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| Birthday cake delivery boy in matching Tee |
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:
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| 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
Travels with Louise
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 Santé Communautaire de Marre-Joffrey, a health clinic located deep in
the Southeast.
Louise Lindenmeyr is a nurse practitioner and the executive
director of Hispañola
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.
Hispañola
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 19th century
colonial architecture.
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.
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| Ribbon cutting of clinic on inauguration day, February 21st, 2016 |
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| This woman delayed treatment for a deep neck ulcer, showing up on our doorstep with her problem hidden under a scarf |
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: gofundme.com/25rbfe8e
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| 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. |
Despite Baron Samedi's taunting presence in Haiti, we carry on with the youthful optimism of these delightful carnival sprites. Please help us win the battle at: hispanolahealthpartners.org or send a donation to HHP 374 Taconic Rd. Salisbury, CT 06068
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| Carnival sprites |
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!
Many thanks and stay tuned for more about our cervical screening program next time, Louise
