11 February, 2016 13:37

February 4, 2016

Our days have been very full with a variety of activities. With the help of Cecile (a nurse practitioner that traveled with us and donated a month of her time) we have distributed several Days for Girls kits to young ladies at two of our schools. These kits are reusable pads for the girls’ monthly menstruation. The girls presently use cloth and because of the undependability of leakage often miss school during their cycle. A group of women in Michigan are busy producing many of these kits for us. Along with training the girls how to use the kits we are explaining why they have periods, it has been amazing to us that the teachers don’t know the reason women have cycles. I am glad we can offer this education.

We have made several trips up the mountain to Kalabat helping to teach Fr. Gracia some better accounting skills to help him in managing the parish better and more efficiently. Cecile is French by birth so her translations have been priceless in this process. It is sad she needs to return to the US this weekend.

Then of course the medical emergencies: yesterday as we were about to leave Kalabot Johnny asked us to take a two year old boy to the hospital. He had fallen and broke his arm. We brought him to the hospital in Gros Morne, but they still don’t have their x-ray machine repaired so we needed to take him to Gonaives an hour away on a very bad road. We didn’t arrive in Gonaive until 6:30 and I said to Cecile that the x-ray tech will probably not be there. She said oh no it’s a regional hospital they have to have a technician on duty at all times. I went to park the truck and as I joined the group Cecile said you won’t believe this they don’t have a technician, but they do have a orthopedic doctor on duty. So we stayed to see the doctor eating in shifts food we had purchased on the road.

The examination room we went into in this beautiful new hospital was filthy; there was blood on the floor, sharps container with no lid overflowing with dirty needles, a urine bag full of urine thrown in the corner. Beautiful shelving but the shelves were empty. It is so sad that so much money was invested in this facility, but no one stuck around to train people how to run the facility correctly. We see this time and time again, money being spent but not the follow through to see the project to a sustainable end.

The doctor gave us a prescription for cotton, casting material, and a ace bandage. We went to the pharmacy who gave us a bill and then to the cashier to pay for all but the ace bandage they did not have. We had to have Johnny go down the road to buy the ace bandage. The doctor put a cast on the arm, although he did not have an x–ray, and told us the baby needed to return in the morning for an x-ray. The young cousin of the child who was babysitting for him at the time of the accident and came with us stayed with relatives in Gonaive so she could take the boy for x-ray in the morning. Johnny, Cecile and I started our journey home.

We found out the next day that the baby’s arm is indeed broken and had not been set correctly. Last Friday when we were planning to go to PAP, so Cecile could fly back to the US on Saturday, we thought we would take the baby and his mother to the hospital in St.Marc, so the bone can be set correctly. But the Mother decided she was going to take the baby to a natural healer instead.

I have been looking for grants to apply for so Bob and I can continue our work here in Haiti. For the past three years we have received a salary so we can live in Haiti to cover our living expenses. I have spent hours upon hours reviewing perspective foundations to summit a grant to, but one after another specify they do not give grant funds for operating expenses and will not support religious work. I understand the reluctance to support the salaries of the workers; there have been much publicized abuses of the system. Unfortunately the people that truly are on the ground doing the work are not in the news.

My observations here in Haiti are that programs run from other countries without representation here are a waste of money. The beautiful hospital being a prime example; the Haitian people have not owned anything so they have no concept of maintenance. Without education on the dangers of spreading dieses through body fluids they do not take the proper precautions. The staff has not had the opportunities for proper training for the necessary skills to operate such a facility to the level I am sure was intended.

There are many examples I could site, there have been books written on the subject. I truly believe it takes living amongst the people sharing in the hardships, helping with their day to day problems, attending the funerals, that they then truly trust you and accept the leadership you are offering. If our work here is truly coming to an end, as for us living here, I don’t think the Center will ever reach sustainability. The people just don’t have the education and skills necessary to take things to the potential they could. So I will continue to seek funding for us to finish what we have begun. Please pray for us that God will direct these efforts to the right ears.

Thank you for your prayers and your interest,

Denise