Provide Rehabilitative Care in northern Haiti

Hello STAND Family!

I hope this email finds you are well and relaxed after a rather toasty and wet summer!

As I am sure you have all heard, the situation in Haiti is getting worse and not better. People who are able to leave the country are leaving and those who have to stay have limited food, clean water and basic life necessities. Gangs have created a reign of terror in which people are afraid to leave their homes in fear of being killed or kidnapped. Although Port de Paix remains relatively safe,  the effects of the gang controlled areas are clear. One of the biggest problems is that people with money have left the country . This includes many of the medical professionals who ensure that hospitals and clinics are up and running. This means that there are very few clinics and hospitals open. Those that are open are not open consistently and there is a HUGE risk  in traveling to these clinics, especially in gang controlled areas.  

Thankfully, due to all your contributions, our clinic is still open daily. Not only is the clinic open, but we are continuing with the home visits, nutrition programs and family training programs. Our adult therapy clinic continues to work with adults with all kinds of aches and pains, strokes, and wounds. They also continue to educate the community about diabetes and blood pressure management. Our new PT Junior is up and running and is already seeing his own caseload under the guidance of Sainfolia and Nancy.

Our pediatric clinic continues to see patients in their new location. They have found some local community members who have been helping to build wheelchairs and custom equipment to allow the children to attend school and access their environment at home.  We also recently ( finally!) received baby formula and so have been able to provide several families with formula to help feed their babies.

Home visits have increased during this uncertain time as many families are afraid to travel long distances to seek treatment. Home visits address several issues including, creating care plans for children with disabilities, education about nutrition as well as post funeral visits to ensure that families have what they need after a child passes.

Although our clinics are still going strong, we are also feeling the effects of the economy. The cost of electricity is exorbitant. Because of this, we are no longer able to use the treadmill and bike that we purchased last year. We are looking into buying a solar panel to provide electricity for the clinic so we can continue to use these vital pieces of equipment. We need your help to do this!

Thank you for helping us keep out clinic up and running!

Hello STAND family!

      As I am sure you have heard, Haiti is experiencing extreme turmoil right now. The president has resigned and gangs currently have control of the country. There is no place that is currently safe in the capitol and chaos has taken over. Almost all of the healthcare facilities have closed in the capitol because they are out of supplies and the staff fear for their lives. Port de Paix is far away from all the chaos, but that does not mean that the lives of our community members have not been touched. Many of the families in Port de Paix have loved ones in the capitol and many have family members who have been killed or kidnapped. Additionally, the cost of all supplies has skyrocketed, and food insecurity is at an all-time high.   Our clinic in Port de Paix is safe and remains open, but we are one of the few places that is still able to serve our community. We are operating at reduced capacity as home visits are no longer safe and it is much harder for our patients to reach our clinic. That being said, our clinic still continues to see a full caseload of people who have had strokes, aches and pain, wounds, as well as  help with diabetes and high blood pressure management and education.

               This month we were sad to say goodbye to our PT Sam who is traveling to Canada to get her doctorate in PT. We are so sad to see her go, but very excited for her future and all the doors that this will open for her. We are thrilled to welcome Junior to our team. He will replace Sam as the PT at the STAND clinic. He is fresh out of PT school and comes to us with amazing ideas and strategies on how to best help the Port de Paix community. He is also from Port de Paix and is happy to be home again.

               Our pediatric clinic also continues to remain open, although at a much-reduced capacity. Children and their families come from all over Haiti to come to our pediatric clinic for clubfoot, casting, nutrition management and education. Since it is unsafe to travel from other parts of the country , many families have not been able to participate in the activities that the clinic has to offer. Our nutrition clinic is still running at full force although we are no longer doing home visits due to the safety of our staff. For the families who are able to come into the clinic we still offer the full array of pediatric services from physical and occupation therapy, splinting and casting to building medical equipment for the kids.

               We thank you for your support during these trying times. Our clinic remains open because of your support. We will continue to remain open as long as it is safe for our patients and staff.

Mesi Empil!