Making a Healthplan for Life for Haitian Children

 We have made some excellent design progress in the last few weeks on our proposed Sho-Ping Chin Health Clinic for Children. We have finalized a very efficient floor plan which includes two exam rooms, restroom, storage, staff areas, and sizable interior and shaded exterior waiting areas.  This design also reflects input from children in the local community, with their visons of the new proposed Health Clinic (see uploaded photos herein).  A structure and envelope design is also in the final stages. We expect to issue these documents to our Haitian construction partner in the next few weeks for final construction cost estimates.  Once we have finalized an agreement with our Haitiian construction team, we will initiate the planning and materials procurement process, to start construction in the next few months. We are very excited about our efficient and thoughtful design that has been created by our team (including input from those to be served by the Clinic) and the pending construction start!

Dear Friends,

Since January, when our year-end fundraiser concluded, we have been working hard. It is behind the scenes work which rarely provides good images or relatable stories to post but, none the less, is real progress.

Our design team which includes architects, engineers, landscape architects, signage and graphic designers, construction managers and sustainable design consultants has been developing the details of Phase 1 of the Sho-Ping Chin Clinic for Healthcare and Education. The design has advanced enough for a general contractor in Haiti to provide us with real-time pricing and schedules which we will report on in our next quarterly report.

We have also been working to lay out the healthcare delivery plans and goals for the next year for the children. And we have found an IT consultant group who works for several non-profits in Haiti. They will help us develop a program that allows us to track data and adjust our healthcare program in accordance with both the children's needs and our goals of changing how the children perceive their right to healthcare.

Other Board Members have been working to raise money via on-line campaigns such running marathons, providing professional services pro-bono in exchange for donations, raffling off vacation home stays and donating percentages of income from on-line sales of Haitian imported products. Also, we are finally at the stage in which we can compile and present grant proposals for the program to allow us to operate in the children's interest for many years to come.

As always, we are extremely grateful for your support and look forward to reporting on exciting events in the coming months.

Thanks to our generous donors and matching funds from the Gates Foundation on Global Giving Tuesday, the first phase of construction of the Sho-Ping Chin Clinic for Healthcare and Education at Foundation Montesinos in Titanyen, Haiti is fully funded. A rendering by our Board Member, Gerard Georges, shows our vision for the site. The clinic is named for Sho-Ping Chin, one of our co-founders, who passed away in June, 2015. Her extended family has supported our efforts and we are very grateful.

The first phase will include one of two building structures of about 500 sf each, the connecting courtyard, and the foundation for the second building as well as all the utilities. The second phase will include the second building of the same size, and sustainable infrastructure such as solar panels. While the facility is operating in the first phase building only, the building will be used as a medical clinic and an education center with secure storage for all medical supplies and equipment.

Once the second phase is complete, the first building will be built out as a full time clinic and the second building will house the education center for classes, and computers for the children to access medical information, their medical profiles and class information.

Over the last three months, our healthcare providers, PoumonTEK have been very busy with the children as well. All of the children have now seen a dentist and an optometrist for the first time in their lives. PoumonTEK also hosted a special holiday party for the children where they made papier-mache and received special gifts. The campus has been restored to its original pre-Hurricane Matthew condition including all of the sustainable agriculture and animals, thanks again to our generous donors.

Our next report will include more details of the design and an update on our Spring Fundraiser.

Happy New Year to All!!!!

The month of September was a very active one for SHH and our Partners, PoumonTEK and Foundation Montesinos.

(As I write this report, Hurricane Matthew is battering Haiti. Foundation Montesinos is on the west coast of Haiti, just north of Port-Au-Prince, between the mountains and the sea. It will sustain damage from winds as well as possible landslides. Soon we will get reports from our partners there and we imagine extra medical help will be needed. We are poised to help not only the children but the many other families in the region who will seek shelter in FM's buidings. Please consider an additional donation to help with any relief efforts.)

Design Charrette: Board Members Lee, Gerard and Cassie, accompanied by our incredible interpreters, Emmanuel and Wendell Alphonse, ran a fun and successful design charrette with the 90 children at Foundation Montesinos. The team members brought suitcases full of donated art supplies for the children to use to create their vision of what their building, the Sho-Ping Clinic for Healthcare and Education, should look like. The youngest children used markers and crayons to draw their ideas, the older children used popsicle sticks and bass wood, and the oldest children built fabulous models of the building itself. The team was struck by the children's use of color and geometric shapes and are looking forward to using these ideas in the design of the building.

Staking the Corners: Board Members Gerard, Lee, Neil and Miriam worked on staking the corners of the foundation for the new clinic building. And Board Member Lyris's father (who owns Tecina, a construction company in Port Au Prince) met with the team on site to prepare for the survey and develop the most cost effective solution to building on the slope that overlooks the mountains. The team brainstormed about how to use sustainable materials to get natural light into the facility while preserving views and maintaining security.

Medical Examinations: PoumonTEK along with our newly engaged Dr. Joey, saw all 90 children. Over the last three months they accomplished the following:

1. Assessed all of the children and created a medical record for each one in the electronic charting data base.

2. Administered de-worming medications to all the children.

3. Brought medications such as: antibiotics, vitamins, cough and cold syrups, Tylenol and hydrocortisone creams. 

4. Trained FM's staff member, Daphnee, on medication administration and provided her with the medications and schedule for administering to the children.

5. Met with the cooks and the house parents for the boys and girls, and held classes on nutrition, focusing on the right mix of proteins and grains from food that is available in the immediate area.

6. Set up an appointment with a dentist, who will do checkups and prophylaxis. SHH brought toothbrushes and toothpaste which will get distributed to each child. The children will be shown a video on brushing which also explains the medical importance of caring for their teeth.

7. Established the baseline for what vaccinations are still needed and arranged to secure these vaccinations at no cost.

One important medical finding was that the girls have a lot of vaginal itch. The plan is for PoumonTEK to hold a class on hygiene, and the water source will be checked. Also an effort is being made to help the children make eye contact which is not easy to do for the Haitians in low socioeconomic communities.

Through the new internet connection online classes which have already been prepared can be shown on asthma, colds/viruses, hygiene, misconduct, respect, sexually transmitted diseases (when age appropriate), etc.

Additional future plans include developing a program similar to Big Brother/Big Sister. PoumonTEK has invited volunteers to mentor the children to help build up their self-worth and self-esteem. Nurses also participate. For example, one nurse takes charge of 5 children, to develop a personal relationship, with the goal of getting them to confide in their new healthcare providers.  Also, Dr. Joey has provided access via his private practice in Port Au Prince to telemedicine. This provides the children with access to medical specialists such as surgeons and infectious disease doctors not easily reached in Haiti.

Thank you and happy autumn to all!

The last three months have been preparation months for Sustainable Healthcare for Haiti.

Our Board Member, Lyris, spent several weeks in Haiti, where she was able to review with Foundation Montesinos the progress that our healthcare delivery partners, PoumonTEK, have made with the children. Despite a difficult rainy season that washed out the main bridge that accesses the site, PoumonTEK was able to visit the site twice. The first time, the healthcare providers developed medical records from the available information (which is very minimal). The second visit, the nurses were able to see all 90 children and begin the evaluation of their health. Sadly, they suffer from what would otherwise be easily manageable health problems, were they in a country like the US. Their dental hygiene is poor which can lead to several medical problems, many have asthma and a few have more serious illnesses. Very few have ever had any vaccinations.

Lyris was able to confirm the availability of internet at the site as well.

Other preparation are underway by three of our Board Members, Gerard, Neil and Lee.  They are preparing for a three day trip to Haiti this summer and for two main goals- to run the design charrette with the children, and to survey the site selected for the Sho-Ping Clinic for Healthcare and Education. Pictures of the site are included below.

The design charrette is meant to allow the children to participate in what they feel a place of well-being would look like so they feel a sense of ownership of the building and therefore their health future. We hope to engage the students in visualizing their environment and future clinic by using graphic tools that are appropriate for different age brackets. This can also be an educational opportunity, teaching the students about drafting concepts and conventions. Lee and Gerard will lead this effort and will have both still and video cameras to capture the process.

Lee, Neil and Gerard will also use a combination of surveying and measuring tools to survey the site, and even possibly employ a drone for aerial photos. This is sure to delight the children.

Back in the US, Board Members Miriam and Margaret will meet with PoumonTEK at their offices in Miami to review the data collected to date and establish the next year's operational and healthcare goals for the children.

Board Members Amy, Carolyn and Cassie are also working over the summer to prepare our next fundraiser which will be an Architectural and Engineering Trivia Night. Our goal is to raise another $10,000 for the remainder of the construction work that needs to be done on the Sho-Ping Clinic Building as well as another $5,000 to run a comprehensive dental hygiene course, screening and provider visit for all the children.

We are at a very crucial moment in our work. We have recently received some very generous donations and are so close to being able to launch all aspects of our project. Please consider making a donation this year and passing this report onto anyone who may be interested in supporting us.

Happy summer to all!