Many of you have seen the news over the last 2 months in Haiti. The situation for our partners is challenging, but we are heartened by their resolve.
In light of recent events, we have revived our podcast on healthcare in Haiti. While the security situation in the country is difficult to grasp, lack of healthcare is easy to understand.
The most pressing health concern is lack of food. The population of people in Haiti that face acute hunger is an even 50%. This is the second-highest rate in the world behind South Sudan (53%). To put this into perspective, this is higher than the immediate aftermath of the devastating 2010 earthquake, and in 2014, only 2% of Haiti’s population faced acute hunger.
As always, hunger affects children the most. An estimated 277,000 children face acute malnutrition and the rate is the highest in our department, Croix-des-Bouquets.
Fortunately, our clinic is built around holistic care, particularly for children. Moments like these are why we exist. Through great difficulty, our partners were able to obtain cases of ready-to-eat Plumpy’Nut from the north of Haiti and ship them on commercial buses to the clinic.
Many, many healthcare facilities are closed across the country. The main Port-au-Prince hospital was finally overrun and closed by gangs; patients were left behind as staff fled. Despite briefly closing consultations, our clinic has been back open for the last month. Our telemedicine link is also back up and running, allowing both myself and our other doctors to resume seeing patients.
We know that working in Haiti is a long race, requiring persistence and flexibility. You have to be able to bend, but not break. Although it is cliché, it is fundamental to our ability to continue to see patients.
Peace,
Tram Jones
Medical Director
Our clinic is one of the few healthcare centers that remain open in the Croix-des-Bouquets area. Most of the staff are pictured here – they are such inspiring leaders!
