Making a Healthplan for Life for Haitian Children

This week was a very busy week for Sustainable Healthcare for Haiti.

First, our internet line was installed by Digicel, just ahead of the launch of primary care services at the (Interim) Sho-Ping Clinic for Health and Education. Starting the third week of April, our partner, PoumonTEK, will begin the healthcare screenings of all 90 children who reside at Foundation Montesinos. The staff will also begin the education sessions with the children on many different aspects of their primary care services. PoumonTEK has also recently agreed to set up the pediatric, ICU and emegrency care services at Hospital St Francois de Sales which means that should any one of the children become seriously ill, s/he will be able to go to this hospital for care. In Haiti, care is divided by region, and if there is no hospital in the specific region (such as the region Foundation Montesinos is in) a hospital in a different region will only take a patient of they have bed space. This is why the relationship between our primary care provider and the hospital is so important.

SHH also held its annual fundraiser in Downtown Boston at the Boston Society of Architect’s event room. The evening was attended by many friends and colleagues as we all remembered Sho-Ping Chin. There was a silent auction and excellent food including home baked goods by our Board of Director and Secretary, Cassie. FOther great food was generously discounted thanks for efforts by our Board of Director, Carolyn.

Several members of the Board are also preparing for the Design Charrette which will take place at Foundation Montesinos this summer. A Charrette is an intensive design effort focused on a single project. In this case, we will be working with all the children to design the new clinic building. The children will be divided by age group and participate in age appropriate design projects in which they express what they believe a building for good health, education and well-being should look like. Their ideas will then be used in the final design documents.

SHH has also secured, and through a crowd funding campaign, paid for, all the remaining bed nets needed to help protect the children and staff from diseases transmitted by mosquitoes that can cause serious illness. Thanks go to great friend and supporter, Anthony, for spearheading this effort.

Our next fundraiser is scheduled for September and will be a trivia night with questions about Architecture, Engineering and Construction. It should be lots of fun so stay tuned! Thank you for all of your support and Happy Spring to all.

In the summer of 2015, Sustainable Healthcare for Haiti lost an invaluable team member, Sho-Ping Chin. A wife, a mother, a friend, and an incredibly accomplished architect, Sho-Ping was integral in the founding of SHH and our growing community.

Sho-Ping was a leader and an extraordinary woman who was dedicated to providing healthcare and places of healing to the most vulnerable in Haiti and around the world. Sustainable Healthcare for Haiti will march on with the hopes of fulfilling her aspirations and will look forward to naming our first healthcare facility The Sho-Ping Clinic.

Team members are traveling to Haiti in January, to develop the site plan for the structure as well as coordinate the installation of an internet line (there is no internet connection at Foundation Montesinos at this time). The line will allow SHH to create a mobile hotspot for the Interactive Medical Profile to be deployed this spring by community health workers.

Additionally, the children will all be screened for asthma, and treatment will be available for those who need it, and bed nets will all be installed in the sleeping quarters.

The team is also preparing for two fundraisers in March and October with goal of having sufficient funds to complete the construction of the Sho-Ping Clinic by the end of 2016.

From everyone at SHH, we wish you a very happy 2016.

Sustainable Healthcare For Haiti’s (SHH) construction and design team have collaborated extensively, and have recently completed preliminary design on the new modular (and expandable) Health Clinic for the Foundation Montesinos (FM) Orphanage, in Titanyen, Haiti.

The new structure is proposed to be set adjacent to existing Foundation Montesinos Classrooms, Kitchen, and existing Assembly areas.   Proximity to the existing spaces noted above will enhance efficient use of the clinic, coordination with the school/orphanage, and effective security during Clinic off hours.

The New Clinic will be simple and efficient built from durable and local building materials, in addition to maximized use of local Haitian trades for construction of the facility.   The building will meet design standards for durability and strength to the highest level, in addition to meeting U.S. standards for wind and earthquake resistance.   The following local materials and trades will be used:   reinforced concrete foundation, reinforced masonry exterior walls, stucco coatings, single slope metal roof system (with rainwater capture) adhered to hurricane force winds (local) steel sub framing.   Also, local Haitian metalwork skills will be an important (and effective) design element for window and door security grilles, common to the area.

The design also takes into account the very limited local natural resources available.   All electricity needed to operate the clinic will be run from rooftop solar photovoltaic (PV) panels. These panels will also be secured with perimeter (locally made) metal grilles and security screens, to ensure long term use of the PV panels and battery storage electrical systems.   Water use in the clinic will be minimal, for handwashing only.   Restrooms are available in adjacent buildings, which eliminates the need for restrooms within the Clinic.   Water will be pumped to the clinic from the existing well, for use in the New Clinic.   Water conservation is a paramount concern in addition to sanitation which must be maintained at all times.

New construction in Haiti must always consider local material availability, local skilled labor, in addition to constructing resilient, safe, durable, and efficient structures.   We feel that our current Clinic design meets these goals, and will house effective healthcare for the Foundation Montesinos orphanage, for years to come.

• Plan of Clinic (PDF)
  

March was an active month for SHH. Three members travelled to Haiti to meet with the Ministry of Health and secured approval to provide the proposed health services. In a second meeting with Digicel, the local telephone and cellular network provider, the team negotiated a fair rate as a non profit to provide the necessary infrastructure and IT services to the site. And finally, the team met with our partners who are very excited about the project. In additional to delivering close to 100 lbs of necessary dental and infection control supplies, the team reviewed the requirements for a Community Health Worker and a Part Time Nurse.  A new board member, who is a doctor, will be the point person working with SHH. She has already identified local Haitians from the immediate area who meet the job requirements.

Later in March, SHH held a successful fundraiser at The Social Bar and Restaurant in Newton.  Enough funds were raised to pay the Community Health Worker's salay for a year. There was good food, wonderful silent auction items and plenty of fun for everyone of all ages.

The next few months the team will focus on the development of the software and placement of the IT services on the site.

The volunteers of Sustainable Healthcare for Haiti will be launching the project over the next few months. In a trip planned for March, members of the team will meet with the Ministry of Health to receive documentation related to the hiring of the Community Health Worker and the Part-Time Nurse as well as receive approval for the planned design of the clinic rooms. We will also be meeting with Digicel who will be helping to develop the mobile hot-spot that will allow the tablets to connect with staff in the United States. A third meeting will be with the Board of our partner, Foundation Montesinos, to discuss in detail the health education currriculum and plan the design acitivites for the children.

The second trip, planned for April, will include volunteers who will build the clinic and greenhouse. 

Additionally, we have a fundraiser planned for Thursday night, March 26th from 5 pm - 8 pm at the restaurant Social in Newton Corner. There will be a silent auction, music and other entertainment. The goal will be to raise the $15,000 needed to support the salaries of the Community Healthworker and Part-Time Nurse for one year.