June 25, 2016
“For I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the Lord; because they called thee an Outcast, saying, This is Zion, whom no man seeketh after.
— Jeremiah 30:17
Haiti is considered “…a medical backwater, an island trapped in a time capsule where disease, disability and death stalk impoverished Haitians year after year.”
— Helen Redmond,
A journalist and a Licensed Clinical Social Worker
Community Health Care System in Haiti
The people of Haiti have struggled with poor health for many generations and the country’s failing health care system was devastated even further after the 2010 earthquake. While much of Port-au-Prince lay in ruins, perhaps the greatest long-term loss was 50 health centers, part of Haiti’s primary teaching hospital, the Ministry of Health, and the death of hundreds of medical professionals. Only months later, Haiti’s health care system was further ravaged by the country’s first cholera outbreak in a century.
The Minister of Health (MSPP) in Haiti is like the Social Services Department in the United States. It is the responsibility of the MSPP to provide all clinics with supplies for programs such as vaccinations and malnutrition education, as well as the funds to pay salaries for the health agents and medical staff. However, the MSPP has little money and is unable to fund these programs properly. We realize that we cannot depend on the MSPP for funding to continue our Community Health Care Outreach for thousands of families living in remote areas. The burden to continue these programs falls on Love A Child and our caring partners.
Love A Child is considered as the most trusted source for Community Health Care in the Ouest region of Haiti. It is one of the more challenging outreaches we do, but we have been able to make a difference to the people of Haiti on so many different levels. Families that receive care from our Community Health Care Outreach have no money, very little food and live in extremely remote areas. Most of the Haitians in this region have never seen a doctor in their lifetime. The average life expectancy is 63, though this elderly grandmother is defying the odds by many years. Just look at this beautiful face!
Jesus Healing Center
When the Lord laid it upon our hearts to build this medical clinic on the Love A Child property in remote, mountainous Fond Parisien, we quickly realized that we were once again being pushed to take a step of faith… We completed the Jesus Healing Center in 2008, and it now provides health care for the poorest of the poor throughout the Fond Parisien area and beyond. This is only possible because of our wonderful partners, like Joyce Meyer Ministries–Hand of Hope, that is dedicated to helping those in desperate need.
The Jesus Healing Center has grown tremendously, especially in the last year. We treat thousands of patients in Fond Parisien and surrounding areas. Just two years ago, our community clinic treated an average of 2,000 patients each month, now it is over 9,000 each month!
We are so thankful to our partners who sponsored the building of our Jesus Healing Center and we are thankful to Joyce Meyer Ministries – Hand of Hope, who sponsors the operating costs each month. This includes paying for medicines, all doctors, nurses, and employees salaries, and much more. Because of help from Joyce Meyer Ministries – Hand of Hope, we can offer the best possible care to the poorest of the poor. Each morning the staff and patients come together and pray before we start the day. The staff is thanking the Lord for His faithfulness in this blessing of a clinic for the people, these devotions are a sign they will be treated with grace and mercy as they enter our care.
Barbara MacMannis is a RN and our Medical Administrator. She leads by faith and the staff and patients of the Jesus Healing Center are so aware of the blessings of this clinic. It meets the needs of the patients, respects them as people of God, and hopefully shines a light for the love of the Lord in everything we do and say.
As word spreads about the excellent care patients receive at the Jesus Healing Center, we find ourselves bursting at the seams. Our four doctors, two residents, and eleven nurses have been able to increase our patient load from 100 to 150 a day to keep up with the need, but our problem was where we would put all the added patients.
Without the funds to add on to our current building we have looked into our extra spaces for storage, and re-configured to increase our maximum use of the existing building.
Although our Jesus Healing Center does not really “deliver babies” as a hospital would, there are many times when a pregnant mom arrives at our gate for her prenatal check-up and has already delivered a baby before the doors can open. This was the case when we were trying to send a pregnant mom to the hospital; she just made it as far as our ambulance parked outside the Jesus Healing Center! What a cute baby ! Mother and child are doing well!
Mobile Medical Clinics
We make several trips into the “regions beyond” each year to bring mobile medical clinics to people who live in these remote areas, many of them have never seen a doctor. We are so fortunate to have many medical professionals who volunteer their time to come all the way to Haiti to care for the very poor who travel many hours to receive medical care at one of our Mobile Medical Clinics.
This group of volunteers joined the Mission Team for this journey, and like every Mobile Medical Clinic trip that we take into the “regions beyond,” we start with our pharmacy preparations so that we can bring medical services and medicines to the very poor.
It may take up to three-to-five hours to reach some of the remote villages where we bring our Mobile Medical Clinics. These remote villages are high up in the mountains of Haiti, and most have little or no road to get there.
We are in the middle of nowhere, and hundreds have come early to our Love A Child Mobile Medical Clinic. These poor people are in such great need. Thank you to our volunteer mobile medical teams for being part of our Community Health Outreach Programs.
We take medical care to the “forgotten people” in the “regions beyond.” Thanks to our routine trips, children living in remote villages are being vaccinated and given medical care. Families also receive classes about hygiene, nutrition, and safe home deliveries. Since we visit on a regular basis, the vaccinations are complete and we are able to track the health status of these children.
Many Haitians in remote areas tend to have very large families because they often lose several children due to common childhood maladies or malnutrition. Because of the excellent care that this family has received over the years, all ten children have survived.
When we travel into these remote areas we often hold a clinic for three to four days. There were so many people that need medical attention because there is no medical help out in the “regions beyond.” We are the only opportunity for these Haitians to receive any medical attention at all.
We recently held a Mobile Medical Clinic in Savaan Pit that was incredible! We saw many patients, who all received excellent medical care, free medicine, wound care, glasses, ministry and more. Here are the amazing results of this trip. In just two days, we saw 1,377 adults and children, distributed 6,713 medications, saw 180 in wound care, gave out 174 pairs of eyeglasses to the elderly, had 45 “plus” conversions (with follow up program), we did one surgery and sent three “near-death patients to the hospital!” Just look at the crowd on the second day of the clinic!
We finally had to close the clinic when we ran out of medicine, but were able to give each mother a “Family Pack of Medicine” to take home! We want to thank the Lord, the team members, and thank you to our partner who sponsored this clinic and to those who gave large and small gifts to make this possible! God bless you!
Families are given a Family Medical Pack that gives them essential over-the-counter medicine for what may be common ailments for us, but for Haitians, it can be life-threatening if left untreated. It is so important to follow up with these families each time we visit their village.
Our mobile medical teams “touch Haiti’s sick” in a variety of ways: not only by tending to ailments and dispensing medicines but also by demonstrating God’s love through personal compassion and commitment to helping the poor. Psalm 22:24 says: God listens to the cries of the needy. As instruments of God’s mercy, we cannot do less.
Please consider contributing to our Community Healthcare Outreach programs that save lives in Haiti:
Your gift of $1,000 will sponsor a remote mobile medical clinic for an entire village. This includes medicine, vitamins, and other supplies.
A gift of any amount will help us provide emergency care, like sending someone to the hospital. Please consider how you can improve the life of someone in Haiti.
For only $52 you can deworm 300 children that desperately need it.
You can sponsor a family pack of medicine, giving basic OTC meds and supplies for only $20.
$50 for 50 children to be able to be seen at a mobile medical clinic
Please prayerfully consider becoming a partner,
as the need is far greater today than ever before.
Your support will save a life!
We also have an urgent need for Love A Child Mobile Medical Clinics: As our Mobile Medical Clinics to the “regions beyond” are continuing to grow, we need your help. We have a constant need for “suture kits,” burn medicine (Silvadene), and Blood Pressure Cuffs, (these can be used). We prefer the older types that are not attached but would love any type! We also need “otoscopes” for checking ear infections. If you can donate any of these items, please send them to our Love A Child Office at:
12411 Commerce Lakes Drive,
Fort Myers, FL 33913
“Attention: Sherry”
God bless you,
Sherry
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