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By H.O.P.E. Admin, June 30, 2010 8:00 PM

Events of this magnitude are nearly impossible to put into words.  I know I am too small for this task. As a newcomer to Haiti who happened to be in the country on January 12^th, 2010, I share in this terrible tragedy that has befallen the Haitian people.    

I had only been in Haiti for ten days on January 12^th, long enough to attest to the heartbreaking conditions in Haiti prior to the quake.  Signs of poverty are everywhere.  I was only in Port au Prince for a few hours, but I visited Cap Haitien, Haiti’s second-largest city, several times.  Cap is a city pushed to its limits.  Flimsily constructed houses seem to rest on top of each other, forming slums that back up to trash-filled water.  Dust and exhaust fumes hang in the air as trucks lurch over massive potholes, narrowly avoiding collision.  The wear of the weather and the stress of over-crowding (some would add the corruption of the government and contractors who have never done the job right) have created unimaginable road conditions. 

It takes about two hours to travel from Cap to Borgne.  Recent rain has filled the potholes, which sometimes extend across the entire road, with several inches of water.  Brief stretches of pavement are comforting though short-lived breaks from the ruts and bumps.  Approaching Borgne, the air clears and the landscape shifts to lush greenery and pristine beaches.  Borgne’s natural beauty is arresting.  In some ways, it makes the region’s poverty less obvious, providing a welcome distraction from the roofless houses, the skinny animals and the barefoot children lugging jugs to water pumps. 

Borgne’s struggles are most visible in the patient cases we see at the hospital.  On my second day, I saw a woman carried in on a door.  Her relatives had walked for four hours to reach the hospital.  She had given birth earlier that morning but there had been complications.  Thankfully, she received treatment and was able to return home with her baby a few days later.  The heavy rain has greatly increased the number of malaria cases.  The standing water creates a special haven for mosquitoes and Borgne’s residents cannot afford mosquito nets and spray.  A four-year old boy fell off a motorcycle and came to the hospital for stitches.  He screamed but bravely held still as a doctor stitched a deep head wound with minimal anesthesia.   

Sadly, hardships are not new to the Haitian people.  They seem accustomed to hard times yet somehow preserve an incredible spirit.  The Haitians I have met smile a lot.  They’re big jokers and I love when I understand enough Creole to be able to laugh along with them.  My new Haitian friends are eager instructors of Creole and teach us how to dance to kompa, the national music of Haiti.  The children are affectionate and generous, fixing our hair and bringing us shells and avocadoes as gifts.  When it started to rain during a pick-up soccer game, seven little boys huddled together under a tiny towel.  I find the ethos of sharing here both impressive and refreshing.   

 There are many people here in Borgne and no doubt throughout the country who are committed to change.  I met a group of Haitian women who are passionate about supporting victims of domestic violence and changing how Haitian society views women.  I heard a teacher speak eloquently about the need to provide healthy snacks for the orphans and poor children who will soon be served by a mobile school program.  Haiti has many layers, many different sides, but it is clear from everything I have seen so far that beside the unbelievable poverty, there are many people working for a better future.

The day of the earthquake, I had volunteered to accompany Dr. Bob Harris, a radiologist who had come to Borgne to teach the doctors how to use a new ultrasound machine, and his daughter, Chelsea Harris, an International Studies major at Brown, to the Cap Haitien airport.  Chelsea had become a good friend and I didn’t want to say good-bye just yet.  It was also raining again, which meant there weren’t many patients since so many people have to travel long distances to reach the hospital.  Chelsea and Dr. Bob were planning on flying to Port au Prince that night.  Dr. Thony and Miss Maude, one of the nurses, were taking them.  We (Dr. Thony, Miss Maude and myself) expected to return to Borgne that night but I was told to bring a chance of clothes just in case.  That’s one thing you can count on in Haiti: to expect the unexpected.       

About halfway through the drive, we stopped in the town of Limbe to change cars.  We were sitting in the waiting area of a small hospital when we felt the earthquake.  I didn’t realize what has happening at first.  Then we all ran outside.  People gathered in the streets, talking excitedly.  About ten minutes later, we felt a strong aftershock.  The Haitians I was with were just as surprised as I was.  They said this had never happened before. 

Only when we started driving again and turned on the car radio did we begin to understand the extent of what had happened.  All cell phones were down.  Reports came in on the radio and Spanish and French.  The first really shocking news was that a market had collapsed in Port au Prince with 200 people inside.  After that, I remember thinking that the earthquake would surely make the international news.  Then we heard that a UN building had collapsed, a fancy hotel, the presidential palace…We stopped at a hotel in Cap where they had CNN on.  That’s when we found out that the earthquake, measured as a 7.0, had devastated Port au Prince.  President Obama and the international community were already responding.  We woke up early the next morning although we suspected that the Cap airport would be closed.  It was.  So we drove Dr. Bob and Chelsea to the border with the Dominican Republic.  Fortunately, they made it home safely. 

After we returned to Borgne, I went online.  I saw the horrifying pictures.  Every day, the news seems to get worse.  Here in Borgne, we have been relying on the same media outlets for information as those outside the country.  The kids keep asking me to show them pictures of Port au Prince and I don’t know whether to say yes or no.  The Haitians I have talked to are worried because they still cannot get in touch with friends and family in Port au Prince.  They have been remarkably calm and stoic.  I realize that they are approaching this catastrophe with the same strength, resilience and humor that characterize their everyday lives.  They seem determined to carry on. 

During times like these, it is hard to see the good.  Even before the earthquake, Haiti desperately needed help, but the strength of the Haitian people and the outpouring of support from around the world give me hope.  I am glad to be here to contribute the little I can to help the Haitian patients who will be coming to us from Port au Prince as well as the patients who live in Borgne and the surrounding area.  I often wish I was able to do more but I hope that at the very least my presence here will show the Haitian people that they are not alone, that Americans and people around the world see their burdens as our own and that we want to both help and learn from them. 

Brightly painted buses fill the roads of Cap and Port au Prince, emblazoned with drawings, words and sayings that I find especially poignant now.  Three stick out in my mind: Optimiste, Conviction, God is good.  Let’s do all we can to help.   

Sofia Meissner was in Borgne, Haiti from January 3rd through March 8th of this year.  She will be attending the University of Michigan this fall to get a Master’s degree in Public Health.

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By H.O.P.E. Admin, May 25, 2010 9:28 PM

Most of Haiti’s population lives below the poverty line. Nearly 70 percent of all Haitians depend on the agriculture sector, which consists mainly of small-scale subsistence farming.  However, extreme soil erosion and deforestation mean that Haiti’s environment is one of the most devastated in the world. Only 30 percent of the land is suitable for cultivation, with the result that the majority of the rural poor have a desperate struggle for survival in marginal areas.

Deforestation refers to the complete destruction of forest cover.  In Haiti, the main causes of deforestation are the harvesting of timber for cooking charcoal, sale and to make room for agriculture.   The effects are catastrophic.  With a lack of forest cover, soil erosion is greatly increased causing a severe decline in soil fertility and agricultural output.  Such conditions increase the risks of malnutrition, illness, mortality and general hardships for Haitian poor.

In Borgne, Haiti a reforestation effort has been made to counter this dilemma.  Trees by the thousands are being grown and planted to improve forest cover and provide a means of fruit production.  Once again H.O.P.E. joined forces with MODEIB, a progressive group of local Haitians striving for community improvement, and have planned and built 2 separate tree nurseries (pepinyes).  Each tree nursery is capable of producing up to 40,000 trees per year.  The greater majority of the trees grown in the nurseries produce fruits which will provide a source or nourishments and income for people that care for the trees.  Hardwood species are also produced to provide an eventual source of building materials and for soil retention.  In addition, each tree nursery site will have compost piles (fumier) to assist in seedling development. 

H.O.P.E.’s goal is to energize agriculture and to continue reforestation efforts in the region.  We intend in partnership to develop more tree nurseries in the near future and foster greater improvements in agriculture sector of development, such as providing modern agricultural methods training and supporting other promising agricultural initiatives.

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By H.O.P.E. Admin, April 27, 2010 9:46 PM

Serenade for HOPE benefits H.O.P.E. for Haiti Outreach

Rochester, NY –  Stephen Lurie, M.D., Ph.D.,  founded the Rochester Medical Chamber Orchestra in the fall of 2008 in order to create a vehicle for musically-inclined physicians, scientists and medical staff, residents and students to come together to play music.

“Music is a great stress reliever in general,” says the Director of Assessment of the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, who was inspired by Boston’s Longwood Symphony Orchestra.  “Playing music also brings people together across the spectrum of age and position, and literally creates a sense of harmony in a profession that is often full of stress.”

For its nearly 45 members, the orchestra is much more than music therapy.  Like Lurie, who studied clarinet for several years at Eastman School’s preparatory department, most were serious amateurs before pursuing careers in medicine.  Directed by well-known conductor, David Harman, the orchestra has presented two ambitious and well-received concerts.  The third will take place Wednesday, May 12 at 5 p.m. the Flaum Atrium of the University of Rochester School of Medicine.

Entitled Serenade for HOPE, the program features Vaughn Williams’ Serenade to Music, based on the words of William Shakespeare.  The piece highlights the newly-formed Medical Center Chorus, which, like the orchestra, is comprised of people from the medical center community, all of whom have extensive experience in vocal performance.  This 17-voice ensemble will also perform three songs based on Elizabethan text, and the orchestra will play Beethoven’s Symphony No. 6 (Pastoral Symphony) as well.

In addition, the upcoming concert will debut a new mission for the Rochester Medical Chamber Orchestra:  to support local health-related, non-profit organizations.  May’s event is a partnership with H.O.P.E. (Haiti Outreach Pwoje Espwa), a Rochester-based organization that is actively providing relief to Haiti.

“We dedicate this concert to the Haitian people,” says H.O.P.E. Executive Director Dr. Rose-Marie Chierici, Ph.D., a native of Haiti and a professor of Anthropology at SUNY Geneseo who co-founded the organization 14 years ago.  “The recent earthquake has made our work even more vital.”

Admission to the May 12th concert is free, but donations to H.O.P.E. will be welcome.