About Raising Haiti
Updated October 2011
It has been an exciting, busy, and ultimately fruitful year for Raising Haiti. We have run several clinics and continue to strive towards improving the social, medical, and educational conditions for our Haitian brothers and sisters. While the conditions on the ground have improved incrementally, the needs of average Haitians remain staggering. We are confident that in concert with other volunteer groups and NGOs, those needs will be met. We have been fortunate to secure land on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince and are in the process of partnering with a group that will provide building and engineering expertise for a permanent Raising Haiti site. It will be an exciting year ahead as we continue to run our clinics in Citi Soleil while working on our permanent home.
In the immediate aftermath of the January 12, 2010 earthquake, Raising Haiti had a significant presence at two hospitals in Port-au-Prince. In this capacity, our group ran emergency and critical care services, coordinating efforts with trauma and orthopedic surgery. We treated approximately 200 patients a day in the “ER”, managed between 5 to 10 ICU patients, while caring for a majority of the patients in the wards. In the midst of this controlled chaos, we delivered two healthy infants and were treated on more than one occasion with group singing!
We ran four independent clinics during our subsequent trips. Our clinics typically lasted for two to four days, and we consistently cared for between 280 and 300 patients per day. Our patients have limited to no access to primary care. They range across the spectrum in age and severity of illness. We manage routine conditions such as blood pressure and wound management to life-threatening cardiac, infectious, and traumatic conditions. We have the ability to stabilize these latter patients and have set up a system to provide transport to definitive care.
In addition to providing healthcare at our clinics, Raising Haiti played a significant role in the recent cholera epidemic. The UN provided transportation to Port-de-Paix in November of 2010, where we provided life-saving treatment to nearly 1000 severely dehydrated patients. Cholera can kill previously healthy people in less than 24 hours but can be prevented by adequate attention to prophylactic measures – in this we provided education for local Haitians and handed out approximately 1000 instruction cards translated into Creole.
Raising Haiti has made three visits to a local orphanage, providing food, clothing, toys, and medical care for over 100 children. During our second visit, we were able to administer 100 typhoid vaccinations. Among our long-term goals, we hope to maintain an orphanage on the site of the clinic.
Our clinics are staffed by volunteers from RH as well as several local Haitians. Through the generosity of our supporters and fundraising efforts, we have been able to consistently secure an adequate supply of medications and supplies, as well as the means to provide for the salaries of our Haitian coworkers. Furthermore, our consistent presence on the ground has enabled us to collaborate with locals, providing us with an additional layer of support vis-à-vis translation and security.
The collective experience of all of us involved in Raising Haiti has been profoundly impacted by our contact with Lina, a young woman we met on our first relief trip following the earthquake. She arrived hemorrhaging and in shock from what was soon determined to be cervical cancer. We stabilized her, providing blood transfusions and correcting multiple electrolyte abnormalities. However, we were not able to definitively manage her care with the resources available to us in Haiti. With our determination, a bit of luck, and the compassionate care of our colleagues at NYU Medical Center, we were able to get Lina to the United States for specialty care. During our time with Lina, we got to know a lovely, dignified, funny (often to the point of hilarious), wonderful human being. The support and kindness her family showered on us was beautiful and illustrative of Haitians in general – they are wealthy despite their poverty, full of hope and faith for a better future, and able to enjoy life along with all of its often overwhelming challenges. Sadly, Lina’s ultimate diagnosis was advanced cervical cancer, which precluded a cure. However, we were able to provide palliative care - she was comfortable and back in Haiti with her family for her last days.
Raising Haiti is an all volunteer group of medical and non-medical people of various backgrounds. All of our volunteers have personally financed the cost of transportation, food, and lodging. We are not a religious group. We strive to continue our work in Haiti and we hope to continue to learn from those we help. They have much to teach.
Jessica Patti RN, Founder and President
Matthew Spates MD
