Help Save Newborns in Haiti

We have good news to report! We have been approved for a major grant from USAID that will fund upgrades to the pediatrics building at Justinien University Hospital in Cap-Haitien, Haiti. The building has a solar array on the roof, but a lack of staff and replacement parts has resulted in the array being inoperable, and the hospital continues to rely on the Haiti electrical grid for power. The electrical grid is prone to long power outages, which is often fatal to patients who rely on life-saving equipment that requires power, such as incubators and oxygen concentrators. Once finalized, the USAID grant will help us address this urgent need with JUH, our oldest and largest partner in Haiti.

However, the need for emergency medicine and supplies for newborns remains. Backup power doesn’t mean a thing if there is nothing to run on it. That’s where this fundraiser comes in.

Morality reviews conducted in the JUH pediatrics service show that many newborn infant deaths are the result of an inadequate supply of emergency medicines and supplies. Konbit Sante supports the salary of a full-time assistant facilities manager who is tasked with monitoring inventory in pediatrics. When supplies are low, he alerts us and the hospital leadership so that the inventory can be quickly restocked before it is depleted completely. We purchase emergency medicines and supplies at low cost and partner with other nonprofit organizations to ensure they are delivered swiftly and efficiently.

Your support is essential to keeping this program afloat. Once reliable backup power is in place at JUH, we can combine it with the essential medicines and supplies to greater ensure that no child dies needlessly.

There is a traditional Creole saying: Piti piti zwazo fé nich li. (Little by little, the bird makes it nest.) Individually, we can make a small difference. Together, we can make a big one.

Links:

• Organization website

Recently, a mother from the mountainous area of La Boule near Fort Bourgeois brought her newborn infant to the Fort St. Michel Health Center, one of our healthcare partner facilities in Greater Cap-Haitien. Her baby was delivered at home during the night, and began hemorrhaging from the vaginal area shortly after birth. The mother was in a panic – the baby was covered in blood, and she had no means to pay for health care.

Konbit Sante helps offset the costs of indigent care at FSM and supports the salaries of agents de santé (community health workers) at the facility, who provide prenatal and postnatal outreach consultation in addition to their many other duties. Thanks to that relationship, both the mother and her child, pictured here, were able to receive free health care for one month.

We are happy to report that the baby is healthy and has returned home, where agents de santé are conducting follow-up home consultations.