Those who read this monthly Newsletter or follow HAM on social media are well aware of the civil and political unrest in Haiti over the past year. You also have an idea of the frustration founding medical director, Dr. Tracee Laing has felt in not being able to visit HAM’s medical clinic in Dumay for the last nine months. So, it was a great relief when Dr. Tracee and long time HAM board member, Dr. Leslie Mihalov, landed in Port-au-Prince and made it safely to the Dumay clinic on January 19th. The doctors arrival in Dumay brought more than just the supplies not available in Haiti they had been waiting to bring, more importantly they reinforced HAM’s commitment to the clinic staff and the community. The success of HAM’s programs in Haiti are built on a trusted partnership between HAM and the local community developed over the past 20 years. HAM’s commitment to the communities where we work does not waiver despite Haiti’s extreme civil and political problems, and our physical presence in those communities has always been, and remains, critical.
All of that said, the most striking take-away from Drs. Tracee and Leslie’s visit to Dumay was the clinic staff’s professionalism and commitment to the community, especially during such challenging times. While most of Haiti has been locked-down for six months in 2019 with hospitals, medical clinics, schools and many businesses shuttered, HAM’s Dumay clinic has remained open and staffed the entire time. When our doctors living in Port-au-Prince were not able travel safely to the clinic, our local staff led by head nurse Guerdy in phone contact with Haitian medical director, Dr. Jacques, continued seeing patients, performing lab tests, issuing prescriptions and delivering babies. Clinic operations weren’t affected by national power outages or fuel shortages as the clinic runs on solar power and our own water well and water purification systems. This allowed for the Dumay community to retain access to health care and clean water while the vast majority of Haitians were locked-out of such access.
During their week in Dumay, Drs. Tracee and Leslie performed their usual functions of supplementing the Haitian doctors treating patients, assisting Dr. Jacques with surgeries, performing home visits, and meeting with Dr. Jacques and all the department heads. You can read their posts from the trip on our Facebook and Instagram feeds to get a sense of their day-to-day activities. But the heroes of this story are our Haitians staff. While their country is in sociopolitical tatters with so many people losing their jobs or paychecks from the country wide lock-down, our staff kept the clinic open and operating close to normal. Their dedication, professionalism, and commitment to their community are truly exemplary. We are so proud of our Haitian staff whom have again proved that empowering Haitian and providing them with the necessary resources is a model for success.