Meet Duroné Nadège

By: Sergisson Milord

Duroné Nadège has been working at Healing Art Missions for one year and, in that time, she has become an indispensable asset to the HAM team. In her role as Head Nurse, she is the backbone of the Operating Room. She prepares supplies, sterilizes equipment, and is responsible for scheduling.

Nurse Nadège enjoys the work she does and says she enjoys helping. "I like all parts of my job. I like coming in to work in the morning to manage the operating room, talking to the patients, and preparing the materials."

Nurse Nadège's careful attention and work ethic have helped HAM's reputation grow in Haiti's southern peninsula. She shared that, prior to HAM's arrival, "There was only one surgeon for the hospital and he only worked two days per week. If there was an emergency, they had to transfer patients to another hospital or wait a week to see a surgeon. Now that Healing Art Missions is at Ste. Therese Hospital, this has all changed. Now we manage all of the cases. People with life-threatening issues, such as strangulated hernia, would have died waiting or trying to get to another hospital under the old system, but now they have access to care 24/7. When there is an emergency, we are able to act quickly." 

There is one case, in particular, that Nurse Nadège recalls. On June 23, a man was brought in who had been shot. Fortunately, Healing Art Missions' team was at the hospital and was able to provide him with immediate care, even though it was in the late hours of the night. Because of the quick actions of the HAM Mobile Medical Team, the man survived his injuries.

Nurse Nadège shares that "Everything the Mobile Medical Team in Haiti does is possible because of the support of the people who finance Healing Art Missions. There can't be intervention without equipment or specialists. The patients are always grateful for HAM's service, but today I wish to express my gratitude to HAM's supporters: Thank you for this magnificent initiative to send important services to the people of Haiti. Just thank you. I can't thank you enough."

An Interview with Dr. Patricia Jean-Baptiste

By Sergisson Milord

Recently, I had the opportunity to sit down with Healing Art Missions' Anesthesiologist, Dr. Patricia Jean-Baptiste and to ask her about her work. Dr. Jean-Baptiste is an extraordinary physician whose talent, dedication, and passion for excellence inspire her coworkers everyday.

How long have you worked at Healing Art Missions?

I have been with Healing Art Missions since July of 2022, so for one year.

What is the best part of your job?

It is difficult to pick out a "best" part because it is all part of a whole package—receiving the patient, following their journey while they are in the operating room, tracking reactions. Every patient you meet is different from the others as well. Some are easy, but others have complications that need to be managed. I suppose that the best part for me is seeing the patient again after the operation and knowing that they are healthy and progressing well.

What part of your job is challenging for you?

One of the most challenging aspects of the job is when we have to tell a patient that they cannot get a procedure that they want to have done, for whatever reason. Sometimes patients come to us and they don't understand that many surgical procedures require preparation ahead of time and they struggle to understand why they can't just have a surgery right now. We continuously work to try to educate patients about the steps that need to be done so we can minimize any disappointment.

How do you feel Healing Art Missions is making a difference?

A good example of this is Sainte-Thérèse Hospital in Miragoâne.  Before Healing Art Missions arrived, the hospital was on the verge of closing its doors. They didn't have the staff or expertise to do many necessary operations. Now that Healing Art Missions is there, people are coming from far and wide for care. Patients are telling their friends and family about the surgery they had from Healing Art Missions and more and more people are coming to Sainte-Thérèse for our services.

There are many places in Haiti right now where people don't have access to healthcare and people are coming very far distances to get services from the Healing Art Missions' team. This has been very good for the community of Miragoâne.

Can you share an example of a person that you helped?

One case that I remember was a man who came in with a gunshot wound. The people who brought him to us initially wanted us to transfer him to another hospital—they didn't know about Healing Art Missions and the excellence of our surgical team.

We operated on the patient at Sainte-Thérèse Hospital. It was a complex operation and took a lot of time, but it was successful.

After that, word got around in Miragoâne that there were great doctors at Sainte-Thérèse Hospital again. We started seeing more and more serious surgical cases because people realized that they didn't have to risk traveling out of Miragoâne for quality care. We didn't ever have to do any marketing—word of mouth has been our marketing!  

Is there anything about Haiti you'd like the people outside of Haiti to know or better understand?

Haiti is a place where people often have little means and a lot of misery, but still try to fight to live.

Right now, I think the absence of the government causes problems that make Haiti appear to be the worst place in the world. But it's not! Haiti has so much intellectual and economic potential that is just untapped. That's really sad.

Is there anything you'd like to say to the people who support Healing Art Missions?

Yes, first and foremost, thank you for your support. Thank you for helping people in need.

Thanks to your help, we can continue to help people. It's not easy to offer healthcare in Haiti right now and we often must do a lot with the little that we have. The more resources we have, the better care we can provide in terms of offering surgery, having the correct medicines on hand, and having usable equipment. With the right tools, we can help more people.

Medical providers, like Dr. Jean-Baptiste, have a significant impact on the lives of the Haitian people. Through her work, in collaboration with Dr. Jacques and the Mobile Medical Team, Healing Art Missions continues to be a trusted community partner to the communities of Miragoâne and Port Salut.

Mid-Year Update on Number of Patients Treated

By Connie Skingel

Healing Art Missions' Mobile Medical Team is an integral part of the healthcare systems in Miragoâne and Port Salut, Haiti. In Miragoâne, they provide 100% of orthopedic consultations, orthopedic surgery, and anesthesia and 80-90% of all other consultations and surgeries. In Port Salut, the Ministry of Health has recently requested that HAM's Mobile Medical Team assume responsibility for all pediatric and complex surgeries at the community hospital due to the team's high standard of care and rate of positive outcomes.

In a very short time, HAM has developed a reputation in Haiti's southern peninsula as not only a trusted provider, but a model for how healthcare can be delivered effectively to communities where healthcare access is limited or nonexistent.

In the past few months, we have shared the stories of some of the patients who have been helped by the Mobile Medical Team. Today, we'd like to share the raw data behind their work.

The chart above reflects the number of patients they have seen as of January 1, 2023. Q1 is the first quarter of the year (January, February, and March); Q2 is the second quarter (April, May, and June).

Behind each of these numbers there is a story of a person who was helped by the Mobile Medical Team. Thank you for helping to make their work possible through your continued support.

Mid-Year Update from Executive Director, Connie Skingel

Dear Friends,

We were sincerely hoping that by time we sat down to write this letter we’d have some good news to share about Haiti. Unfortunately, the situation there is still very challenging and everyday Haitians are struggling with food insecurity, inflation, continued threats of violence and kidnapping, and the lack of a functioning government. We don’t know what the next few months will bring, but we do know that Haitians need two things from us: hope and solidarity.

The kids and families at the Charles Salomon Primary School have been struggling with finding affordable food this year. Access to the North West district has been cut off due to gangs controlling roads in and out of the area for some time. Despite this, Jean Herard Charles, Head of School, reports that the kids are doing well and are grateful for the stability and structure that school provides. HAM continues to financially support the school and to explore ways in which we can help the families in Port-de-Paix.

In the mountain community of Demier our agent, Ferdinand Louis Juste, reports that clean water is a top priority, particularly considering the ongoing cholera outbreak. Healing Art Missions recently invested in 50 new bucket filtration systems to both replace aging systems at homes in Demier and to expand the clean water program to other households.

Healing Art Missions’ Mobile Medical Team has been making the three-hour drive between Ste. Thérèse Hospital in Miragoâne and the Community Hospital in Port-Salut more frequently in recent months. Not only are their services being requested by hospital administrators and government leaders in these communities, but now the word of the Team’s qualifications, skill, and kindness have spread to communities throughout Haiti’s southern peninsula. When the Team arrives on-site, it is not uncommon for them now to find a line of people who have traveled great distances and waited since the early hours of the morning to have an opportunity to be treated by HAM’s Mobile Medical Team.

At Ste. Thérèse, Dr. Jacques and the Team are providing general and surgical consultations, general surgery, orthopedic surgery, anesthesiology, midwifery, emergency services, and wound care. At the Community Hospital of Port Salut, they provide many of these same services, but more of the patients are children as it is a pediatric facility. (Unfortunately, other than HAM’s Mobile Medical Team, there are no qualified pediatric surgeons and anesthesiologists in the entire southern peninsula.)

Despite the challenges Haiti is facing, HAM’s Mobile Medical Team is providing high-level medical care in a region that is desperate for quality healthcare services. Without HAM’s Mobile Medical Team, Ste. Thérèse Hospital would have had to close its doors due to a lack of staff and supplies. This would have left an entire region without access to healthcare. Without the Team, the Community Hospital in Port Salut would have to turn away children who need surgery. These outcomes are unthinkable, and we are so grateful to Dr. Jacques and his dedicated staff for the many sacrifices they make and difficulties they face in order to stay in Haiti and perform this important work.

If you have been monitoring the news out of Haiti, you will know that the challenges facing the country right now are innumerable. It’s the worst we have ever seen and, frankly, more than we could have imagined. If we convey nothing else to you with this letter today, please let it be this—Healing Art Missions is still on the ground in Haiti and is helping vulnerable Haitians. We can only do this with your support.

Please stay hopeful with us for better days ahead. Thank you for all you have done for Healing Art Missions and for your continued trust and partnership.

With Gratitude,

Connie Skingel, Executive Director                                  Tracee Laing, MD, Founding Director

HAM Celebrates Mother’s Day with Free Cancer Screenings

By: Connie Skingel

In Haiti, Mother’s Day is celebrated on the last Sunday in May. This year, Dr. Jacques and the Mobile Medical Team offered a special gift to mothers in the community of Port Salut: the opportunity for free pap tests and breast cancer prevention consultations.

According to the Journal Obstetrics & Gynecology, “Cervical Cancer is the most common cancer and the second leading cause of cancer deaths in Haitian women.” Regular cancer screenings and early treatment have been shown to significantly reduce morbidity and mortality.

Breast cancer rates in Haiti rival that of the rest of the world, but according to Partners in Health, “a higher percentage of [Haitian] women will die from breast cancer than most other countries.” Their research has shown that better patient outcomes can be achieved when patients are diagnosed and treated early.

Unfortunately, getting an early diagnosis is challenging in Haiti as the country does not have a coordinated screening process or cancer registry. It is up to NGOs, like Healing Art Missions, to fill this important gap in care.

On Sunday, May 28, 2023, Healing Art Missions’ Mobile Medical Team honored Mother’s Day by performed 38 free pap tests and 11 breast cancer prevention consultations for women in the Port Salut area.

Samentha’s Story

By: Sergisson Milord 

W.E.B. Dubois once said, "There is no force equal to that of a determined woman." This quote describes the story of Samentha Juste, who recently had a beautiful baby girl with the support of the Healing Art Missions' team.

Samentha lives in Miragoâne, Haiti, about 1 km from Ste. Thérèse Hospital, where the Healing Art Missions Mobile Medical Team and midwives work. Around midnight on May 23, Samentha began having the early stages of labor, including pain in her lower abdomen and hips. She realized that it was time to welcome her baby into the world. She labored at home for approximately five hours and then decided to make the walk to Ste. Thérèse Hospital for help. 

When she arrived, she was immediately greeted by a member of the Healing Art Missions' team and evaluated. She said, "I spent the whole night with pain—I didn't know what to do. But, when I arrived at the hospital, the doctors took good care of me. The pain was still there, but they told me to take a walk outside and come back. I did so and it worked—the pain was gradually decreasing."

Around 8 a.m., Samentha's water broke and at 9:17 am, she gave birth to a beautiful baby girl.

Samentha shared her gratitude for the staff of Healing Art Missions. She said, "I would recommend them to all my friends. For a long time, if you wanted to receive quality care, you had to go very far, but now they are right here in our community. For people who do not have the financial means to pay a motorcycle driver, or who do not have their own vehicle, it is very difficult to get to other hospitals. It is not a good thing to not be able to receive care when you need it most. But, now it is possible to get good care thanks to Healing Art Missions. If, by some misfortune, I need to receive care in the future, this is where I will return." 

Samentha's story shows us once again how the staff of Healing Art Missions' in Haiti is doing everything possible to save lives. They bring a breath of fresh air and hope to the people in the Miragoâne community.

A Life Restored

For those of us who live in an area where healthcare is readily available, it is almost unimaginable that we would not be able to access the care we need with nothing more than a phone call, some scheduled time out of the office and, perhaps, some out-of-pocket expenses.

In many areas of Haiti, however, finding a doctor who will treat you is a much more challenging endeavor. This past month, the Healing Art Missions’ team met Marie* who had to make a long, difficult journey to find the care she desperately needed.

Marie, an 83-year-old woman from Les Irois, Haiti, had been suffering with a parotid gland mass that distorted her jawline for some time. Parotid gland masses don’t typically cause pain, but as you can see in the photo, the extreme size of Marie’s mass caused a lot of discomfort, and it impacted her activities of daily living.

Marie was desperate to find help, but there were no local physicians who would take her case. She sought out many doctors, but all of them turned her down.

Marie heard that Dr. Jacques’ and the Mobile Medical Team of Healing Art Missions were performing surgeries in Port Salut, so she paid someone to take her four hours by motorcycle to ask for their help.

When Marie arrived in Port Salut, the HAM team was, unfortunately, preparing to depart for Miragoane and there was no one on-site who could administer anesthesia for her complex surgery. Dr. Jacques recognized, however, that she needed help, so he offered for her to travel with them on their three hour journey to Miragoâne in HAM’s truck. She accepted.

Once at Ste. Therese Hospital, Dr. Jacques skillfully removed the mass from Marie’s jawline. As you can see in the post-op photo, the surgery was a success and the change is dramatic. Marie was so grateful that she told Dr. Jacques that she “has her life back” and can now go back to church without the discomfort and embarrassment of the parotid mass.

People like Marie, who need complex medical care in Haiti, are struggling to access the care they need. Physicians will turn them away because they don’t want to take the risk, or because the patient cannot pay. In Haiti’s southern peninsula, Dr. Jacques and the Mobile Medical Team have developed a reputation as a group of highly skilled professionals who can successfully treat the patients that others turn away.

Healing Art Missions remains committed to providing healthcare to the people of Haiti during this difficult time and regardless of their ability to pay. Success stories, like Marie’s, are possible thanks to the support of our generous donors.

*Marie is a pseudonym to protect the patient’s identity.

A Look at the Numbers

Healing Art Missions’ Mobile Medical Team has been operating in the southern peninsula since the earthquake in November of 2021, but transitioned from a short-term disaster response team to an independent mobile medical unit after the closure of the clinic in Dumay last fall.

In that short timeframe, HAM has developed a reputation as a quality, trusted medical provider in the area. Patients are now seeking HAM’s Mobile Medical Team and, in some cases, driving long distances and lining up in the early hours of the morning, to seek care.

The following chart shows the number of patients treated in the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2022, which includes October, November, and December, compared to the first quarter (Q1) of 2023, which includes January, February, and March.

The increase in patients can be attributed to both HAM’s growing reputation and the fact that the team has been spending more time in the southern peninsula due to ongoing unrest in Port-au-Prince.

HAM’s Mobile Medical Team is a Lifeline in the Grand Sud

Since late 2022, Healing Art Missions’ Mobile Medical Team, led by Dr. Jacques, has been answering the call of hospitals in Haiti’s southern peninsula. Most often, the team makes the three-hour journey by car from Ste. Thérèse Hospital in Miragoâne to The Community Hospital in Port-Salut.

These hospitals, which have been the primary sources of healthcare in their respective regions for many years, are now struggling under the weight of Haiti’s political, financial, and social challenges. These hospitals historically relied on both an ample number of qualified medical professionals to staff their rosters as well as the ability of trained professionals to travel from larger regions in Haiti. However, neither of these is currently a possibility given the difficulties in the country.

This is where Healing Art Missions comes in.

Our Mobile Medical team answers the call by bringing the necessary medical talent to support these struggling facilities. HAM’s team consists of general surgeons, orthopedic surgeons, anesthesiologists, OB/GYN professionals, nurses, a pharmacist, and more.

On a regularly rotating schedule, HAM’s team travels between both hospitals to meet the needs of the people who live there and who travel in to request HAM’s services.

In a short time, Healing Art Missions has become a trusted member of both the Miragoâne and Port-Salut communities.  

Those of you who have been with us for a while will know that the loss of our beloved clinic in 2022 felt like a significant blow to our organization and we were all concerned with what the future might bring. However, as difficult as it was to uproot ourselves from the Dumay community, we are finding that HAM’s team is receiving a welcome reception in both Miragoâne and Port-Salut and that not being place-bound at the moment has enabled us to answer the call far and wide during this difficult time for Haitians.

We are so proud of the work that our Mobile Medical Team is doing in Haiti. Not only are they providing desperately needed healthcare services to these incredible communities, but they are also providing hope and reminding the people of Miragoâne and Nippes that they are not forgotten. Our reputation in Haiti has grown over these past few months and we are now sought out as a trusted healthcare provider by patients and medical facilities alike.  

This work is only possible thanks to the generous support of our donors. Thank you for your continued generosity as we try to reach as many people as possible during these difficult times. 

Robert Civil’s Story

We’d like to introduce you to Robert Civil. Robert’s case is one of many similar medical situations that HAM’s Mobile Medical Team sees at Ste. Thérèse Hospital de Miragoâne and L’Hopital Communautaire de Port-Salut. The team has treated patients with trauma, strangulated hernias, gangrene, peritonitis, cancer, gunshot wounds, women who need emergency c-sections, and more. In many cases, these patients would not receive care if it weren’t for HAM’s mobile team.

Recently, Robert Civil, a 52-year-old father was brought into Ste. Thérèse de Miragoâne Hospital accompanied by his sister, Jirone Civil, who is the head maternity nurse at the hospital. Robert, a father of four, professional musician, and electrical engineer, was in tears and was calling for help in a confused voice upon his arrival.

The Healing Arts Mission medical team examined him and learned that four days prior Robert woke from sleep and noticed an itchy blister on the back of his left hand. He applied castor oil to the site to see if it would help, but throughout the day the hand, and then the arm, swelled and became very painful.

The swelling continued for the next several days so Robert called his sister for help. By this time, he said “I no longer could feel my left forearm. It felt blocked and I thought I was going to die.”

Fortunately for Robert, the Healing Arts Missions’ team was working at Ste. Thérèse Hospital and was able to help. Due to the instability in the country, it is often difficult for people experiencing acute medical crises to quickly access the care they need. Many hospitals are critically understaffed and professionals, including doctors and nurses, are leaving the country in large numbers. The resulting healthcare shortages put people, like Robert, at risk.

Healing Art Missions’ mobile medical team, which includes 13 trained medical professionals, tries to fill this gap. By traveling between Miragoâne and Port-Salut in Haiti’s southern peninsula, they are able to provide important healthcare services in two regions that are lacking in qualified healthcare professionals.

When Robert arrived at Ste. Thérèse Hospital, he was quickly assessed by a member of HAM’s team where he was diagnosed with compartment syndrome. Compartment syndrome is a painful condition that is caused by trapped fluid buildup within the body. Symptoms include severe pain and a feeling of tightness or fullness within the muscles.

Dr. Jacques and his team were able to perform a successful fasciotomy, a procedure whereby the fascia is cut to relieve pressure in the muscle compartment, which relieved Roberts’ symptoms.

Robert’s sister, Jirone, shared (translated from Haitian Creole):

“If the Healing Art Missions’ team was not present, as a nurse I know that two hours more and my beloved brother would have lost his arm or his life. Even before my brother was treated, as a nurse at Ste. Thérèse Hospital I have witnessed Healing Art Missions save lives in extreme emergencies. They are a compassionate team who are very understanding with patients and a model for all of us. Healing Art Missions support is incomparable and invaluable in the Nippes region.”

Today, Robert and his sister are both relieved and overjoyed that his medical emergency is behind him. Robert is looking forward to recovering so he can go home to his family and resume his musical and electrical engineering career.