time, then in duets, trios, full chorus. Howling glissando, yappy staccoto. Their pauses give way to some distant drumming - I check the time, its after midnight, and the <i>houngan</i>, the clergyman of the Vodou psyche, has begun to sing in the breath of the gods somewhere near here. Drums' deep voices. Soft call and response crescendoing and decrescendoing, carried capriciously to me by the wind. This goes on for hours as I deliciously drift in and out of consciousness. The cock's aria is always the first to waken me - one shrill joker decides to disturb the peace with his hoarse solo that is then answered by a resounding chorus of atonal wannabes. The pigs' snorts, the donkeys' toothy gasps, the choking gurgle of a motorcycle trying to start, bring this fine performance to a close as dawn arrives.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Admin Asst Mr Bulgué on clinic roof</td></tr>
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<span style="text-align: center;">I found the Centre de Sante Communautaire Mare-Joffrey, (CSCM) now the official name of our community-shared clinic in Marjofre, in fine shape when I arrived on February 22nd. Better than fine in fact, when I saw everyone's phones plugged into the sockets and realized that WE HAVE ELECTRICITY!!A beautiful solar system has been installed and is fully functional as of a few weeks ago, thanks to the generosity of our donors. As there is no electricity in town, this is a big deal for us. This month marks one year of full-time operation of the clinic, and since the beginning of 2017 our providers have seen over 450 people. This visit was an affirmation of the work we are doing; 5 days a week clinic consults, mobile clinics to more distant communities, cervical cancer screening and training, partnering with other regional non-profits to improve the health of the local population - the list goes on. Shocking and heartbreaking are the challenges we have in front of us; a 3 year old child in heart failure due to end stage sickle cell anemia who died as I sent her to the hospital by motorcycle; the malnourished 18 month old pictured here who arrived on our doorstep with raging ear infections and abscesses, a 2 year old blind in one eye from vitamin A deficiency. Our staff is working hard to partner with the Ministry of Health to help address the chronic diseases of poverty, as we can not and should not do this alone. But we have done much to provide the community of over 25,000 folks living in extreme poverty an oasis of hope. We have <b>you</b> to thank.....</span><br />
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With funding assistance provided by Women International Leaders of Greater Philadelphia, HHP organized 3 days of training at the clinic in the procedure of VIA/cryo; a method of screening for and treating cervical changes that can lead to cancer. Haiti has the highest rate of cervical cancer in the world, according to some sources. We trained 12 doctors and nurses in the procedure, all from Ministry of Health clinics that we have equipped with training and tools over the past 3 years. Some have already been trained by me in the past and needed a refresher course, others were new to the technique. We screened 131 women and treated a few for positive findings; it was stimulating to share so much collective knowledge with so many experienced providers in the house. This is our first training held at the CSCM, which will become a regional center for cervical cancer screening. I thank my fellow NP Erin Quinn and Dr. Marc Debay who helped me enormously. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="text-align: start;">Patricia filming surgeon and HHP Medical Director Roberto Peigne, outside his OR at the large Port-au-Prince public hospital "La Paix," which has been shuttered by a strike for almost a year now. </span></span></td></tr>
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<span style="text-align: center;">Another exciting endeavor this time around is the making of a short documentary about the impact of HHP by brilliant filmmaker, Patricia Borns. Patricia has worked in Haiti before and has a few documentaries out on Haiti - Madam Sara, Women of the Mountains, Women of the Border, which you can find here: <a href="https://vimeo.com/search?q=patricia+borns" target="_blank"> https://vimeo.com/search?q=patricia+borns</a></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nurse Musac and health agent Jean Robert, crucial to the project's success</td></tr>
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We are honored to have Patricia's donated time and talent and anticipate a beautiful piece that helps describe the work we are doing and the land where we do it. Travels with Patricia also brought us back to Pak Kado, a community of cardboard shacks constructed by deported Haitians, booted across the border by </div>
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their Dominican neighbors. We squeezed into this tiny house, generously donated by its owner to do cervical screenings - we have done close to 200 there already since the camp opened in 2015.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">photo by Patricia Borns</td></tr>
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I leave you with a few tidbits - first, a photo of me and my beloved travel companion HHP treasurer, Peter Halle, here at the "Hotel Snobisme" in Port-au-Prince. I thank him from the bottom of my heart for his patience and dedication to the cause, and for his love of Haiti, despite its "idiosycrasies."</div>
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We were in the thick of carnival celebrations this time around, and I filmed a little bit of rara or Haitian carnival music and dance that happened right outside our clinic gate. I felt like I was back in West Africa...</div>
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Louise Lindenmeyrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16868999881703637483noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7763589012910854619.post-90332575354771357902016-11-13T17:37:00.000-08:002016-11-14T05:01:12.070-08:00Silver Linings Social Aid and Pleasure Club<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Dear Readers: I came home last Tuesday full of the promise of silver linings in Haiti. A month after Hurricane Matthew chewed up Haiti and spat it out, this natural disaster is giving birth to a new spirit of independence in the first black republic of the New World. There is a growing generation of Haitians helping Haitians - not patronizing mega-NGOS or world powers manipulating puppet governments. Examples include:<br />
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--Local fishermen banding together to carry their mammoth boats out of harm's way before the high tides struck<br />
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--Our community leaders distributing hygiene kits to 200 families, working daily against the threat of cholera<br />
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--Our staff keeping our clinic well protected and open as a service center during and after the storm, providing hundreds of neighbors with primary care<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Belle Anse clinic</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Peritoneal tap in our Marjofre clinic </td></tr>
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--The medical personnel of the Ministry of Health clinic in hard-hit Belle Anse working without pay to care for the rush of cholera patients.<br />
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--Our network of doctors, some of whom are from the worst hit Les Cayes region, organizing mobile clinics back home<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Les Cayes</td></tr>
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--A group of Haitian graduate students in the DR sending money to students who need uniforms, shoes and backpacks lost in the storm so they can go back to school<br />
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Hispañola Health Partners is doing what its mission directs - strengthening existing structures from the bottom up. In the wake of Hurricane Matthew we have invested more than $5000 in Haitian-designed relief efforts. <br />
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More silver linings: The rains have also left our less devastated side of the country flush with green, happy corn and bean crops growing out of the usually dispirited rocky terrain. And the vibrance of the people is very much alive and well. Take these kids playing a beat up drum kit at a Sunday service in Marjofre, or this lady selling chickens in a Port-au-Prince market.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A budding Tony Williams</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stop and Shop</td></tr>
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Behold this brand new entrance of a local Catholic church with its simple honesty.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8px; text-align: center;">Haitian metal work of Grand Gosier Catholic Church</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Charcoal powered ironing<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hope on wheels; we traveled 6 hours with this steel belted radial</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white;"><b><br /></b>Social aid and pleasure clubs are a New Orleans tradition mixing philanthropy with festivity, having roots in the island of Hispañola. <b>So welcome to our Silver Linings Social Aid and Pleasure Club and thanks for the generosity you have extended to HHP.</b> </span>Please visit us at <a href="http://hispanolahealthpartners.org/" target="_blank">hispañolahealthpartners.org</a>. Our hurricane relief effort is ongoing. We are responding carefully to ongoing requests from partners on the ground in Haiti to make sure we are using your funds to their utmost potential. We are also making improvements at our community health center in Majofre so that we will soon have lab facilities and a solar power system to help serve our population better. But it is not all hard work and dire straights. The pleasure part of the Silver Linings wraps us in the joy of the Haitian experience. <i>A la bon ou bon! </i>"Wow, you are good!"<br />
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Keep the faith, Louise<br />
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Louise Lindenmeyr APRN, FNP-BC<br />
Executive Director<br />
Hispañola Health Partners<br />
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;">PS: Every time you buy something at Amazon, go to <a href="http://smile.amazon.com/">smile.amazon.com</a> (no
need to reregister your information) and sign up<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Hispañola Health Partners as your designated
charity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We will receive .5% of the
purchase price. Thanks!<o:p></o:p></b></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-acHZiQGbJKE/WCifAMRHe_I/AAAAAAAABxM/wn9FcDYzLkECKxOCEzE72iq0q1gjWjMOQCLcB/s1600/kit%2Brecipient.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-acHZiQGbJKE/WCifAMRHe_I/AAAAAAAABxM/wn9FcDYzLkECKxOCEzE72iq0q1gjWjMOQCLcB/s320/kit%2Brecipient.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Michele Marie, 35, feels the love</td></tr>
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<br />
<br />Louise Lindenmeyrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16868999881703637483noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7763589012910854619.post-54828127364452792042016-07-12T04:46:00.000-07:002016-07-14T03:59:17.478-07:00Piece of Cake<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wbiWoCSiDQc/V4N6v_jLoRI/AAAAAAAABpo/shBX_Q5Ej-gYMSLhqdBfIpg3MJ7O2YB9ACKgB/s1600/IMG_2970.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wbiWoCSiDQc/V4N6v_jLoRI/AAAAAAAABpo/shBX_Q5Ej-gYMSLhqdBfIpg3MJ7O2YB9ACKgB/s400/IMG_2970.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Birthday cake delivery boy in matching Tee</td></tr>
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Dear readers:<br />
I am already digressing to the delightful minutiae of my travels. But I think if you were there with me, you would do the same. And in that vein, I will turn over the recall of our recent visit to my companion for the week, Peter Halle:<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-h8uuCJtUb8o/V4N3i6m0NGI/AAAAAAAABpI/Y2jYBkqS-I4RYfaN4tEXybQovTT0cEtRgCKgB/s1600/Marjofre%2Bteam%2Bwith%2Bambulance.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-h8uuCJtUb8o/V4N3i6m0NGI/AAAAAAAABpI/Y2jYBkqS-I4RYfaN4tEXybQovTT0cEtRgCKgB/s400/Marjofre%2Bteam%2Bwith%2Bambulance.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Community ambulance and the crew ready to start mobile clinics - left to right, outgoing administrator Cleeford Pierre, AMBUF member Jean Baptiste Altès, HHP Medical Director Dr. Roberto Peigne, Marjofre Clinic doctor Dr. Daniel Antoine, me, Peter Halle, clinic nurse/new administrator, Miss Florette<br />
<br />
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<u><i>Travels with Louise<o:p></o:p></i></u></div>
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<i>Louise and I flew into Port-au-Prince near the end of June,
with four duffle bags filled with 200 lbs of free medicines, courtesy of
AmeriCares. The meds were destined for
the burgeoning, but needy Centre de Sant<span lang="FR-CH">é Communautaire de Marre-Joffrey, a</span> health clinic located deep in
the Southeast.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<i>Louise Lindenmeyr is a nurse practitioner and the executive
director of <span lang="ES-TRAD">Hispañola</span>
Health Partners, the NGO that helps support the Marre-Joffrey clinic. You may know her as the mandolin-playing band
member of the Joint Chiefs, along with her husband Eliot Osborn. She is multi-talented and a force of
nature. I am a retired Wall Street
finance guy who can build Excel spreadsheets, speak French, and withstand hours
on bumpy jeep roads.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<i><span lang="ES-TRAD">Hispañola</span>
Health Partners (HHP) was incorporated in 2013.
With the generous support of St. John’s Episcopal Church, the Salisbury
Congregational Church, as well as private donors in our community, HHP has
begun to realize its mission to provide integrative primary health care to
rural Haiti.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<i>After our first day in the capital converting currency and
making arrangements, we headed to the bus terminal, a beaten down gas station,
where we were packed like sardines into a rugged and worn 4WD bus for the five-hour
drive up 3000 feet. Now nighttime, we transferred to motorcycles
for the remaining roller coaster ride down to Marre-Joffrey.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<i>The Marre-Joffrey clinic opened for patients six months ago,
amid local fanfare. The handful of Haitian nurses and doctors serve a
surrounding population of 25,000. The
clinic struggles with neither electricity nor proper running water – both
solvable problems in time. But the staff
is well trained and motivated to care for their community. The clinic is dependent on the NGO’s
expertise and money, and the plan is for it to become self-sustaining. <o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<i>Beginning just a few miles outside Port-au-Prince, the road
was unpaved with sharp scree, deeply rutted, crossing streams and flocks of goats
and chickens. It was the main highway. But the crude roads are also a place for
social interaction. The people we met,
and there were hundreds due to the mobile clinics, were friendly and, for the
most part, content if not happy (after all, they were seeing a doctor). The mobile clinics, a new initiative of the
Marre-Joffrey clinic, consisted of hiring a stripped down 4WD “ambulance” to
take us further into the hinterland to treat patients who could not easily get
to the clinic. While Louise and the
other professionals saw to patient care, I acted as novice “farmasyen” counting
pills, distributing meds, and fitting the far-sighted with free magnifier
spectacles. <o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<i>Back at the clinic, the doctors and nurses tended to a
regular stream of patients, organizing the inventory of drugs, and planning the
necessary building improvements. I
trained the new nurse/administrator in Excel and how to track the clinic’s finances. But it was not all work. <o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<i>The rough and tumble roads were central to our adventures,
providing a window into the dramatic landscapes and to the gorgeous unspoiled
seashore. Due to Haiti’s appalling
infrastructure (water, sewage, electricity, roads), some of the most pristine
beaches are unknown to all but a few.
Grand-Gosier on the southern coast possesses such a beach, where we swam
one afternoon in the clear aquamarine waters. <o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<i>From Marre-Joffrey we traveled six hours through the
Belle-Anse arrondissement and over switchback roads to Jacmel, the regional
capital, for a meeting with the health minister. The
politics of running a health clinic are every bit as important as the
economics. Jacmel has its charms,
including a lovely waterfront and an old town with 19<sup>th</sup> century
colonial architecture. <o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<i>Our final leg was back to Port-au-Prince during rush
hour. Traffic lights have not functioned
since the earthquake in 2010, and traffic rules are, well, flexible. Coming from the ease and prosperity of our lovely
corner of the state and the world, it is jarring to see the plight of
Haiti. But it is not depressing. These are a people who have withstood the
hardest knocks, and have kept their dignity and good humor. With a little help, they may yet prosper.</i><o:p></o:p></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-G2UuuhBOuWk/V4TDtVoCk9I/AAAAAAAABp0/_OJ-nYHfQFw07G0kTLGKVTDi-PuLnuyWACLcB/s1600/ribbon%2Bcutting.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-G2UuuhBOuWk/V4TDtVoCk9I/AAAAAAAABp0/_OJ-nYHfQFw07G0kTLGKVTDi-PuLnuyWACLcB/s400/ribbon%2Bcutting.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ribbon cutting of clinic on inauguration day, February 21st, 2016</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
We began full time clinic operations in January, providing primary care to a community that had poor or no access to services in the past. However, it is not easy in a culture of poverty and deprivation to convince people to take care of themselves regularly. When you are poor, I theorize, you are so consumed with fighting the enormous challenges of food, water, safety and shelter, that taking care of yourself only becomes necessary when the salivating jaws of the monster of death are about to devour you. <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vJv29siBvfU/V4N7CpXTq6I/AAAAAAAABps/nwd62AurI4QSDIkoYX5d8XWXQJtq2PWpQCKgB/s1600/neck%2Bulcer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vJv29siBvfU/V4N7CpXTq6I/AAAAAAAABps/nwd62AurI4QSDIkoYX5d8XWXQJtq2PWpQCKgB/s400/neck%2Bulcer.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This woman delayed treatment for a deep neck ulcer, showing up on our doorstep with her problem hidden under a scarf</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Our mobile clinics, which take place once a week, are designed to reach people who have not heard of our services, living farther than a long walk or an affordable moto ride. For 50 goude, less than one dollar, they receive a registration card for our clinic, a consultation and free medication, appropriate for their problem. We have started a Go Fund Me campaign to help cover the costs of the ambulance, driver, and medication. PLEASE MAKE A TAX-DEDUCTIBLE DONATION TO HHP AT: <span style="background-color: lime; font-size: large;"> </span><span style="background-color: lime; color: rgb(95 , 125 , 25); font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: large; line-height: 24px; outline: none;"><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?hl=en&q=http://link.email.dynect.net/link.php?DynEngagement%3Dtrue%26H%3DBP92Z7iUtKFwd7mbExW9WUVzFVMiochREqIHqxOnnGE4kwT6mXakEPU%252BdbXQIUEz1Cg0bbvkveFnIDv8JElPHkC%252FtotQtf42VjDgO9egAyLZ%252FEn5lVStYt2MsWpyB6mDoAfXWlPPp7w%253D%26G%3D21%26R%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fwww.gofundme.com%252F25rbfe8e%253Futm_source%253Dinternal%2526utm_medium%253Demail%2526utm_content%253Dcampaign_link_t%2526utm_campaign%253Dwelcome%26I%3D20160527215005.000000b00c91%2540mail6-37-usnbn1%26X%3DMHw3NzY2NjI6VEVNUElEXzQ5MDQ7MXw3NzY2NjM6UVVFVUVJRF81MjI1MzU2MTk7Mnw3NzY2NjQ6RE9NQUlOX21haWwuc2l0LmVkdTs%253D%26S%3DC4ZK35nkfBJttE1yrDW8ndvfc_A52WyBvI43Tf8YxFs&source=gmail&ust=1468406407387000&usg=AFQjCNGQWfA8n4s40Jr3ko9FM7mFi6k5wg" href="http://link.email.dynect.net/link.php?DynEngagement=true&H=BP92Z7iUtKFwd7mbExW9WUVzFVMiochREqIHqxOnnGE4kwT6mXakEPU%2BdbXQIUEz1Cg0bbvkveFnIDv8JElPHkC%2FtotQtf42VjDgO9egAyLZ%2FEn5lVStYt2MsWpyB6mDoAfXWlPPp7w%3D&G=21&R=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.gofundme.com%2F25rbfe8e%3Futm_source%3Dinternal%26utm_medium%3Demail%26utm_content%3Dcampaign_link_t%26utm_campaign%3Dwelcome&I=20160527215005.000000b00c91%40mail6-37-usnbn1&X=MHw3NzY2NjI6VEVNUElEXzQ5MDQ7MXw3NzY2NjM6UVVFVUVJRF81MjI1MzU2MTk7Mnw3NzY2NjQ6RE9NQUlOX21haWwuc2l0LmVkdTs%3D&S=C4ZK35nkfBJttE1yrDW8ndvfc_A52WyBvI43Tf8YxFs" style="color: rgb(95, 125, 25) !important; font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; outline: none;" target="_blank">gofundme.com/25rbfe8e<span style="color: #666666; outline: none;"> </span></a></span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dYHu0EKuRpM/VHMv6-Dq9xI/AAAAAAAABBI/2ItuR8UF74UQ_FOiv2DItPP-YkaOJhBXQCKgB/s1600/IMG_1016.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dYHu0EKuRpM/VHMv6-Dq9xI/AAAAAAAABBI/2ItuR8UF74UQ_FOiv2DItPP-YkaOJhBXQCKgB/s400/IMG_1016.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Baron Samedi, a raunchy bad boy, usually seen with cigar in mouth and rum in hand, imposes his diabolical power at the crossroads between the worlds of the living and the dead.</td></tr>
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<br /></div>
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Despite Baron Samedi's taunting presence in Haiti, we carry on with the youthful optimism of these delightful carnival sprites. <span style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: lime; font-size: large;">Please help us win the battle at: <a href="http://hispanolahealthpartners.org/" style="font-family: times, "times new roman", serif; text-decoration: none;">hispanolahealthpartners.org</a> or send a donation to HHP 374 Taconic Rd. Salisbury, CT 06068</span></span></div>
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<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gG_HOIcDSp8/TX4g4yBoZLI/AAAAAAAAAGI/XgJlAp9r7aIC1bsxqJyVw-7LjnofUUXowCKgB/s1600/IMG_0482.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-gG_HOIcDSp8/TX4g4yBoZLI/AAAAAAAAAGI/XgJlAp9r7aIC1bsxqJyVw-7LjnofUUXowCKgB/s400/IMG_0482.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Carnival sprites</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
In the loving memory of Joe Rinaldi, our dedicated board member who suddenly passed away on May 6th of this year, I lay down these words and continue the struggle. Joe, a financial wizard with a generous heart and many years of NGO chops, helped us develop into a better board of directors over the last year of his involvement with HHP. He visited Marre Joffrey for the first time in February for the inauguration and with a little touch of the Baron in him, he handed out cigars and Barboncourt (great Haitian rum) to the local committee. Cheers, Joe!<br />
<br />
<br />
Many thanks and stay tuned for more about our cervical screening program next time, Louise<br />
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December 11th, 2015<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GsvjT5IXpno/VmqDLZllRVI/AAAAAAAABbA/67Huf32zEhM/s1600/IMG_2105.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GsvjT5IXpno/VmqDLZllRVI/AAAAAAAABbA/67Huf32zEhM/s400/IMG_2105.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">home sweet ougan</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Hello friends and comrades - I have been in Haiti for the last 2 weeks but, unplugged, unintentionally "off the grid." It's hard to even keep a charge on your cell phone. Lots of fine things have happened in this land of the unexpected which included today, while riding on a motorcycle taxi, when my driver decided to take a shortcut to the border and drove right though a little vodou compound as they were in the midst of a ceremony. The dark hut was warbling with their prayers and intermittent taps of a tamborine. My driver was embarrassed when I asked him to stop, with a warning chuckle of "ougan," or vodou priest. This is what had caught my eye, as we buzzed by.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WEw0CNKIvkw/VmqERHRjw4I/AAAAAAAABbU/PYXmsvYD3As/s1600/IMG_2108.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-WEw0CNKIvkw/VmqERHRjw4I/AAAAAAAABbU/PYXmsvYD3As/s640/IMG_2108.jpg" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">An image to Erzulie Freda, the goddess of femininity and compassion, not without her darker side</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I started with a journey back to Belle Anse, a coastal town where I had come 6 months ago to begin teaching cervical cancer screening. <span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">This is the third location where
Hispañola Health Partners helps train and equip Haitian government
clinics in the Arrondissement de Belle Anse, a neglected corner in the
southeast of the country. Every woman we
screen here has never had a pap test, as there has never been the capability. “See and treat” is a simple procedure using
white vinegar and the naked eye with a good headlamp to detect changes that
indicate pre-cancer. The affected area
can be treated on the spot by freezing with a cryo gun attached to a small tank
of CO2. Everything has to come by
motorcycle, over crazy rocky roads. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">This time I was accompanied by Anne Griffin, an ER nurse from Lewisburg, PA who I hadn't spent time with since we worked together in a Cambodian refugee camp more than 30 years ago. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">She makes the perfect companion for the job. </span><span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">She has lived in the desert of Niger, worked in
refugee camps in Sudan, projects in Malawi, and jumped out of a tuk-tuk in Thailand to escape being kidnapped. We trained a doctor and a nurse to become proficient in the "see and treat" procedure, screening 100 women. The greatest news is that our efforts are finally being recognized, after seeing and treating 1500 women in the last two + years, one of our participating doctors presented the project to the Haitian Ministry of Health and they are finally developing a way to incorporate this into their routine services. Ah, the sweet breeze of victory!!</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4w5FOhflNUo/VmqhcR4pblI/AAAAAAAABcc/jBFHykeQeos/s1600/IMG_2074.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4w5FOhflNUo/VmqhcR4pblI/AAAAAAAABcc/jBFHykeQeos/s400/IMG_2074.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me at 63 on a pile of conch shells while Anne trolls for her favorite</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I spent my birthday in the little fishing village of Cap Pierre. Banging down the mountain in a pick-up to eat conch, crab and snapper in the rocks by the shore, grilled by the guys who caught it. Plenty of Prestige beer, bobbing in the waves and taking a few spins on the rustic dance floor made a perfect celebration of time passed on the planet.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-76iwyrv3X7k/Vmqif6vgHNI/AAAAAAAABcs/3RSX32xrif0/s1600/IMG_2068.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-76iwyrv3X7k/Vmqif6vgHNI/AAAAAAAABcs/3RSX32xrif0/s400/IMG_2068.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">one of my birthday guests</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">I also came to Haiti this time to check out the finishing touches on the clinic we are building with the locals in Marre-Joffrey, located in the same Belle Anse region. Not without its challenges, we are poised to open for daily services with a doctor and administrator by the beginning of the new year. This week, Hispañola Health Partners hosted a Haitian team of 3 dentists, 1 ophthalmologist, a surgeon and a family med doctor, accompanied by me doing gyn, HHP board member Dr. Hank Schmidt assisting in everything, and Anne playing pharmacist. We saw about 500 people in 3 days.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fAq0J9tj1dY/VmqiNWEHikI/AAAAAAAABck/_EwLsSOnXUk/s1600/IMG_2092.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fAq0J9tj1dY/VmqiNWEHikI/AAAAAAAABck/_EwLsSOnXUk/s400/IMG_2092.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">HHP Medical Director Dr. Roberto Peigne distributing toothbrushes while the dentist does fluoride treatments with school kids in the clinic dooryard<br />
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<span style="color: #e06666;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-size: large;"><span style="color: magenta;">*******</span><span style="color: #3d85c6;">CONSIDER GIVING US A TAX-DEDUCTIBLE DONATION!!! VISIT </span><a href="http://hispanolahealthpartners.org/" style="color: #3d85c6; font-family: times, 'times new roman', serif; font-size: medium;">hispanolahealthpartners.org</a><span style="color: #3d85c6;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="color: #3d85c6;">OR SEND A CHECK TO Hispañola Health Partners, 374 Taconic Rd, Salisbury CT 06068 </span><span style="color: magenta;">THANK-YOU !!!!!!!!!</span></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Cholera is back due to the flow of refugees crossing the border in Anse-a-Pitres to escape persecution from the Dominicans they have lived with for decades. Hispañola Health Partners just donated money for IVs and bleach which was desperately needed at our sister clinic in Anse-a-Pitres. Hundreds of them are living in raggle-taggle camps just outside of town. For more information, read recent article from another aid organization: <a href="http://www.hearttoheart.org/refugee-crisis-builds-in-haiti/">http://www.hearttoheart.org/refugee-crisis-builds-in-haiti/</a> Here's a few images shot today from the back of the bike. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rhA3WyGWUPk/VmqwK7H7qrI/AAAAAAAABdA/mUYmbppQkp4/s1600/IMG_2121.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rhA3WyGWUPk/VmqwK7H7qrI/AAAAAAAABdA/mUYmbppQkp4/s400/IMG_2121.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "times" , "times new roman" , serif;">Thanks to all and goodnight, Louise</span>Louise Lindenmeyrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16868999881703637483noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7763589012910854619.post-77728435218435337562015-05-14T21:14:00.001-07:002015-05-15T03:49:18.764-07:00Shards<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gNHB0ILrV8A/VVO7FpuQ_gI/AAAAAAAABUQ/DEkYKX8vSPI/s1600/IMG_1525.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gNHB0ILrV8A/VVO7FpuQ_gI/AAAAAAAABUQ/DEkYKX8vSPI/s320/IMG_1525.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Belle Anse</td></tr>
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May 13, 2015 At first sight approaching from the sea or the high
mountains above, you would think Belle Anse is a lovely place. In fact Belle Anse does mean “
beautiful cove” and indeed there is a half moon pebble beach that crests around
the town and is backed by a shelf of mountains. It doesn’t quite all add up even though palm trees dot main
street – the bucolic setting is ground down by the inevitability of Haiti’s
hard luck and neglect. The little
houses are cute but grimey, dusty pebbly roads are spitting old shoes, plastic
bottles, condom wrappers and donkey dung.
Despite the tempting turquoise sea, swimming is life threatening due to
the surf and the current. The seas
are too rough to fish right now so there is little food, the rains haven’t come
so there is little water.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The cutest (and only) hotel in town where I could be staying</td></tr>
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I am working here for the week, doing my usual gig in the
MSPP clinic here and living in the residence, enjoying the kindness of Dr.
Cajou a dear doctor here who drives the only car in town, and the resident
nurse, Miss Etienne, who cooks and takes care of me. I can hear the surf roll in from my hot little cell block
behind the clinic. We have been
seeing about 35 women a day, no one has ever had cervical screening. We work together
without a break and finish by about 2:30
- just in time for lunch, or Haitian dinner. </div>
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Haitians really just eat one big meal a day. Breakfast is some strong
coffee and bread or spaghetti, maybe some eggs, and an evening meal doesn’t
really exist unless you want to eat leftovers or <i>labui</i>, which is very thin
porridge. It took me a while to
realize that was how things were, cuz sometimes I’d pass on the midday meal
because it’s so hot. Then I’d hang
around looking hungry at dinner and be ignored. One evening I smelled the delicious fragrance of BBQ chicken, and
when I came to the table there was a big plate of pitch-black charred
bones. Everyone dove into the dish
with an "ummm" and "ahhh." I tried one
with a tiny bit of flesh on it but you couldn’t eat the meat without eating the bones that crunched in your mouth like a hard Cheeto. When I asked what it was they said “wild bird,” with further questioning, <i>ranmye.</i>
Pidgeon!!</div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cmoIGx08iIo/VVO7jQlMvjI/AAAAAAAABUo/P1Co3JILyqA/s1600/IMG_1497.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-cmoIGx08iIo/VVO7jQlMvjI/AAAAAAAABUo/P1Co3JILyqA/s200/IMG_1497.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Instead I am here behind the kitchen where they throw <span style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">waste </span><span style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">but piglets </span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">and strays clean it up</span></td></tr>
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Two cases of cholera rolled in last night, the quarantine is
still up and running here after most of the cases elsewhere in the country have subsided. Because of the lack of clean water this
place is more vulnerable. There
are about 15 cases a month now, during the height of the epidemic there were
30-40 patients pouring in daily.
Luckily I use a lot of bleach in the work that I do…..</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">decontamination in the time of cholera</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Dr Cajou, the sweetest flower of Belle Anse</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Miss Etienne and the gals</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: cyan;">MIGHT YOU WANT TO DONATE?? PLEASE GO TO HISPAÑOLAHEALTHPARTNERS.ORG.</span><div>
<span style="background-color: cyan;">Thanks so much for all you love and generosity</span><br /><br />
There is an optimism here, maybe its a belief in magic, that objects that are not functioning will one day become useful. Or that their mere presence is enough. On the wall there's a clock that always says 6:47 or 3:23. One or two fridges are in a room with no electricity, their doors loose and dangling. Rooms fully plumbed for a shower and sink have never felt a drop flow through its pipes, outlets everywhere with ne'er a pulse of current. My toilet seat is but a small shard - broken long ago but still there to make you think you are not sitting on the cold bowl<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Prestige is my best friend at the end of the day</td></tr>
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a few last Haitian funnies:<br />
<i>krapo </i>means frog<br />
"Patience Shop" is what they call an auto repair shop<br />
<i>Fè LaFrans</i> or "act like you're French" means pompous<br />
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Louise Lindenmeyrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16868999881703637483noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7763589012910854619.post-51693919887454587112015-05-05T11:45:00.000-07:002015-05-05T11:45:38.952-07:00International Intrigue<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Crusaders!</td></tr>
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Yes, on the road again. But after 10 days on the trail I am taking a wee pause. <br />
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May 3rd, Port-au-Prince, half way up the hill to Petionville. The breeze comes in long, deep, exhalations and I am on a shady rooftop with the mountain looming above me. Music from various churches in the neighborhood pass their warm breath by me, and a penetrating drumbeat demands the ear. Someone is frying garlic somewhere and the dog next to me is frantically licking his bottom. Welcome to Haiti!<br />
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I got to Thiotte a week ago to begin a 4 day training of nurses on the procedure VIA/cryo, which most of you have heard of - sorry to be repetitive here - a simple but effective way to detect cancer of the cervix - a low resource alternative to the Pap smear. With headlamp, speculum, white vinegar and a trained eye, you can see changes that indicate precancerous tissue. With this "see and treat" method, you can treat the women positive for precancer with cryotherapy during the same visit, with a cryo unit and tank of CO2 that you can fit on the back of a motorcycle, no electricity or running water necessary. <br />
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We (Hispañola Health Partners) began 2 years ago and so far have screened 1000 women in the Arrondissement of Belle Anse (SE Haiti) where we estimate 30,000 women of appropriate age reside.<br />
<span style="background-color: orange;">Please help us promote this cause by donating at our website: hispañolahealthpartners.org</span><br />
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This is the second training of three that I have done in this raggle-taggle corner of Haiti, a place by the coast with dusty, rocky roads and no system of transportation besides foot, donkey and motorcycle. Less than 5% of the women have ever had cervical screening. According to the GHESKIO Center here in PaP, the incidence of cervical cancer in Haiti is the highest in the world. Not a surprise, as Haiti always does things in superlatives! It can destroy a woman in the prime of her life when she is the center of strength to her family, economy and community. Yet it is a totally preventible cancer, slow growing and easy to treat.<br />
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<span style="background-color: magenta;">This training was funded in part by a generous grant from WIL of Greater Philadelphia, a dynamite group of Philly women whose goal is to help empower women as leaders globally. Cherish the ladies!</span><br />
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I and my Haitian nurse who supervises the program trained 5 nurses on the didactic and practice. Two of them are now being contracted by Hispañola Health Partners to provide full time cancer screening services in two of the three regional health centers. After two rather tedious days of theory, we had 2 days of a sleek and seamless practical screening operatives; one room dedicated to registration and counseling, three exam tables set up with supplies for the 5 nurses taking turns doing the procedure, me checking each one, volunteer nursing students welcoming each woman, directing them once they got in and washing down the surfaces, decontaminating the speculums. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A chicken leg is perfect for learning how to use the cyro unit, you can even make soup with it afterwards </td></tr>
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The environment was at the same time a serious training environment as well as a tad raucous, with konpa and merenge on the ipod, sliding in a few dance steps across the tiled delivery room, teasing one another about prior romantic adventures as we waited for patients to get ready. The nurses affectionately call me <i>antchoutchout</i>, which means "little brat," because I stick to my demand for excellence like a spoiled child. They also have christened me <i>Madanm bouboun</i>, which needs no translation if you are familiar with female anatomy.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My girls</td></tr>
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We screened 93 women in two days, and treated 5 with cryo for positive findings. These otherwise gentle ladies who shyly whisper <i>bonjou</i> as I walk by engage in a fair amount of pushing and shoving, since by early afternoon of the last day it was obvious we could not see everyone. Despite our prep for crowd control, you could easily be roadkill it you weren't careful entering registration. No worries, now that there is a permanent person doing cervical screening in the area, the women can come any morning and avoid a crush injury.</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The women doubled by the second day once word got around</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Watch your fingers, ladies!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Miss Vanessa, in charge of doing cervical screening now in Thiotte</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">cryotherapy in vivo</td></tr>
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Last Saturday I took the 5 hour ride here with 14 passengers in a standard Land Rover, all day banging down the road in a dusty mid day rumble, a chicken picking at my ankles under the seat. Halfway through the journey, in the blazing sun that bleaches the rocks and some sonorous gospel choir on the radio, I feel a submission to gravity, the clumsy weight of the lady next to me who has fallen asleep and is listing heavily into my personal space. A tight kind of togetherness.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">jam packed</td></tr>
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I have come to Port-au-Prince with a translator, guide and bodyguard, Naoul, who I recently met in Thiotte. A young man of 26 who speaks fine english with a ghetto twang he learned from visiting relatives from NY, Naoul has had no job or money for many months. He just told me today that he had to borrow his younger brother's shoes to work with me, which means his brother can not go to school all this week while he is away.....He finished high school and some college a few years ago but could not go on as his family plunged deeper into poverty. He jokingly calls himself my <i>Tonton Macoute,</i> named after the notorious brigade of security police who served during the Duvalier regime.<br />
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<i>Yon ti istwa </i>thanks to Wikipedia: <span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">"</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">A </span><b style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">Tonton Macoute</b><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;"> was a special operations unit within the </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haiti" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0b0080; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 22.3999996185303px; text-decoration: none;" title="Haiti">Haitian</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;"> </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paramilitary" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0b0080; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 22.3999996185303px; text-decoration: none;" title="Paramilitary">paramilitary</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;"> force created in 1959 by dictator </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fran%C3%A7ois_Duvalier" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0b0080; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 22.3999996185303px; text-decoration: none;" title="François Duvalier">François 'Papa Doc' Duvalier</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">Some of the most important members of the Tonton Macoute were </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haitian_Vodou" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0b0080; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 22.3999996185303px; text-decoration: none;" title="Haitian Vodou">vodou</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;"> leaders. This religious affiliation gave the Macoutes a kind of unearthly authority in the eyes of the public. From their methods to their choice of clothes, vodou always played an important role in their actions. The Tontons Macoutes wore straw hats, blue </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denim" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0b0080; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 22.3999996185303px; text-decoration: none;" title="Denim">denim</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;"> shirts and dark glasses, and were armed with </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Machete" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: white; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-size: initial; color: #0b0080; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 22.3999996185303px; text-decoration: none;" title="Machete">machetes</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;"> and guns. Both their allusions to the supernatural and their physical presentations were tools to instill fear.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 10.6666660308838px;">"</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">It is great to move all over the city with him, on tap-tap, motorcycle, by foot. Although I never feel uncomfortable or unwelcome here, Naoul makes it smooth as satin. He is a gentle and pensive soul, who lets me proceed in kreyol until I am eventually trapped by either party's incomprehension. As I have a week full of meetings, taxis can be expensive and the streets a tangle of markets, garbage, traffic and cul-de-sacs, he is precious to me.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Security Agent Naoul Senat with spagetti, the Haitian breakfast staple</td></tr>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; line-height: 10.6666660308838px;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">love and gratitude to you all, next chapter an update on the clinic in Marjofre. Bye, Louise</span></span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Getting better all the time - clinic in Marjofre</td></tr>
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Louise Lindenmeyrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16868999881703637483noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7763589012910854619.post-431243090533219242014-12-05T19:03:00.000-08:002014-12-06T04:11:42.079-08:00The Gods Must be Crazy<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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December 3, 2014</div>
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Hola comrades: Does anyone remember the South African film by this name released in 1980?? A french version of the film popped on when the power suddenly returned in a bedroom where I was staying in Port au Prince last week. It cracked me up. The film is described by Wikepedia:</div>
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<i><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">Xi and his San tribe are "living well off the land" in the </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalahari_Desert" style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #0b0080; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px; text-decoration: none;" title="Kalahari Desert">Kalahari Desert</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">. They are happy because of their belief that the gods have provided plenty of everything, and no one among them has any wants. One day, a </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coca-Cola" style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #0b0080; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px; text-decoration: none;" title="Coca-Cola">Coca-Cola</a> <span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;">bottle is thrown out of an airplane and falls to </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earth" style="background: none rgb(255, 255, 255); color: #0b0080; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px; text-decoration: none;" title="Earth">Earth</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 22.3999996185303px;"> unbroken. Initially, Xi's people suppose this strange artifact is another "present" from the gods and find many uses for it. (They employ it as a crafts tool, blow the top to make music, etc.) But unlike anything that they have had before, there is only one glass bottle to go around. With everyone wanting it at once, they soon find themselves experiencing envy, anger, and even violence.</span> </i></div>
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The film might seem trite now, but one can't avoid noticing the loss of innocence replaced by technology and commercialization when you travel in this part of the world. We deplore the soot-spewing cars, trucks and motorbikes, mountains of Styrofoam and plastic, drab urban malls that we exported years ago to the likes of Santo Domingo or Port au Prince. We come to a Caribbean island looking for charm and simplicity but are dismayed to see our own culture's dirty face in the mirror!! </div>
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Luckily, the ingenuity of daily life here that continues to amaze and bewilder far outweighs the negative; the fabulous and funny things I see and love sharing with you, dear reader .</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Am I too old to learn how to do this?<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fixing a flat on my moto in Thiotte</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px;">Lost tongs replaced by kitchen knives on a marimba used in the merengue tipico I danced to last weekend</span></td></tr>
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<span style="text-align: left;"><br /></span><span style="text-align: left;">I spent most of last week in a clinic run by Mennonites in the high mountains of Haiti, in a town</span></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;">called Oriani. I had been there before, and deeply admire the commitment of the people that established this haven for the sick and </span><i style="text-align: left;">super</i><span style="text-align: left;"> underserved. I was there to continue cervical screenings for cancer and follow up on some positive findings I had encountered there more than a year ago. I was happy that I had time to spend with the nurses there, teaching them the technique, and making plans for a collaboration with Fonkoze, a large and well-respected microfinance NGO in Haiti, who will be sending their women members from the region there for screening in the upcoming months. </span></div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">teaching Sonia and Githane the didactic part of <i>IVAA</i>, screening for cervical cancer using acetic acid </td></tr>
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Oriani is at 5000 feet, cool and green as you can see, full of plenty of nutritious food that gets sold every week at market to merchants who sell it in Port au Prince</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">direct marketing - a soup made of beef and plantains</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">On the road to Oriani you transverse a 7000 acre reserve of pine forest<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Each day at the clinic begins with a hymn and a prayer, led by a Haitian dok</td></tr>
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The first night that I arrived there a woman in her 20s came in who had a frightening story; her husband had mysteriously and suddenly died a few days earlier and in her grief, she asked someone to get her a cup of a home remedy to calm her down. The medicine was in an unmarked bottle, and the friend mistakenly gave her a swig of super-concentrated pesticide which was in an another unmarked bottle nearby. She gravely damaged the mucous membranes of her upper digestive tract, looked very jaundiced and was desperately begging for an IV which everyone here thinks saves you from death. She, the mother of 3 children under 4, had a terrified look in her eye and could not speak since the poison had burned her throat so badly. After much ado, she was finally transported to Port au Prince, with a fate this is still left unknown, but her prognosis is not good. Its no wonder that such a tragedy would make a people believe in the power of vodou. Why else would one have such a coincidental run of bad luck? The sadness of this single event leaves me with a deep respect for Keith Towes and his staff who confront daily challenges like this as they serve the villagers at the <i>Clinique Confiance en Dieu. </i><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Frere Keith with his peeps</td></tr>
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I am writing this now in Santo Domingo where all week I have been training nurses, on the last leg of my travels. I'll be in NYC on Sunday, God willing. Thanks as always for tuning in.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Love always, Easy Rider</td></tr>
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Project Runway, Haitian school uniforms</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It's blue in Thiotte</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">tangerine and melon are happening in Savanne Zombi</td></tr>
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DO YOU WANT TO DONATE TO THE CAUSE???? <a href="http://hispanolahealthpartners.org/">hispanolahealthpartners.org</a>, all donations go directly to Haitians in the struggle, foreign volunteers (like me) travel on their own dime. thanks, always<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />Louise Lindenmeyrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16868999881703637483noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7763589012910854619.post-45581401706711852942014-11-24T10:23:00.000-08:002014-11-24T10:31:00.177-08:00Notorious<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
November 23, 2014</div>
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Hotel Oloffson</div>
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Its Sunday evening and the darkness slowly wraps itself around the hills surrounding Port au Prince, and from my balcony I can watch the bats swerving in and out of the palms as they bend in the breeze. Choir voices waft upwards from the church on Avenue Christophe. I am guiltily indulging myself in 2 days of hot water, internet, fine food and exhilarating company at this remarkable Victorian Gothic style hotel. </div>
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Decked with creepy statuary made from wood carvings and recycled doll extremities, skulls, hub caps, spray cans, the shady, the grassy grounds are a refuge from the insane traffic, open sewers and dust of the city.<br />
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Baby Jane</div>
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Tonton Macoute</div>
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Baron Samedi </div>
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This place was built in 1896 by the Sam family and housed two of Haiti's presidents around the turn of the century. It's up a hill, providing cooler air and spacious views of the sea and city below. It served as a military hospital in the 20s during the US Marine's occupation, then became a hotel in the 30s, a bohemian hang-out for artists, writers, actors. Probably best known for the site of Graham Greene's <b>The Comedians</b>, all the rooms are named for the famous people who have stayed here: Jackie O, Edwidge Danticot, Mick Jagger, Katherine Dunham, John Barrymore, Amy Wilents, Barry Goldwater (?) I think its stunning too! </div>
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<i>Haiti </i>Say You Will - my room</div>
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I know I am digressing and I promise to get back to the point of bringing you all to this blog very soon. However, I feel like, as with many encounters of this trip so far, it is a good karmic sign that I met and hung out for a second time with Richard Morse, the hotel's owner and cousin of Haiti's president, Michel Martelly. Our link is a friend in common (Elizabeth Yoakum) from Lakeville, CT where he went to school (Indian Mt), and one September about 10 years ago he came up to Mt Riga one evening to a place Eliot and I were renting and we had a long talk about kids, music, politics. </div>
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HHP's prez Phil Wolf, HHP's medical director Roberto Peigne, yrs truely, and Richard Morse. Photo taken on the porch of the Oloffson by Daniel Morel, well known Haitian photographer who lives at the hotel <a href="http://photomorel.com/">photomorel.com/</a></div>
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So I came down to sea level after being up in the mountains for a week of clinic services that Hispañola Health Partners and our local partner AMBUF provided for the community in Marjofre. We provided 5 days of gyn, 3 days of dental, optometry, and general medicine. Final counts are not in but we probably serviced close to 300 people. Except for me and Erin (last blog), all providers were Haitian and the 100 goude ($2.50) that AMBUF charged for the consultation and meds will be invested into the further construction and infrastructure of the project. Trying from the start to incorporate locals in decision making, administrative duties, financial managing for the eventual <i>soti po</i> <i>blan yo </i>(foreign aid retreat), they are deciding how to best invest the near $1000 they raised. By charging the residents of the community for the clinic services, they too are contributing to its future. "May the circle be BROKEN" of eternal NGO handouts that unintentionally keep poverty entrenched. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">12 month old <i>Jeudi's </i>cheek abscess, as she calmly lies on her side on the table, <br />
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Tomorrow I have a meeting with the director of <i>Fonkoze, </i>Haiti's well-known microfinance organization, that is interested in our cervical screening program for their women members in the SE region. I am also meeting with the head of a cancer program in one of the local hospitals to help tighten up our referral system for women with findings too advanced to treat with cryotherapy. Tomorrow I am back in the boondocks to revisit the Mennonite clinic high up in the pine woods where I did screening 18 months ago to do follow up and help train a new nurse in the procedure. </div>
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So, my dear friends, thanks for finding a little flash moment in your day for peeking under this circus tent. It's fun to have you along, later, Louise</div>
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Louise Lindenmeyrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16868999881703637483noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7763589012910854619.post-18014642871797265752014-11-23T08:10:00.000-08:002014-11-23T08:10:59.668-08:00Mini Hostage Crisis in Haiti<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
November 14th, 2014</div>
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Set my specula free!!</div>
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Hello again friends and fellow wanderers:</div>
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I know there are a million things more important than 5 or 6 speculums stuck in police custody, but it was a rude awakening to come back to Haiti after 6 months and find that there had been a turf war between the Ministry of Police (UDMO) and the Ministry of Health (MSPP) in Anse-a-Pitres, and that my gear was caught in the middle. Last May, the Ministry of Health was enjoying the extra rooms provided by the adjacent UN Peacekeepers' property after the UN had left town. That is where we were doing trainings, exams, and the everyday clinic goings on. But sometime in July UDMO took over the property, waving high powered rifles around and confiscating all materials that were on the premises. Sad for MSPP, who lost vaccines, birth control, records, the ultrasound and much more. Our cervical screening program just lost some records, containers for decontamination, and the speculums we use for cryotherapy. Luckily a clever nurse was able to liberate a few and I brought one from NY, so we are in business. And gratefully, the cryo unit and C02 tank were somewhere else when the invasion occurred. Apparently the standoff should be settled soon. </div>
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I got to Pedernales, at the farthest western edge of the Dominican Republic 4 days ago and did 3 days of cervical screenings up in the hills along the frontier, at the house of a community leader and health promoter, Nansi Calbajal, on her kitchen table. Although she is Dominican, all the people that she serves in her community are undocumented Haitians and she welcomes them with a big warm heart. Considering the decades of hostility between Haitians and Dominicans, this is particularly uplifting.</div>
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Nansi at home with the world</div>
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The first day I arrived, the men of the community were shaving the hair off a 150# pig they had just slaughtered about 15 feet outside her kitchen door, and during the course of the morning I checked in on the butchering process, which was surprisingly neat and clean. The women didn't pay it any mind and marched right by into the kitchen one by one. They have some amazing first names: Macdounize, Kleumanta, Wislet. Privacy (HIPAA for those in the biz) just DOES NOT EXIST in this culture. As often as I ask my assistants to register people in private, it never happens - everything personal is a spectator sport in this land. We are asking them delicate things like how many partners they've had in a lifetime, and when the first time was that they had sexual relations - both have relevance to their risk of human papilloma virus, the precursor to cervical cancer. Today a 52 year old woman who had 9 children told the crowd she was 42 when she had relations for the first time! When I asked her again when we were alone, she told me she was 12. Some of us are better with the chronology of our lives than others; one woman yesterday had no idea how old she was when she first had relations, but knew it was during the time of Jean Claude Duvalier ('71-'86)!</div>
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Patient Registration - "Sans Souci"</div>
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November 22nd, 2014</div>
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Meanwhile I was waiting for my soul sister and fellow NP Erin Quinn to meet me in Pedernales before getting swallowed into the throat of Haiti. She had made a 28 hour Herculean trip from San Diego - red eye to JFK, JFK to Santo Domingo, was grabbed at the airport and whisked off to meet the 8 hour bus to Pedernales. The next day we were facing the "twisted horseshoe roll" (roller coaster vernacular) 4 hour motorcycle ride with bags upon bags of stuff; we had lots to accomplish in the short time she could dedicate to coming. Magically, Jeanne, our Haitian nurse who knows everyone but the Pope, found a minister to take us the whole way in <b>Climbing for Christ's </b>comfy Toyota Hilux, someone who also stayed with us and helped out with 3 days of clinical events in Marjofre. Gracias, Minister Miguel.</div>
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Erin with Jesus and his ride</div>
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Erin had come to teach <i>Matron yo, </i>or home birth attendants, how to judge a baby's respiratory status the first minute after birth and when the use of a tiny Ambu bag might be needed. All births in the region are done at home with the help of <i>matron yo, </i>elderly wise men and women who most often blend folk medicine and gently serve the spirits of the <i>loa</i> (Vodou).<i> </i>The 3 hour course was held in our yet unfinished health center that our organization, Hispañola Health Partners, is helping local Haitians complete and get up and running. We also made 200 clean birth kits with the help of the <i>matron</i> <i>yo</i> and members of AMBUF (our local committee). This simple kit, with plastic for the woman to lie on, a clean razor blade to cut the cord, clean twine to tie off the cord, gloves, soap for handwashing, and cute little cap for the baby to keep itself warm, are essential ingredients to help prevent maternal-infant infections with severe consequences. </div>
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<span style="text-align: center;">To help you get your bearings, we are are located in the Southeast corner of Haiti (Sud-Est), between Thiotte and Belle Anse</span></div>
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workshop underway</div>
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<i>Faktori </i>for clean birth kits</div>
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Proud <i>matron </i>with his clean birth kit, Ambu bag and suction bulb</div>
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That's it for now, please check in later today or tomorrow for further installations, since I am sitting pretty in Port au Prince with great wifi until Tuesday and will catch up on all the news that's fit to print. Love to you all, Louise</div>
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Louise Lindenmeyrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16868999881703637483noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7763589012910854619.post-4028231102820645612014-05-18T01:33:00.001-07:002014-07-08T19:03:59.049-07:00Weeds and deeds<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Bon nwit, zanmi yo. As promised in my last blog, I will write a little about <i>datura stratmonium, </i>also known as jimson weed, and other neurotoxins called tetrodotoxins, used in the process of zombification. Wade Davis, in his book <i>The Serpent and the Rainbow</i>, cites the case of the famous zombie, Clairius Narcisse. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Clairius on his way to his not so final resting place</td></tr>
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Mr. Narcisse, born in 1922, was not well-loved in his community; along with being a womanizer, having children with at least 5 different women, he also was involved in a nasty land ownership dispute with his brother. He quickly and mysteriously took sick and was declared dead by 3 well-respected doctors from the Albert Schweitzer Hospital here, and buried on May 2, 1962. He appeared back in his village 18 years later, much to the surprise of his family and neighbors, who all recognized him at once. Apparently someone (his brother?) had hired a <i>bokor</i>, or vodou priest, to make a mixture of human bones, plants with stinging spines and the bacteria that is commonly found on a pufferfish (watch out, sushi lovers). This mixture was secretly applied to a skin abrasion of his, inducing a coma which mimicked death. A few days later he was exhumed and force fed a mixture of datura, cane syrup and sweet potato which made him loose his memory and hallucinate. The regular ingestion of this formula kept him compliant while he worked in the cane fields. When his master suddenly died after 2 years, Clairius was free to roam the countryside, which he did for 16 years, until the effects of datura faded enough for him discover that his brother had died and eventually find his way home.<br />
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Now and then I pass a group of blank-faced field workers in black rubber boots and hoes in hand, all working robotically in a row under the blazing hot sun. <br />
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My final week here in Haiti found me transversing the country - I should work for the highway dept here and file a report - 5 of us took motos and a jeep for 11 hours from Anse-a-Pitres to Jacmel to meet with the head of the Ministry of Health for a meeting that never came to be. However, we powered on and spent 4 productive days in Marjofre, gathering with the local folks, discussing administrative issues with our Haitian partners, talking over the final floor plans for how we will divide up the space - patient waiting area outside on the porch and under a palm shaded front yard, 2 consultation rooms, a little ER, pharmacy, lab, maternity, a bathroom and administration. All in about 800 square feet.<br />
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This month we did 105 cervical screenings in 4 different towns, making our total count in the last year 575. Jeanne is now in charge of continuing the screenings and teaching staff. Many thanks to the donors for this project. We will be bringing the trainings to the southeastern towns of Belle Anse and Thiotte in the next year.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our team - Hispañola Health Partners - <i>Patnè Sante Ispanyola</i></td></tr>
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We have raised about a third of the $12,000 we need to finish the clinic, as we wait for 501 (c) 3 status, please write me at llindenmeyr@gmail.com to find out how you can make a tax-deductible donation now. Our new, improved website will be up and running in a few weeks - I'll be in touch. Our motto, created by the founder of the clinic, Fritz Regis (last guy on the left) is:<br />
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<b>LOVE PEOPLE</b><br />
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Tap-tap gallery - the flora of Port au Prince</div>
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Louise Lindenmeyrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16868999881703637483noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7763589012910854619.post-78459718453513926052014-05-10T09:01:00.001-07:002014-05-23T03:34:08.982-07:00Missing virgin<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Hello friends and fellow wanderers, you will have to read the entire blog before you get to the mystery for which this entry is named. Ja-ja, the Haitians are teaching me some crafty tricks!</div>
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The finish of week three on the set; the thunder just rolled off the mountains down to the Pedernales seashore with such a resounding <b><i>KABAMM</i></b> that it set off a few car alarms down the road. Probably the Red Cross vehicles whose drivers are loading up on beer and pollo frito at the restaurant a block away. Rainy season is full on and it took us all week to get smart enough to make it to the beach on time after work before the customary 3 hours of persistent afternoon rain. Everyone is thrilled despite the flooding and veneer of green is beginning to drape itself over the landscape of cactus and rubble. The air is 10 degrees cooler.</div>
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The three ring clinical circus I brought to Sant Santè Anse-a-Pitres has packed up and headed out - I'm super pleased with how the trainings have gone, and relieved that they are over. I began last week with the didactic part of cervical screening, followed by 4 days of practical application. The nurses were engaged and are on their way to becoming proficient. Jeanne will supervise them in continued learning in my absence. </div>
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The Speculators</div>
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The biggest feature was the captivating performance of Dr Mary Gratch, who dedicated a week's precious vacation, away from St Barnabas Hospital in the Bronx, to teach the docs and nurses here how to use the ultrasound machine that has been collecting a generous layer of red dust since it arrived here 3 years ago. No one had any clue how to use it. The word spread fast and the clinic has been packed with big bellied women for the last 4 days. Mary taught staff how to judge dates, head and placental position, moms could see the little baby's heart beating, with directions ricochetting around a hot, crammed room in three languages. She is a rockstar!! This can give the providers and families here a chance to do advance planning for perinatal emergencies like breach, placenta previa, fetal non-viability, etc. Just as a note, the first two births I saw here before Mary came produced dead babies, for a variety of reasons, most being total lack of prenatal care.<br />
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Dok Mary doin her thing<br />
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The UN Peacekeepers who were living next door to the clinic since the expulsion of Aristide in 2004 moved out about a year ago, so the land and the existing buildings have been lent to the clinic for the meantime. Problem is, there is no power there so the resident handymen have had to jerry rig a series of generators, solar invertors, twisting bare wires into ridiculous contortions and risking electrocution and the destruction of the fragile sonography unit. The machine is way tougher than we thought however, and behaved miraculously. None of this drama was prepared for before Mary and dozens of large women were waiting as 9:00, 10:00, 10:30 drifted by. Mary was a supa-troopa, <i>Gras a bondye.</i></div>
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There's a little Haitian proverb that might be apt for anyone coming to volunteer here: <i>Si ou renmen grenn anndan, ou dwe renmen po a tou.</i> "If you want the nut, you better like the shell too."</div>
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Using old UN trailer and my battery-powered projector for training</div>
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When the UN packed up, they took the Virgin with them - they kept the nut and left the shell </div>
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The Hispañola Health Partners team is meeting today in Pedernales to travel to Jacmel where we will further strengthen the collaboration with the Haitian Ministry of Health for our community health center in the mountain region of Marjofre. Many of you have generously donated to this cause, thank-you, thank-you. Along with the details of how this goes, my next chapter from deep inside Haiti will include a little more about the ethnobiology of witchcraft and various tetrodotoxins found here. </div>
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This is highly toxic <i>datura</i> which grows up in the hills, the base for atropine and scopolamine</div>
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bye for now, Louise</div>
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Louise Lindenmeyrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16868999881703637483noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7763589012910854619.post-36536378800926399432014-05-01T05:02:00.002-07:002014-05-01T05:04:08.660-07:00Goat on the road<br />
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Welcome back dear friends, to my first entry since last November, accompanied by the first rainfall today since that date. After a searingly hot afternoon, dragging my sweaty body back across the border, I sensed the unmistakeable ozone scent wafting through the windows as I was chowing down an enormous meal of <i>la pechuga</i>, chicken breast with salad, rice and beans. I realized it was pouring outside; the streets flooded with torrents of brown water, whirling plastic bottles, leaves and other detritus of life moving at breakneck speed. And me without my umbrella! <br />
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I returned to the Haitian/Dominican border a week ago - the first part of my month here involves teaching my colleagues at the health center in the little town of Anse-a-Pitres how to do cervical screening for cancer using a simple technique involving vinegar, a headlamp and cryotherapy for positives.<br />
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Community health promoters identifying my reproductive organs!!</div>
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This week I am doing three didactic workshops for promoters, doctors and nurses and next week will be doing practical training with patients coming to the clinic for screening. Dr. Mary Gratch, a friend and OB/GYN from NYC is joining me to do a training on pelvic ultrasound at the same time. Cluster-teach Haitian style!! It has been an arduous job translating Spanish PowerPoint presentations (175 slides), courtesy of an American organization that does similar trainings in Central America called Grounds for Health, as well as other training materials into kreyol with the help of my Haitian nurse, Jeanne. My search for an organization that does similar work to partner with has been in vain. Few non-profits access this far corner of SE Haiti, so the lone wolf continues to roam the hills.....</div>
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Last week I was joined by Lydia Marden and her daughter Sadie from my beloved old stomping ground, the State of Maine. Lydia is a nurse practitioner (we've been best friends since nursing school in the 70s) and Sadie is in her 3rd year of medical school. We did some cervical screenings in a remote fishing village about an hour by moto from Anse-a-Pitres. The "president" of the town owns the only recognizable business there, a bar of course, so we did the gyn exams on tables on the dance floor between the giant speakers, with a gorgeous cliffside view of the sea.</div>
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Sadie doing her exam between the Marshall stacks!!</div>
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our seaside clinic from out back</div>
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Things continue to improve from my perspective here, granted I am an optimist, but you can't argue when you seen the decommissioned cholera beds, plenty of staff running around and new construction underway at the health center. The addition is being built by a Spanish NGO, <i>Arquitectos sin Fronteras, </i>and will include labor, delivery, exam rooms and an operating room (can't imagine where the surgeon will come from) for C-sections, etc. We thought it would be done by now but there has been a little hold up in the funding. Solar panels now bring enough current to run a computer and the light for the microscope as well as a dull nighttime bulb in the little ER and a light trickle of water runs from some sinks. </div>
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Off the job and hopefully not to come back during the rainy season</div>
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<i>Arquitectos sin finanzas</i></div>
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more later, much love, Louise</div>
Louise Lindenmeyrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16868999881703637483noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7763589012910854619.post-64677305603536065632013-11-24T19:47:00.002-08:002013-11-24T19:47:31.351-08:00Moto mundo<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Dear Friends: the patient load was light this week because it started with a Haitian holiday on Monday, celebrating the Battle of Vertieres, which was Haiti`s final defeat of the French forces in their fight for independence on November 18th, 1803. The hero of the revolution, Toussaint Loverture, was deported to France by Napoleon the year before and died the next year in a French prison. His lieutenant, Jean Jacques Dessalines continued the fight. The Haitians heavily outnumbered the French, 27,000 to 2,000 on this day and made Haiti the second independent nation in the new world, and the first black republic. Dessalines went on to be Haiti`s first ruler, naming himself Governor General for Life. He was assasinated 3 years later by disaffected members of his administration.</div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">As an amature blogger, I struggle with trying to make these reports interesting to my readers. My days recently are so filled with cervixes that I wish to spare you much of the descriptive details, although it is a gorgeous universo in there. Therefore, I try to choose a different topic that you might be interested as a blog feature for each entry. This time the world of small motorcycles wins the nomination.</span></div>
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As you might have already gathered, I spend a lot of time for a more-than-middle-aged white woman on motorcycles. It is the only form of transportation unless you are so poor and have to use a donkey or are lucky, rich, or work for a non-profit and drive a car. Therefore, I am going to try to celebrate the two wheeler in this edition. There is so much I do not know, and never will, so I am only prepared to give you the perspective from the back end. Generally I feel very safe on the bikes, now that my former interpreter doesn`t interpret for me, one of his most important roles is getting me, my associates, and all our gear from Anse a Pitres to our destination safely. To do this, he chooses our drivers with elite discrimination.<br />
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The last blog showed me and <em>Yunior</em>, one of my favorite drivers. He loves me too because we listen to my iPod, one ear bud in his the other in mine, as we roll along. Everything from Y0Y0 Ma to the Joint Chiefs! He straps my CO2 tank on to the back of the bike with old strips of inner tubing, they grip really well and seem to trump bungie cords. There are no gas stations in the region where I work, so along the roadsides everywhere people sell gas in beer, rum or water bottles, all you need is one shot and you're ready to roll.<br />
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It isn't too fitting for an older woman to ask a pack of young men in deep concentration exactly what they are doing or how precisely it is done, so many questions remain unanswered about flat tire repair. There is really nobody or nothing you can not carry on a moto under 180 ccs. My favorite sensation, which I hear before I see, is the guy on the back dragging a dozen or so 20 foot pieces of rebar along the concrete</div>
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guess he just came from a big box store</div>
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Returning briefly to the reason that I am here in Haiti: Jeanne and I have done 108 cervical screenings and 8 cryotherapy treatments. The cost to you, dear donors, has amounted to $5.21/patient. Both the women we treat and the communities and health centers where we are received are happy to see us and very grateful for the service. Jeanne has now done over 100 visual inspections and 6 cryo treatments, well on her way to working independently. We will be doing a training of doctors, nurses and community health workers in the spring in Anse a Pitres, in the newly constructed maternal-child wing, financed by Arquitectos sin Fronteras.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">42 year old mom with dysplasia too severe to be treated with cryotherapy. We had to send her to the new University Hospital of Mirbalais, built and run by Zanmi Lasante/Partners in Health which has a wonderful cancer center. Your donations paid for her transportation, a 5 hour bus ride. </td></tr>
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As I finish this entry, I am back home in the cold north. Thank you, faithful readers, and will reenter this wonderful web again next spring, si bondye vle (God willing). Much love, Louise<br />
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Louise Lindenmeyrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16868999881703637483noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7763589012910854619.post-47191505180507103832013-11-15T13:12:00.002-08:002013-11-18T14:34:30.632-08:00from Jacmel to Jehovah<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Any Jungians out there willing to interpret???<br />
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A salute to my beloved friends and family back home with an intelligence (?) report and mission update. Due to who-knows-what snafus in the techno infrastructure, I´ve had a ·$%& of a time trying to get the pictures up and this off to you. I wrote the text last week.<br />
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November 8th, 2013 <br />
It´s been a wonderfully productive week working towards getting the clinic up and running in Marjofre. Last Sunday Phil and Patrick appeared in Pedernales, president and vice prez of the non-profit we have started to help move the clinic along, Hispañola Health Partners. We had a meeting with the department head of the Ministry of Health of Haiti (MSPP) of the SE province which was surprisingly positive. After 3 hours on motorcycle and 6 hours in car to get to Jacmel, we agreed we would be happy if he were just THERE and didn´`t blow us off. Instead Dr Ted Lazarre was enthusiastic and supportive and after we abide by a few not-to-impossible-to-fulfill requirements, we can expect them to partner with us in the upcoming year or so. That would help enormously in making the clinic eventually self-sufficient; MSPP would provide a doctor and nurse, a network of trained community health workers and the usual services (or lack thereof) of family planning, maternal child health, vaccines, TB, HIV and cholera prevention. We would continue with salary incentives to keep good staff, as well as supply the clinic with meds, equipment and a functional lab.<br />
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From left to right, Fritz Regis (founder of clinic in Marjofre), Phil Wolf, president of Hispañola Health Partners, me, Patrick Howell, Vice President of HHP after a victorious meeting with MSPP<br />
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Passing through Port Au Prince for the first time, we buzzed along the outskirts as fast as possible en route to Jacmel. Both hammered by the earthquake, i can´t say either place looks any worse than many other metropoli in the developing world, the usual piles of rubble seem like nothing out of the ordinary. Jacmel however is a seaside town of distressed majesty, gorgeous colonial buildings in various stages of crumble with salt air and intoxicating breezes/stenches coming off the freckled light blue bay.<br />
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JACMEL</div>
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Phil, Patrick ad I stayed there for an extra day and Fritz and his jeep returned to PAP to pick up a team of Haitian dentists who were packing themselves, folding dental chairs and all their equipment to do 3 days of consults in Marjofre. We 3 had to deal with the devil to get to Marjofre by sea, which looks painfully close on the map, but the roads are barely donkey worthy. So at 7:30 pm in the drizzle we sought a ride to the dilapidated port of Marigo, where we would take a 6 hour open boat ride up the coast to Grand Gosier. (I have taken you there before a few times). The only wheels we could secure were motos just a hair above mo-peds, my and Patrick´s driver had to use my headlamp for a headlight. When we got to the boat, which is a hollow hulled wooden structure resembling the Nina or Pinta without any sails, I expected to see it cargoed up to the gunwales with charcoal and plantains but instead the hull was lined with bodies stem to stern, eerily reminiscent of those slave ship drawings. Chuckles ripped along the curled up bodies as they watched the <i>blans</i> stumble their way on board with their enormous backpacks and clumsy feet. When it started to pour, the mates covered us all with a huge tarp under which you could hear a symphony of snoring, gurgling, wheezing, coughing an whistling of passengers in different stages of sleep. I stood up (there was no more lying room unless I wanted to get really friendly) with my umbrella sheltering me from the storm and watched the sky change from passing clouds to a packed house of stars, then a second light-show below as the phosphorescence was showing off as the wake broke off the side of the boat. The captain sang as he steered the boat in full darkness, creeping along the shoreline, never more than 40 feet away from the white rocks, cacti and thornebush scrub that was emitting this warm fragrance of butterflies, herb, woodsmoke and dried fish. A mystery mix of life unknown.<br />
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The fleet waiting for nightfall in Marigot<br />
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Agwe, voodoo god of the sea, watched over us<br />
We eventually reached the long wharf of Grand Gosier at 3 am and were greeted by our moto taxis who we presumed were going to bring us up the steep 8 km road to Marjofre where some comfy beds awaited us. But alas the road was too wet and we would have to wait, and anyway, a young woman in town was having a hard time giving birth to her first baby and they had decided I was going to help with that before I realized I´d dropped my flipflop into the deep water while trying to get off the boat. The mariners fished out my flop expertly and I was on my way up the cliff to the village. The 17 year old girl´s water had broken 24 hours before and her labor was ¨piddly´¨ as I think they used to say, 35 years ago when I worked as a midwife. Yet she was well dilated and almost ready to push, so I told her to walk outside for a while, meanwhile we hung our hammocks on nearby porches and tried to catch a few zzzzs. The baby´s heartbeat was great, so there wasn´t much for me to do, but ¨let God.¨ We left at dawn and her labor had picked up, I later found out she had the baby at 5 pm, in the company of an ancient <i>matron</i> or lay midwife. <br />
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We only stayed in Marjofre long enough to meet with the local clinic committee and see the dental and medical clinics going full swing, using a roaring generator for electricity and lugging water from the cistern.<br />
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Thanks to many of you, hundreds (don´t have the count yet) of dental and medical visits were done Nov 7, 8, 9th in our rustic clinic in Marjofre<br />
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Over the weekend I went to visit some old friends in Las Matas de Farfan and Elias Piña, along the Haitian/Dominican border, where I worked years ago. I visited the priest from St Teresa de Jesus, a jolly soul from Wisconsin who has been there for years. Just like a Dominican, he rips out his spanish in spitfire speed, all full of jokes and colloquialisms. In the same way he is supernaturally in touch with the community´s needs, and among thousands of other amazing things he has organized in the community during the last 25 years he has been there, his parish recently finished a vocational school for 432 high school students, in a former mansion of Trujillo, the notorious dictator, mowed down in the early 60s.<br />
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<em>El Jefe </em>was more prone to violating than educating young girls<br />
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On the 20 mile ride back to Las Matas de Farfan, our ¨carrito,¨or jalopy crammed with passengers, first got retained for 30 minutes because we were carrying some contraband garlic. I saw a few 100 peso notes pass hands with la guardia and we were on our way. Suddenly, at 50 mph the hood of our car flies up and hits the windshield, already worse for wear, now cracking it into a dizzying roadmap of crooked lines, brakes squealing, zero visibility.<br />
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a hip shot from the moto of the high rise tombs here in Haiti</div>
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Pretty grateful to Jehovah when I arrive alive, tank and all</div>
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November 15th : I just finished doing a whole bunch of cervical screenings in the mountain town of Thiotte, more later, much love and HAPPY BIRTHDAY ROSIE !!!!!</div>
Louise Lindenmeyrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16868999881703637483noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7763589012910854619.post-7748928504995236492013-10-31T18:18:00.000-07:002013-10-31T18:18:02.483-07:00washday and other activities<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Laundry day in center Anse-a Pitres<br />
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Last Sunday I decided to stop being a princess and do my own laundry. This created quite a spectacle as you might imagine, as everyone in this town assumes <em>blans yo </em>(white people) have maids at home to do everything for them. But I was surprised by the complexity of the routine. You head down to one of the raging canals that run off the mountain above town and zig-zag through every neighborhood. People wash themselves there, kids play, and that is our source of water for the house (I drink from a sand filtered vat). You bring 3 big pans, your kids and a little chair to sit in. You step into one of the chilly canals, being careful because its slimy and slippery underfoot. What a rush during the heat of midday! You fill the pan with water, being careful it doesn't pull you and itself down the canal with the force, and then you scrub each piece of clothing with a yellow bar of soap. Rinse each piece one by one in the canal. Sometimes you have to run after a escaped pair of undies, catching it 30 feet down the street. By now most of the kids in the neighborhood are watching you, rippling with giggles. You fill another big pan with <em>fab</em> and repeat the process. For white items you use the third pan, mixing <em>fab</em> and bleach, letting it sit for 20 minutes. Then rinse and soak for a few seconds in <em>indigo,</em> a blueing that apparently really gets those whites bright. You gather up your stuff and your little chair, and head home to hang the load.</div>
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The beach of the maleconcito of Pedernales</div>
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There isn't much good to remember about Hurricane Sandy which ripped through here a year ago, but I was amazed this year to go down to the beach in the Dominican border town where I enjoy the luxuries of running water, TV and internet, to also find the beach that had always been covered with impossible stones for barefoot walking, was covered with a lovely, thick layer of sand for as long as the eye can see. These fishermen bring in red snapper, eel, conch, lobster, crab and plenty more. The maleconcito is dotted with trailers that put out their own tables, chairs and domino boards and play a version of "battle of the bands" as they blast music from their own sets of megaspeakers. Fantasic way to end the day: cold beer, soft breeze, brilliant sunset, ka-ka phony....</div>
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I'm enjoying working back at the clinic this week, picking up where I left off 6 months ago and seeing a usual mix of pregnant women and runny noses, anxiety reactions, dizzy spells and a few VIA (cervical screenings) in between. There is no doctor here for the next week or so - we are an army of sisters holding the fort. Yesterday a typical Haitian country girl went into labor and was groaning the usual "<em>mezami</em>," "<em>manman mwen</em>," "<em>bondye</em>" (wow, mama, good God) when I heard her clearly say "<em>shit, man</em>!" several times over. Who says America is not a great exporter?? Her water broke early and it was stained with meconium, or baby poop, which is not a great sign. We could not hear the baby's heartbeat as she labored along, although with no 02, incubator or possible chance to have a caesarian, you truly just "let God." The baby came out not breathing and we sucked gobs of brown-stained secretions from its little nose and mouth, feet and hands looking liked they'd been dipped in "<em>indigo</em>." Miss Leana, the nurse with most experience (over 20 years, I guess), gently took the helm and began pumping its tiny chest a few times with her fingers and then flexing its little body back and forth as if making it do sit ups. 5 minutes of this, as well as the upside down hanging and tapping its feet, and you see the results!</div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jeanne doing "depistage," or visual inspection of the cervix with acetic acid (VIA)<br />
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I'm encouraged about the progress of my grand plan to teach VIA to several of the clinic staff in Anse-a-Pitres when I return next spring. With the help of other sister organizations that are doing this around the world like Grounds for Health and Basic Health International, I have begun to collect some materials in kreyol, French and Spanish and think about a curriculum that will work here. The people here are excited to learn and now Jeanne has done almost 50 herself. She will be the supervisor of the project once people are trained and the equipment is provided, and will make sure that at least 1000 women will be screened each yera at each site. My goal is to teach it in three major posts in this rough, remote rural district; Anse-a-Pitres, Thiote and Belle Anse over the next two years. Many of you have helped make this a reality - <em>avek lanmou, </em>Louise </div>
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Louise Lindenmeyrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16868999881703637483noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7763589012910854619.post-20355755743422192532013-10-26T09:37:00.000-07:002013-11-24T19:34:40.996-08:00Making contact<br />
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The open air Pedernales cinema has known better days</div>
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Bonjou mwen zanmi yo ,or 'hi friends'
I returned to this foresaken bordertown a few days ago, feeling stragely at home, far less stunned by the heat, noise, absurdity etc that hits an innocent where it hurts when he first arrives. Many old friends and familiar places, and always, the delicious 'fria' or ice crested Presidente beer at the end of the day to help me study war no more! <br />
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I still feel a little 'pants down' when I am in the heat of the battle, trying to speak in both spanish and kreyol, mixing them up incomprehensibly - except to my Darling nurse Jeanne who understands me in any language except english - at the same time that I am trying to be an efficient, sympathetic and competent health care provider. Sweating piggishly!
I went up to the mountains with Jeanne to do some cervical screenings for the last 2 days, as we had been invited there the last time I was in the región. We caught a ride up there in a CARE vehicle, and the driver, a friend of Jeanne )who knows everyone), floored the thing, 50 MPH over the road of heavy rock, a nice new jeep getting beaten like a criminal, spitting stones the size of cantelopes in its wake. <br />
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Your CARE dollars going to a good cause</div>
We made it there in good time but the clinic there is under construction so we had to set up in a little community center across the Street. Apparently the community health worker did not really do her job alerting the women, because no one knew we were coming, so we had to scramble to find someone to walk around town with a megaphone, which had no batteries. So after paying a guy for the batteries and sending him on his way with incentive pay, we were in business. We saw 15 women up there and I had plenty of time to spend teaching the technique to Jeanne, who will eventually be the supervisor of the cervical screening Project when I hand it over to the Haitians after the trainings over the next year.
Banane is a funky, grimey town. The only thing I really like about it is its river and surrounding canyon which is gorgeous, a 5 minute walk out of town. I took a dip in the super swift current at dusk. I needed to get ready for a klonapin night, where I was sharing a lopsided matress with gray sheets in a tiny filthy house with 8 other people. One of them was this 11 year old boy with Down's who walked around butt naked and was fascinated by everything I did and had. He mumbled incomprehensibly and danced provocatively with the pole on the front porch. Thank God I had a headlamp to stumble my way over the mounds of broken cement block in the front yard. No electricity anywhere. Anyway, I slept like a baby. The next day the ding-dong that I paid to walk around with the megaphone apparently left town without finishing the job, so only 5 women came yesterday. <br />
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I get frustrated and disheartened when people do nothing to help themselves as a community. The lack of that spirit here comes in painful pulses, interspersed with inspirational, tireless giving. My friend Peter, with whom I live thinks that all Haitians need to find God, because otherwise they are not good people by nature. Hummmmm.
Right now there is a lot of unrest between the borders. Apparently the constitutional tribunal of the DR just finalized a case that strips citizenship from offspring of non'residents, even if they were born here, or their ancestors were born here, trickling all the way down to when their original relatives entered illegally. This brings back ugly images of the time of Trujillo. laws from 1929, when thousands of Haitians or those dark enough to look like one, were slaughtered. There's a great article that Vali just sent me, Aparteid in the Americas. Are you Haitian?.
http://www.myriamchancy.com/apartheid-in-the-americas-are-you-haitian/
I understand of course that you can not let rivers of poor, needy, unemployed, illiterate people with their 10 children flow freely across the border and get free services from the DR that suffers from its own poverty. That's why Peter and I have these philosophical conversations about how Haití can help itself become a better place to stay. We and the rest of the international community, my my
My camera charge quit before I got to Banane. I hope to send a bunch of photos in my next chapter. Many, many thanks for all the help and interest you have offered. I always tell my women patients that their sisters in the US sent the service. bye bye, Louise <br />
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Louise Lindenmeyrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16868999881703637483noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7763589012910854619.post-12228511609236564182013-04-22T05:58:00.003-07:002013-04-22T07:19:48.656-07:00The work, the wandering, the widening lens<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Salutations! If you read my last entry, the second cryogun arrived in the capital a week after my other one gently exploded, and after being held in customs for 3 days, either because of tariffs or due to the fact that it looks like some kind of space-age weapon of destruction, I personally escorted it on the 7 hour bus ride back to the border. When I finally screwed it to the tank of CO2 as we were loading all our stuff on motorcycles for the hills, I pulled the trigger and some nice frost appeared on the tip, GOAL!!!!! I have to remind myself not to get too "clinical" with you all, or God forbid, descriptive, when I talk about the 197 gynecological exams I did on the women of the greater Anse-a-Pitres region over the last 2 weeks. I will leave you instead with the facts; I screened 197 women between the ages of 30-55 for cancerous signs of the cervix, treated 6 of them with cryotherapy, checked all of their breasts for lumps and bumps, uteruses and ovaries for abnormalities. In general the women of this region are in remarkable shape despite having up to 12 children, most of them born at home alone or with a local "untrained" midwife, no running water and challenging hygenic facilities. Although I was without lab tests to check for sexually transmitted diseases, I saw very few clinical signs of anything pathological, and luckily nothing I would judge suspicious for HIV infection. I was told by several Haitian health care workers that the women loved getting a comprehensive GYN exam; they are concerned about what is going on inside them, and have a very limited concept of their anatomy, disease processes, etc so fear reigns as the imagination soars. A number of them we found had fibbed their age in order to be checked! Alison Parker, a childhood friend who is a nurse practitioner from Vermont, accompanied me on the last week of my journey, we had a great back and forth on clinical impressions, she was welcome company and a good road warrior.<br />
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I had the pleasure of working with Dr. Robert Peigne, a well-trained, young, bright, compassionate doctor from the region I have known for several years now who did hundreds (I lost the count) of primary care consultations at the same time as I did the cervical screenings; your generous donations helped pay his expenses as well as for the medication we brought with us to the boondocks. He encountered the usual array of hypertensives (many), rashes, gastrointestinal problems. No cholera cases, no malaria or dengue, although we hear it is around. Presently the Ministry of Health is on a campaign with USAID to treat everyone for worms and filariasis, which is caused by a mosquito borne parasite that invades the lymphatic system mostly of the lower extremities and can cause elephantiasis. I have seen pictures of infected men whose scrotums reach the floor!! I took my dose.</div>
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Women waiting for screening in the clinic in Ansapit<br />
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Alison doing screenings in Majofre with my beloved nurse, Jeanne</div>
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Health care promoter, Jean Robert, distributing pills for vemin ak filaryoz</div>
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Me and Alison loaded for an hours' ride up to Thiotte at the end of the day</div>
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Me checking for kinks in the cryosystem, testing with an orange, in Thiotte</div>
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<b>The Wanderings</b></div>
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One of the places we worked, Banane, has the gorgeous Pedernales River running through it, girls carrying water home from there at the end of the day<br />
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I guess goat heads are sold separately in Thiotte<br />
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Le Souvenir, the post-Sandy restored boat that took us through the starlit phosphorescence from Grand Gossier to Ansapit last fall got rammed to bits yet again, now maybe forever disabled<br />
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My dream retirement home<br />
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I'm glad that typos happen elsewhere than just in this bolg<br />
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<b>The Widening Lens</b><br />
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When we got to Majofre to do the final three days of cervical screenings and primary care consultations, I was thrilled to see the scaffolding up on the half-finished clinic and a team of guys skimming a smooth surface of cement on the rough walls. This is an ongoing project for a few of us gringos and locals who want to realize the dream of having a full time functioning clinic in this remote district. It was started several years ago and now continues with the funds and moxie of Monsieur Fritz, a Majofre native who worked for 30 years in autobody repair in the Bronx and came back here to live. We are making progress getting the Haitian Ministry of Health to sign on, as well as forming an NGO both here and in the States to help with supplies, meds and salaries. Dr. Peigne, who I mentioned above, is committed to coming back to this roughed out building to do monthly consults, bringing specialists like dentists and optholmologists from Port au Prince. I plan to return in the fall, stay tuned and thanks for the love, Louise<br />
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Clinic entry way</div>
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This is the local team of health promoters, leaders and Mr. Fritz (top right) sorry that my early model i-phone has no flash making it challenging for black facial features at night<br />
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Patients waiting in one of the freshly skimmed rooms</div>
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Louise Lindenmeyrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16868999881703637483noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7763589012910854619.post-66767648934023955322013-04-11T19:31:00.000-07:002013-04-11T19:31:14.554-07:00An attempt to do this from another site off my ipad, I think I remember last time itwas not so successful. Getting to quaisi reliable internet is hard now that they have gotten very strict with border passing, I can no long flow freely on my "white face" visa, my passport has no more pages left from all the stamps that now the guys are stamping over old ones. I am staying tonight at my nurse's house on the Dominican side, she is a Haitian who trained as a nurse in the DR. She has been working at our clinic for free for the last 6 months; she would rather not loaf around doing nothing and keeps advancing herself, hoping she'll eventually land something. She ismy right hand- kind, efficient, energetic. We back and forth in spanish and kreyol as we greet the women, wipe down for the next patient, add in a few salsa steps as we go. <br />
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A few words about this project - cervical screening for signs of precancer is rarelydone in places like this, in fact if you have the ways and means to get a Pap done, or even know what the hell it is, the next challenge is getting the results back, not to mention treatment for people who test positive. I just read statistics from WHO that said cervical cancer is the number one cancer in women in poor countries; and the death is long and painful, you literally rot from the inside out. "See and treat" was begun in the 1990s in Asia and Africa, where by using simple white vinegar and a decent light, a trained health care worker could diagnose precancerous lesions on the cervix and treat with cryotherapy. A John's Hopkins set of very detailed manuals, at a site called jhpiego.com, is a great resource and has been my bible leading up to this trip. Many of the women here have never been screened, so I decided to begin on the first leg of the journey, improving my skills first and then supplying the clinic with the tools and training to do it themselves. It has been overwhelmingly popular here, the clinic is crawling with women between 30 and 55 all day long, some waiting for hours. This is a testimony to a band of health promoters who having been educating and recruting around the neighborhoods of Ansapit since last week.<br />
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Everything was perfectly in its place after the 80# tank of co2 arrived tied to the back of a guagua (ramshackel bus), which is what I use to do the cryo. But the moment I hooked it up with the regulator attached to the cryogun, a torrent of freezing gas shot out accompanied with a undeniable pop and I knew things were changing course - voodoo in a bottle¿¿¿. The new unit the company in CT is sending me has been held up in customs for 3 days for reasons unknown, but i have faith that I'll have it in my hands soon. The great thing here is that everyone here expects things to screw up so they are totally flexible and forgiving when it happens to you.<br />
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This guy came into the clinic yesterday spewing blood from a laceration about an inch long, right through the entire depth of his left nostril. Talk about body piercing¡ He was sobbing and rather hysterical while I was sewing him up, and I felt sorry for him when he told me between heaves that someone came right up and stabbed him with a branch. I told Peter, the guy at whose house I live in, about it later and he said, " Oh yeah, I saw that happen, he is a very bad boy. He was trying to steal pepe (second hand clothes that had just arrived in a big fresh bundle off a truck container) from my mother so my cousin hit him with a rock. Everyone knows he is a thief."<br />
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Louise Lindenmeyrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16868999881703637483noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7763589012910854619.post-83942204310193031692013-04-11T17:54:00.000-07:002013-04-11T17:54:19.624-07:00Spring is Cervical Screening in Ansapit<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<li style="text-align: justify;">Bonjou enko everyone who might bend their ears my way for a little while. If you have been following this blog since its creation in February of 2011, you will know that is about the work (I´m a nurse practitioner) and play I have been involved in the twin towns, Ansapit in Haiti and Pedernales in the DR. I arrived here about 2 weeks ago, this time with a mission to do cervical screenings on the women in Ansapit at the clinic where i have been working, as well as up in the hills. I arrived in Pedernales after the sweaty bus ride, sticking to dirty naugahide for 7 hours, only to find that my private chaufeur, Meris (below right) had dropped dead of a heart attack 26 days before. Apparently he had worked all day giving people rides as usual, was relaxing before going to wash up, stood up from a chair, said he felt bad and whap!!! He had taken me and many of my friends (even Nicolette) on long moto trips to the beach and the mountains,surviving flat tires and other calamities. He was also gentlemanly and would accompany me and friends to "La Mecca" to dance, the only "pista" that didn´t employ prostitutes. He was a smooth and easy dancer. I did catch him swigging from his flask now and then though he never acted smashed and never smelled like alcohol, however now people tell me he drank all day and smoking, well you could tell from his grater quality voice he was a puffer. Anyway, this first entry is dedicated to him.</li>
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TEam of health promoters getting ready to spread the word to the community about the availability of cervical screenings, using simple vinegar and then cryotherapy for postives.<br />
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Me in my usual position for the last 4 days, where I have done about 125 screenings so far.<br />
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Last sunday dinner at my Haitian family´s house, so delicious, better than many restaurants in the States, all made over a little charcoal stove on the ground - beef, beet salad, rice and beans with sauce and salad<br />
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Nasty road rash, motorcycle accidents are our specialty- luckily people are not going so fast, just skimming the pavement<br />
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I finally have a use for some old curtains I made from African fabric, the women feel relaxed in the exam room where we have colorful drapes and lots of good music off my ipod.<br />
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Suddenly half a dozen "washing stations" have appeared in Ansapit, apparently donated by the owner of Taco Bell who came to Ansapit and thought the people needed them when he saw them washin and bathing in the little canals that run through town. No one is using them yet, there is no water, but someone sitill managed to christen with a little graffitti.</div>
<br />Louise Lindenmeyrhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16868999881703637483noreply@blogger.com0