We support several projects throughout rural Haiti, including health clinics, schools, access to clean water, and various medical outreach programs.
Access to Basic Surgical Care in Grand Sud
In response to the 2021 earthquake, Healing Art Missions (HAM) began providing needed surgical care in the southern peninsula of Haiti (known as the Grand Sud). Initially, we thought our time there would be limited, but due to shifts in the geopolitical climate in Haiti and ongoing need in the area, we decided to stay.
Today, HAM is a trusted provider to a number of healthcare providers in the Grand Sud. Most of our work takes place at the Hôpital Ste. Thérèse de Mirogoâne in the Nippes Department where we support their work by providing surgical services, safe birthing, mobile vaccine administration, and emergency room support.
The reality is, the Department of Nippes is among the poorest regions in Haitian, in a country where the majority of the population lives in extreme poverty with less than 2 us dollars per day. Add to that the natural disasters affecting the region, including Hurricane Mathew in 2016 and the August 14th earthquake, the health crisis of covid-19, the gang control of Port-au-Prince and surrounding areas, and the escalating inflation rate; together, they make access to healthcare even more difficult in Nippes than in most all of Haiti.
HAM sees the great need in the Grand Sud for accessible and affordable surgical care. We have earned a positive reputation in the Haitian medical community due to many years of delivering quality community healthcare and our successful response to the 2021 earthquake. We have earned the trust of the Nippes Ministry of Health, Hospital health officials, and even Voodoo practitioners, setting the stage for HAM to partner with the local healthcare system to make affordable surgical and orthopedic care, safe birthing, and accessible vaccines a reality for the people of Nippes.
Safe Birthing Program
HAM has ben providing safe birthing in Haiti since 2017. Presently, our work is housed in Hôpital Ste. Thérèse de Mirogoâne where our midwife, Joël Saint-Cyr, works as the only permanent midwife serving 11 communes. Joel has assisted in over 200 deliveries and provides pre- and post-natal services to the women in his care.
A Clinic in Nippes
As a result of our work at the Hôpital Ste. Thérèse de Mirogoâne, Healing Art Missions has identified the need for a healthcare clinic in the area. The people of the region have few options for their everyday health needs, so we are hoping to fill that gap. In late 2022, thanks to a generous donation, HAM purchased land just outside of Mirogoâne. We are currently in the process of working with a Haitian engineer to produce architectural renderings of the clinic and will begin fundraising in 2023. We look forward to updating you on this project as it continues to develop and appreciate your support!
Clean water program
A primary building block for the health of any community is access to clean water. HAM employs two water technicians in Demier who monitor the 125 point-of-use filtrations systems provided by our partner, Gift of Water. These simple systems involve two 5-gallon buckets and use charcoal and chlorine filtration to purify the water. Our water technicians visit homes where the systems are installed to make sure they are being used properly and to maintain and service the systems.
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charles salomon primary school
The Charles Salomon Primary School (CSP) is a cement block building located on the North coast of Haiti in the Port-de-Paix neighborhood of Baudin-Gros Sable. Healing Art Missions provides financial support of the staff of 35 teachers that are employed through the school where more than 300 children attend class from preschool through 9th grade. Most of the children in attendance live in impoverished area of the neighborhood and would not attend school otherwise. All teachers are certified and the curriculum follows that set by the Haitian government and includes math and science as well as reading and writing French. Classes are based on the grade level, not the age of the students, as many teenagers in the neighborhood are illiterate and are attending school for the first time. The CSP School also supports an adult literacy program serving local adults.
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demier: supporting health care in rural haiti
Demier is a small farming community made up of 400 families living in a remote mountainous area west of Dumay. There is no formal infrastructure in the hamlet accessed only by a 3 hour hike into the mountains. Healing Art Missions employs 2 community health and water technicians that help administer vaccinations and basic public health services within the Demier community that consists of only a church, school and homes. HAM has installed 125 water filtration systems which are maintained by the water technicians who also provide education about clean water and disease prevention. We also try to send a medical team to Demier once a year to hold mobile clinic. However, we were unable to go to Demeir in 2019 due to the political crisis in Haiti, but programs continue to thrive under the management of Ferdinand.
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medical missions
Medical missions trips generally take place when it is safe to travel. Missions are composed entirely of volunteers who pay for their own expenses, including travel. While medical professionals often make up much of the teams, others with specific skills, knowledge and expertise are often involved to help share and develop their talents through the challenges and perspective-changing environment of Haiti. Our philosophy for working in Haiti is to provide employment for Haitians in a country where the unemployment is 80%, so our volunteers work along-side Haitians. Volunteers do not constitute cheap labor, they are partners with the community working, sharing and learning with people from a very different background and perspective. Through such experiences, HAM volunteers often discover a deep connection with the complex world that is Haiti and become ambassadors advocating for Haitians and HAM. Teams to Haiti are composed of volunteers who go not to do-for but to do-with the community, to supplement the Haitian medical professionals working at HAM’s Centre de Santé Communautaire de Dumay and to share their knowledge and experience with the population, as well as to learn.
Past HAM missions have involved the creation and development of our medical clinic in Dumay, as well as mobile medical clinics to various other communities in Haiti including Cite Soliel, Croix-des-Bouquets , Delmas 33, Demier, Gran Ravine, Jacmel, Leogane, Penier, Petionville, Port-au-Paix, Port-au-Prince, St. Marc, and Warf Jeremie. Non-medical teams have been involved in a variety of projects including the installation of solar collection and storage systems, IT installation, clean water projects, various building projects, organizational systems, and education.