Health Projects

It is an ongoing challenge to establish and maintain adequate health services in Borgne. Prior to establishing our health clinic, there was NO functional clinic, laboratory or first-line professional medical care available to this community. The lack of basic medicine, inoculations, vaccines and health awareness enables highly treatable and avoidable diseases, injuries and illnesses to become life-threatening and debilitating on a community-wide scale. Our mission is to provide basic preventive and primary care medicine to the community. To date we have had significant success, but face ongoing challenges to reach the population through qualified, local staff.

• Borgne Health Clinic - As our highest initial priority, we assisted Borgne with the start up of the sole health clinic serving this community. The center is operated by a staff of Haitian professionals. We continue to fund this primary care facility, providing much needed medicines and supplies. Our goal for this year is to be able to add physician’s services to the current paramedical staff capabilities. In a 2005 survey of health facilities in the North West of Haiti the HOPE clinic is widely regarded as the only available treatment facility with adequate pharmacy and supplies.
  
  
• Basic Sanitation and Health Education - Develop and provide training and education in basic health. This is critical to reduce and eliminate the extremely high risks of disease due to improper sanitation, water and nutrition. HOPE’s Technology Center (Sant Teknoloji) has operated a water purification and sanitation program for the past five years. Staffed by local workers, this program offers vital first-line disease prevention facilities and education to the region.
  
  
• Village Outreach Service - This service provides traveling outreach programs to the remote areas of Borgne. Previously most of the population had never seen a health services professional. There are currently numerous staff making rotating visits to the community. More frequent visits with better equipped staff will eliminate many of the serious health risks early enough to greatly improve conditions.
  
  
• Infant and Maternal Health Program - One of Borgne’s most serious health risks is found in child-birth and post natal care. As an example, one of every eight children born in Haiti does not live to see the age of five. Many mothers die of post-partum complications. Our program provides health education and pre-natal/post-natal care with a goal to eliminate this very manageable cause of death and disease.