Physical Health Haiti Project #17766

Making a Healthplan for Life for Haitian Children

by Sustainable Healthcare for Haiti, Inc

Project Report | Aug 5, 2023
An Emergency Evacuation & New Home & a New Program

By Miriam Tuchman | President

The Last Truck to Leave FM

Dear Friends,

A lot has happened since our last report. I'm copying below a report from May 1st which describes the emergency evacuation of our beloved campus. For now, everyone is safe but we have no idea when, or if, we will be able to return:

Report from May 1, 2023 - After the assassination of President Moise, an undemocratically elected government took over, propped up by outside interests, and Haiti has been in chaos every since. Gangs control large sectors of the country and most especially the shipping and roads.

Until now we’ve been able to secure the campus with guards and we had various member of the staff make food runs. Thanks to the full time nurse, water filtration system, and the farm, the campus, children and staff were able to sustain themselves for a very long time. Our staff made contact with the local gang that controlled the area and that gang committed to leave Fondation Montesinos alone and allow staff to come and go for the purposes of food. Our medical clinic down the road, ALOM, also had committed to remaining in the area.

Last week a rival gang to the south started pushing into the area. Mission of Hope across the street evacuated their hospital and orphanage but we stayed put for the time being. We were making alternative plans though in case things got worse. The rival gang was pushed back to the south. The school had been closed for weeks but we still had 62 children on the campus and about 17 staff. Most of the children are orphans who live there but some are school children who couldn’t make it home safely come.

Finding a place in a safe area of Haiti for this many people isn’t easy.

But yesterday we got word that the rival gang was planning a second push into the area. A crisis team formed, and through the incredible bravery of our Haitian staff, they brokered a deal with the local gang and communicated with the police who agreed to secure a corridor for us to evacuate the children and staff. Which we did safely.

We left behind 4 security personnel.

Today we got word that the gang climbed the walls, cut the barbed wire and took over the entire campus. They have set up on the high ground in front of the clinic because they have an unobstructed view of at least 2 kilometers of the road and miles of lands. They are locked in a gun battle with police.

In the meantime we have secured a lease on a 6 bedroom house in Delmas for the children and staff who are grateful that we were able to get them out in time. The picture is a screen capture from a video of the last truck to leave our campus and screen captures of videos of the children telling us they are safe.

The crisis team that formed to stage the emergency evacuation has been working with the Government to obtain approvals for the new location. The staff has worked tirelessly to enroll the children in new schools, find proper furniture for the new house (while the children slept on the floor), renegotiate food deliveries, and create a routine.

Meanwhile SHH has decided to focus on two major initiatives as follows:

Enroll the older children in a program called Kids Connection and develop once and for all the Thumbprint to Healthprint Electronic Medical Record that allows the children to access their health history from the cloud with a thumbprint. It also gives the children the tools to take responsibility for their own well being. If there was ever a time that this was needed, it's now. Since this report is already very long, we will provide much more detail in our GG next report, however, details of the Kids Connection program are posted on our social media sites already.

Send us prayers and good thoughts. Haiti must be given the right to self determination soon and the tools to achieve this.

The Boys Tell us They are Safe

The Girls tell us They are Safe

Permalink

Apr 10, 2023
In Their Own Words

By Miriam Tuchman | President, SHH

Proposed Courtyard btw Clinic and Ed Center

Dear Friends,

I used to look forward to writing these quarterly reports because it gave me the opportunity to look back over several months and take stock of progress. It also gave me the opportunity to reassess decisions and strategy, and provide good news to our donors. Now I approach these reports with dread.

We are grateful for all the past support that has allowed us to put in place some very important and sustainable programs (clean water from an on site water source driven by solar energy, a healthcare clinic with a full time nurse, a secure campus and appropriate housing and bathing facilities for the children, an on campus garden and farm animals for some reliable food sources, a basketball court and a playground for the children’s regular exercise, etc.). The staff and children are, thankfully, mostly able to sustain themselves without leaving the safety of the campus, however, this isn’t completely true. Our funds right now are going to ensure that all of the hard work we’ve put in over these last 14 years will not take a step backwards. And our staff takes regular risks to continue to provide for the children. My report this quarter is therefore an excerpt from the monthly report of our excellent Executive Director, Wendell Alphonse. I think his words mean more than I could ever say:

___

Dear everyone,

I hope you are doing well. From our side, not very good. School at the foundation is closed again this week due to gangs shooting between two clans. The government and the national police remain unpowerful regarding this issue. So we are continuing to pray so God could protect us and bring us peace.

As mentioned last couple months, we have decided to stop the contract with the social worker because she was not able to come to the office and even work remotely.

I personally went to IBESR this week to give them a letter from the orphanage asking them when they are going to visit the site and renew the orphanage legal paper as required by Food For the Poor to provide us food. The receptionist responded to me that the only way to renew this paper is by sending their team to evaluate us. Since it is not safe to go we will have to wait until it is safe for them to go. In the meanwhile, they are sending an email to FFP to explain the situation so they can continue to provide us food.

Please kindly receive below the monthly report (January, February 2023) for the Foundation.

Regards,

Wendell

___

Sincerely, Miriam & The Board for SHH

Permalink

Dec 19, 2022
Leveling the playing field

By Miriam Tuchman | President

The Sho-Ping Chin Clinic for Healthcare &Education

Dear Supporters,

The children and staff are all alive and well.

This is our news for our fourth quarter report. We are heartbroken that we cannot report on progress with the playground, educational, health and nutrition programming, solar panel installation, trauma counseling and many other initiatives we’ve developed over the last 14 years. However, violent gangs now control Haiti, there is no government to speak of, and the population is at risk for starvation and cholera deaths according to all independent reports.

Our children and staff are safe, though, because, with your help, we have built a resilient community.

-They have a secure and reliable clean water system on campus.

-They have dedicated staff including a nurse, a psychologist and administrators who are all working hard to maintain a normal life.

-We also have ALOM, our medical care partners, who, despite the danger, continue to provide for the healthcare needs of our children.

-We have teachers who are dedicated to the mission of teaching children that they have a right to a healthy life and how to advocate for themselves, their families and their communities.

As we cannot do much in country, we are focusing our efforts on three very deserving young adults who are graduating from our program. Yes, this is one of our major successes along with our partners: St Dominque’s, Boilermakers for Haiti, Food for the Poor, Chalice, and Fondation Montesinos, and we wish to continue with this important progress. We have an opportunity to support them to go to a country in Asia, where our former director now lives with his wife and child. The program will provide a visa, language education and then an educational degree program in a healthcare field toward a degree in medicine, nursing, therapy or technical services such as radiology tech. So, for our year end campaign, can you donate $25? Or better, yet, can you donate $25 and forward our link to 10 friends? While we are all in this together, crisis makes inequality worse. We are striving hard to level the playing field.

The Board of SHH wishes you all a happy and health holiday season.

Permalink

‹ 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 ... 12 ›

About Project Reports

Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.

If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can recieve an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.