It is with great excitement that HHA’s new Maternity and Paediatric Unit OPENED on 9 April 2012!
We’ve been building towards this for several years, faithfully accompanied by our generous supporters. Our Head Nurse described the opening day as a ‘victory’ for Haiti and our Hospital Chaplain described huge excitement and eager anticipation of many mothers in North Haiti, sharing his hope about the powerful effect the unit will have to reduce maternal and child hood mortality.
With two birthing suites, a 15 bed public ward, 7 bed private ward (income from which will be channelled into operation of the public service) and OBGYN operating theatre, the Maternity unit is ready to help the Haitian government tackle one of the biggest health care needs in Haiti. Alongside the Maternity wards is our 7 bed neo-natal unit, and 17 bed Paediatric unit. These new wards will be operated by more than 20 new staff who began providing a fantastic service on the first day; within hours of opening we had our first two children admitted to the paediatric ward, one critically ill in a coma and under intensive care by our team. Working with love, dignity and compassion they embody everything we hoped for in the unit. Read more on our blog Carwyn and Reninca’s most recent blog – What a Day.
It’s been a truly incredible journey getting to this point, and we’re incredibly thankful to all of our supporters. Please continue to spread the word and also support the running of this new unit, changing the face of child birth for mothers from some of the poorest communities in North Haiti.
Links:
Building on the excitement of opening our HHA’s Rehabilitation unit, one of the first in Haiti, late last year, we have some really encouraging feedback from the unit’s head nurse and our rehabilitation patients.
Head nurse Mme Magloire reports how patients tell her the unit has given them a reason to live; in a country where people with disabilities are known as ‘worthless’ this is truly remarkable. She says they would never have imagined receiving the care they get daily; a holistic programme of physiotherapy, rehab. excercises, a resident psychiatrist to facilitate mental rehabilitation and wellbeing, and vocational activities. It is brilliant to have this feedback, and it is an endorsement of our goals to challenge attitudes to disability in this country; even starting with those who are themselves disabled.
Rehab patient Fritzner Eugene is particularly impacted by the approach of the nurses to their work. “They give us dignity,” he says; “I couldn’t have imagined finding this kind of care in Haiti.” Fritz is also amazed at his own physical healing and progress since he arrived at the unit; “When I came my two wounds were larger than a hand each. Now they are less than the width of a penny.”
What’s more, early in the year we received confirmation of a partnership with the UN’s Community Violence Reduction Team, to begin building a disability sports centre right next to the Rehabilitation unit. Sport is an incredibly powerful tool to overcome the awful stigma people living with disabilities have to face in Haiti, transforming attitudes and helping communities understand disability, so we’re really excited to begin this work which will be a hub of activity, providing indoor training facilities for seeking to join Haiti’s paralympic movement. It will also support grass root activities for kids, teenagers and less competitive adults offering wheelchair tennis, wheelchair basketball and sitting volley ball.
As you can see we have a lot to celebrate and also a lot to work for; can you join us by donating to our Rehabilitation Project? Please help us provide on-going support to those learning to live with disability and grow our work encouraging Haitian society to embrace their adults and children with disabilities and benefit from their skills and contribution.
Links:
It’s been an exciting start to 2012 with new staff, new equipment, training opportunities and, thanks to our incredibly hard working outreach workers on the Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR) team, life changing surgery for three beautiful children.
We have a new administrator which is great news and our teacher is delighted to have some new specialist equipment in the school room and has also received training to make sure the children get the most from it.
The absolute best news to share is that the CBR team managed to find a surgery opportunity and secure appointments for three of our children with hydrocephalus; a build-up of fluid in the brain at birth which increases pressure in the brain and causes brain damage plus mental and physical problems.
Three mothers and their children were taken by the CBR team to Port au Prince for assessment. You can imagine that leaving the safety of rural Cap-hatien was a massive adventure for them, and also very daunting.
After initial assessment they were asked to return a week later to receive life changing surgery. This was exciting but also scary for them and it was great that we could share experiences of past surgeries with them to reassure them. The children all underwent surgery, having shunts fitted which will allow the fluid to drain from the brain, decreasing pressure in the brain and allowing them to develop normally.
This is an amazing new beginning for these children; thank you so much for helping to make it possible. Would you like to help create more life changing opportunities for disabled children in the Nord region of Haiti? If so please partner with us again by donating today. Thank you.
Please remember you can also get regular updates by checking our website news page and blog.
Links:
