Baby, it's cold outside? Stay warm with a new pair of jeans!

Hi wonderful Hope for Haiti Foundation supporters,

First of all, we apologize for the lack of blog posts the last few weeks. We're making an early New Years resolution to never let it happen again!

Speaking of the holidays, if you're hunting for a gift for that hard-to-buy for person on your list (and who isn't?), consider a pair of S2 Jeans. Not only do they help Haiti, but you can't go wrong with a trusty pair of blue jeans! They're as American as trampling fellow storegoers to get your hands on the latest toy (parents, what it is this year? Because it was all about some Tickle Me Elmo growing up!), using cookies to entice strange, fat, bearded men into your chimney (which would be entirely creepy any other night of the year) and overquoting Elf for the whole month of December (hey, Francisco IS fun to say! ;)). Truth be told, the jeans don't hit the market until the spring, but we still think it's the perfect addition to a Christmas list. Anyone else think it's time to bring the IOU back? (And while you wait, you can check out this article I'm currently loving comparing classic American jeans and classic American cars - http://bit.ly/hTjh9f. I might have a super nerdy addiction to things like American Pickers.)

We know we're a little biased, but we're not the only ones who think S2 jeans are great. They were also featured in the December issue of Carolina Parent! In case you've forgotten, S2 jeans is a new enterprise started by David Jackson, designed with the purpose of giving back to Haiti through donating a portion of the sales. You can read more about it here. We're really excited to see the new brand getting such great local coverage, and we're sure they'll get even more great recognition when the product officially hits markets.

So, this year, avoid the lines & stock up on some great new jeans. After all, you don't want to be a cottonheaded ninnymuggins (ok, ok, we're sorry!).

(P.S. If you'd like a PDF copy of the article, leave us a comment with your e-mail address, and we'll pass it along!)

HFHF Hires an Executive Director

We just sent out our end-of-the-year Update from the Founder, and despite the extreme challenges in Haiti this year, including a cholera outbreak, a hurricane and, of course, the earthquake, we recognize that we've really been blessed this year. It's been our most successful year to date, the progress we've made in Haiti is unprecedented and the list of what we've accomplished is far too long to share here. When we have a chance to step back and look at what all has been done, we are even more amazed at what has been accomplished with no full-time U.S. staff.

For the last 10 years, thanks to Elade's vision and dedication and consistently committed volunteers, we are truly making a difference in Zorange and the surrounding areas. When you go to Haiti and see the tangible results of HFHF - a real bricks-and-morter school building, successful educated young people, a fully-stocked pharmacy, a tech-saavy computer lab - it really is hard to believe that it was all done without a penny ending up in the pocket of someone here in the United States (we do have about 60 full-time paid Haitian staff). If there's any question about the fact that average people can make a difference no matter where you are in life, HFHF is proof. (inspired yet? want to join us? let us know!). And the fact that none of us is paid is something we're kind of proud of - it means that the money generously donated goes straight to Haiti. It means more medical supplies, more grades added to the school, more jobs for Team Haiti (who are a huge part of the reason HFHF has been able to accomplish what we have!).

But with our entire U.S. staff, including our founder, working for the man full-time (call us selfish, but we like to eat), there are definitely limits to our ability to grow as an organization. There is so much we would love to do, so many big dreams we have, but we've got pretty full plates and can only make so many of those dreams a reality (I'm sure we've all given up sleep for this, and showering would be the next to go. Nobody wants that.).

That's why we're so excited to announce that we have just hired an Executive Director, our first full-time paid staff member in the United States! We have come to a place as an organization where not only is this possible, but it's necessary. With an Executive Director on board, we can focus on building high-level partnerships in the community and with corporations, securing grants and various other activities that really make or break whether a nonprofit remains a small grassroots organization or can grow in terms of recognition and financial strength. We are in a position to support an Executive Director's salary for several years, with the expectation that this person will grow HFHF enough to support the position and then some in the future.

We've spent the last few months accepting resumes and interviewing candidates, and are excited to finally be able to announce the creation of this position and the awesome person who will be filling it. So, ladies and gentlemen, it's my pleasure to introduce to you...

(if you just got "Senorita" by Justin Timberlake in your head, we are kindred spirits)

Lydia Dant! You may remember Lydia from her guest blog post last month or from some of our posts about our September Haiti trip and clean water initiatives. Lydia has a master's in public health from Boston University and has been working at ECHO, Educational Concerns for Hunger Organization, in Ft. Myers, Florida with her husband, Brian, for the last year. Lydia was instrumental in developing HFHF's medical projects, including the Community Health Workers program. She first got connected to HFHF as part of a research project for her master's degree, when she traveled through the nine sections of Bainet, surveying community members about their greatest medical needs. She's been very committed to HFHF ever since and recently was instrumental in securing water filters for the community in Zorange. We're confident that her public health experience and love for Haiti will be an asset in this role and that she'll do great things for HFHF! Lydia and Brian, are apartment hunting and will be moving up to North Carolina in time for her January 1 start date. We really look forward to having them here with us and to see the way the foundation will grow.

As we grow, our vision is to replicate the model we have created in Zorange and carry it out in key locations throughout the Sud-Est Department of Jacmel - while keeping our same commitment to equipping Haitians to change their country and make a difference in their communities, rather than just providing hand outs. We can't wait to see what happens next and look forward to an even stronger second decade. We'll be doing a more in-depth post with Lydia in January, but for now, please welcome her on board!

Gettin' Schooled in Haiti

No, we're not just talking about what would happen if I tried to play soccer against Haitian kids half my age and size. The 2010-2011 school year in Haiti started October 4, and while getting the HFHF school building back into pre-earthquake shape still requires continuous construction (kind of like life at UNC, the University of Never-ending Construction), class is back in session! We thought this would be a great opportunity to explain a little more about the state of education in Haiti and the HFHF school – plus, we’ve got a very exciting announcement at the end of this blog!

“School’s out forever…”

It's every kid's dream, the anthem of each summer and the subject of those clever Alice Cooper Staples commercials. But, unfortunately, it’s also the reality for many children in Haiti when they reach the end of their primary school education.

In Haiti, even before the earthquake, the enrollment rate for primary school was 67 percent, with less than 30 percent of elementary school students reaching 6th grade. In other words, out of every 100 children, fewer than 20 receive an education above an elementary school level, if they receive that at all. The rural population – like the people of Zorange - is underrepresented in the school system, making those statistics even more dramatic.

[Haitian school children]

Rural education

Enter the Hope for Haiti Foundation school. Founded as an elementary school in 2000, with the primary school opening in 2006, not only does it provide access to both primary and secondary education for children who might not otherwise receive it, but it offers LOCAL education. Before, if a child did have an opportunity to continue their education, they would have to move to the city. Now, they can stay home with their families and use their knowledge and education to build strong rural communities. We have added a grade each year since we have started the school, hoping that in the near future, a student will be able to attend the HFHF school for their entire education.

Marie Lucia Pierre understands the need for educational opportunities in the mountains and countryside of Haiti. Growing up in Zorange, where she now works, she faced the hard choice of moving away from home or dropping out school.

“When I finished sixth grade, I had to move to Port au Prince,” she said, when asked about how HFHF has changed the community in Zorange. “Today, I wouldn’t have to move to continue my education.”

"I hope that as [HFHF's work] continues, we will have an awesome community," she added.

[Marie, in the future cafeteria of the school]

Marie is the portrait of the way access to education can not only change a life, but change communities in rural Haiti. One of the major issues during the Duvalier dictatorship was a "brain drain", where many of the educated professionals in Haiti either fled the country or moved to the city to try to find opportunities. Providing education to children in the mountains and countryside of Haiti strengthens those areas as educated people stay and give back to their villages. Marie's schooling equipped her to go work for organizations like Compassion International, before being recruited by Elade to come support the HFHF school and afterschool programs.

Doin' it, doin' it, doin' it well

As one of the only schools offering higher level education in the region, we recognize our responsibility to create a strong program that focuses not just on academics, but on building character and creating opportunities for fun and personal growth.

Louis Adam, the head of education for HFHF, described his vision for students at HFHF’s school:
“A few years ago, we created the portrait of a graduate of our school. We determined the skills and knowledge beyond the academics that a graduate from our school should possess. With athletics, the library, the computer lab, the enriched curriculum, and the character counts program, I am happy to say that we are on our way in producing well-rounded, productive young Haitians from Zorange.”

Marie is one of the people who is instrumental in making sure students at our school get more than just reading, writing and arithmetic. As a leader of LIJAS, the academic and sports league, and the afterschool programs, Marie is responsible for overseeing the children’s club that meets on the weekends, the sports leagues and cultural activities, all of which create opportunities for students to grow into responsible, well-rounded adults – and have fun!

“We know it will help them grow, and the cultural aspect of the work helps them have fun,” she said.

We’ve got some academic rockstars at our school, too! Recent exam results reveal that we are doing well at the primary level. For three years straight, we have reached 90 percent passing rate, a rate much higher than the national average.

[Nancine, one of the little cuties benefiting from educational opportunities in Zorange]

Drum roll, please

Remember that announcement we promised? Well, one of the most exciting parts of the new school year is that, for the first time, those 9th graders from last year got to stick around for one more year. That's right - Hope for Haiti Foundation now offers 10th grade. Not only is this incredibly significant for this year's class of 10th graders who were able to continue their education, but it brings the HFHF school into Tier 3 education, a monumental step for rural education. Haiti’s educational system is based on the French system and is divided into three tiers: Pre-K to 6th grade, 7th to 9th grade and 10th grade to terminale. Essentially, our school is now a high school, in addition to an elementary and secondary school. Now, the Hope for Haiti Foundation school is the only one in the area, other than the school in the city of Bainet, that offers classes in the third tier of education. We’re so excited, we could do a High School Musical jump!

We plan to continue our trend of adding a new grade each year, and we can't wait to graduate a class of students who were able to start and finish school at the HFHF school, in their hometown.

Tomas Update

Hi everyone - we're sorry for the delayed update on Hurricane Tomas. This is one of those cases where no news is good news - or at least the best possible news all things considered. The effects of the storm were pretty typical for Bainet, Zorange and the rural areas we work. Bainet and the rivers around Zorange are flooded, and people are generally staying home until the water recedes. The communities face some hard days ahead, as the storm destroyed most of the crops. It's the norm when major storms come through, but it's still not easy to struggle with securing food and possible hunger in the meantime. However, we are grateful that the storm didn't turn out to be more serious, as so many people are still recovering from the earthquake.

From what we can tell by following the news and social media, it seems that other parts of Haiti fared as best as possible too. The greatest threat in the next few weeks will be the spread of cholera, as feared before the storm. There have been some confirmed cases in Port au Prince, and if the disease has a chance to get a hold in such a crowded city, the results could be disastrous. Please keep Haiti in your prayers as they try to hold off the disease.

Bracing for Tomas

We’ve been watching the Weather Channel with the meteorological dedication of Greg Fishel today – and it’s not because of the rainy morning here in Raleigh. As Tomas menacingly looms off the coast of Haiti, we’re bracing ourselves as we watch the effects of this storm – and only wish we could help the people of Haiti do more to prepare.

[tents in Port au Prince, not designed to withstand a storm like Tomas]

We’ve gotten reports saying that there are currently strong winds and rain in Zorange and in Port au Prince. School is closed throughout the country, the Port au Prince airport is closing this afternoon and the worst of Tomas is scheduled to hit Haiti late tonight into early Friday morning. The storm has fortunately weakened over this week, but projections say it could reach Category 1 hurricane status before passing over Haiti. Aid workers are scrambling to get people into emergency shelters, but very few exist – even the ones that the Clinton Foundation has built only house 80 people at a time. The government order to evacuate tent cities seems laughable to those living there; there’s no where to go. And people who have clung to their humble but familiar spots of land for nearly a year now are naturally reluctant to leave that behind. There’s nothing easy about this; there are a lot of very vulnerable people trapped in the path of a major storm.

In earthquake-ravaged Port au Prince, the obvious threat is to the 1.3 million people still crammed into tents throughout the crowded city. They have no basement to hide in, no place to ride out the storm. The tent cities are so vulnerable that when a strong storm system (not a hurricane or anything of the sort – just a strong storm) passed over Port au Prince on September 25, five people died from poles and trees falling on the camps. Flash floods are also a huge risk in the crowded city, once again, made more damaging by the lack of shelter. Haiti is extremely mountainous, and almost completely deforested, which means there’s very little to stop runoff into the lower-lying areas.

[Port au Prince from the air - you can see how it kind of sits in a bowl of mountains]

To make matters worse, Haiti is currently experiencing a rare cholera outbreak that has killed 442 people and infected almost 7,000 others. Because cholera is a waterborne illness, the flooding can cause it to spread quickly. Also, evacuees can bring the disease to areas not previously affected, and damaged infrastructure makes it harder for medical workers to get in with treatment and information about how to prevent the disease. Experts predict that the disease could spread aggressively on the heels of Tomas.

Not to be trite, but it truly is the perfect storm of potentially disastrous effects.

The world’s eyes will be on Port au Prince over the next few days, and rightfully so, but since Hope for Haiti Foundation primarily works in the countryside of Haiti, we wanted to share a little bit about the impact that hurricanes and other storms have where we work. While the storm can still cause significant damage and threaten people’s lives, the implications for rural Haiti are often most dramatic after the storm clears.

Economy

Bainet, the largest city in the area, with 100,000 people, temporarily shuts down. People of this city will not be able to transport their goods to Port-au-Prince, and no goods can come into the city because the buses and the trucks do not operate. The cascading effect is the lack of flour, rice and other goods that come from Port-au-Prince to be sold to the people in the country side. Anyone who does have stock of critical goods hikes their prices up because they can – you can’t escape supply & demand anywhere! Basically, people in rural Haiti can’t sell goods and make money after a hurricane, and they also lose their supply of critical goods from the city.

Medical Care

Medical care will be inaccessible in the event of a hurricane. Because of the flood risk, people will not walk or cross rivers to get to the clinic, even if they need medical treatment. Even on normal rainy days in Haiti, people are afraid they won’t be able to cross the river, or if they get across, that they won’t be able to get back.

School

Most schools will close. Luckily, the HFHF school is aware of which students must cross rivers to get to school. The group is the minority, and we offer excused absences to teachers and students who can’t get to school in the event of a flood. Hopefully we’ll be able to operate fairly normally after the storm.

Food Security

Interestingly, the day after the hurricane, there is plenty of food. Fruit trees shed their fruit in the high winds and rain, and coconuts and other fruits are all over the ground. Unfortunately, once off the tree, this fruit can only last a few days. Without any way to preserve it, the majority of the food supply runs out in a just a few days, and there isn’t any more fruit on the trees to pick. Animals, like goats, pigs and chickens, are often lost, scared off by the winds or washed off by the rain. Hunger can set in quickly after a major storm.

Environment

To a country that’s already struggling with deforestation and erosion, the environmental impact of a storm is huge. Trees are uprooted, often ending up in the ocean.

Elade, our founder, recounts riding out several of these storms while growing up in Haiti:

“I've experienced a few of these hurricanes and it is not fun. I remember my home was covered with grass, not tin. It was leaking and one time we were afraid that the house would collapse. I remember thinking of escape routes to take my cousins, away from tall trees, and hide in open fields just to get away from the danger. Now the homes are a little sturdier than before, and perhaps most of them will survive and not collapse, but the fear remains. Life as we know it in the countryside comes to a stop until the sky clears up."

[the house where Elade grew up, now with a sturdier tin roof ]

We're continuing to track the storm and will provide updates as we have them. Please keep everyone in Haiti in your prayers.

In conclusion...

We all made it home safely. No broken bones or strange diseases. I'm left with a sense of awe...I feel so inspired. My day to day problems are no longer significant.

Every day people come from miles and miles around to line up at this clinic in the hope for life saving medical care. One woman in her 70's started walking at 2am, in the pitch dark, in order to arrive at the clinic the next morning. She crossed the winding river 30 times before she reached the clinic. Sometimes they are too sick and they cannot make the long journey to and from the clinic. One young woman stubbed her toe in the river and could not get to the clinic for 16 days because she lived with two elderly woman. A neighbor finally brought her in but by the time she got there her big toe was literally gone - eaten away by gangrene. Her toe was rotted down to the bone and the infection had spread up her foot. This happens every single day in zorange. The nurses handle wound care, obstetical care, gastro-intestinal diseases, eye, skin, bones...everything. Before the clinic was established the people relied on witch doctors (many still do) or home remedies that often make the problem worse.

The children walk from miles away, every day to attend the school that Elade built. The school has educational standards and teaches the children valuable skills so they can thrive as adults. In this rural part of Haiti, I'm pretty sure there was nothing even close to this before Elade built it all.

Elade feels that the people of Haiti have let down the masses. He feels the educated people of Haiti have a responsibility to help their country. He is not leaving it in the hands of the government, or the hands of the wealthy countries because that isn't going to happen. He is embracing it and doing it himself by empowering his people.

One last observation - the Haitians are happy people. They love each other, take care of each other, smile, laugh, pray and are grateful for every day. All this, despite their circumstances.

My new goal is to find a replacement part for an old ultrasound machine, or hopefully find someone to donate a new ultrasound machine so I can start planning my next trip to the beautiful country of Haiti :)

Pamela

Coconut telegraph

Any Jimmy Buffett fan has heard of the coconut telegraph, but we got to witness it!

Remember how we lost the tire when it fell off the dump truck between Jacmel & Bainet? Well, our leaders made a phone call or two, and word travels fast on the coconut telegraph - on Tuesday morning, the tire appeared! As the song says, "you can hear it on the coconut telegraph, by now everybody knows. You can hear it on the coconut telegraph just who comes & goes."

- A note from the Parrothead eye doc

A Recap from the Eye Doc

This trip has been great. We didn't see as many patients as in previous trips, but the ones we saw truly needed eye care. It was fabulous to see patients who haven't been able to see in years smile when they put on their glasses! I saw retinal and corneal pathology that I've never seen before, so I must revisit my pathology books when I get home. It is so hard to tell those patients there is nothing we can do when they look at us with such hope. On a positive note, we were able to help most of the people we saw. We treated glaucoma, infections & tons of dry eye. To sum it up, this was the most effective eye clinic we've done & I can't wait to do it again.

- Kim

Gabby in bainet

We just got to the ocean... It's beautiful here ....

Friday

Today is our last day at the clinic. This place is amazing! Elade has built a school, which houses the medical clinic and this is just the beginning. He has a huge initiative to reach out to other rural areas for medical care and education. The school will soon be teaching trades including sewing, woodworking and computers. The Foundation has helped so many people already, but it's just a drop in the bucket.

Ok, I have a patient waiting... Will try to write more later

- Pamela

Wednesday

Hi, It's Cean. Today we had many patients at the clinic. Something must be in the water because there are a lot of pregnant ones...we did not drink the water.

Ignorance can be bliss - you don't want to know what the meat is. You don't want to see the cliff you're driving on. And you don't really want to know what's climbing up the wall or what crawled on you in the night and bit you. There are lots of changes this year including a flushing (sometimes) toilet and water out of the spigot in the shower (sometimes). The clinic is an eye-opener, in which the nurses that work here amaze me. They do a fantastic job in a location you would never think they would be able to do that in.

The bath in the river is still refreshing especially with the fun jeep ride there and back. I'll write more tomorrow.



[the river]




[the bath]

Tuesday

Last night it rained very hard for what seemed like all night. I was worried the roof was going to fly off! We also wondered if the river would be too high to return. In addition, we felt an earthquake tremor.

The patients were all lined up at the clinic this morning when we arrived. Some of them walk for hours and without shoes. Since I can't do ultrasounds, I've been doing physical exams on pregnant women. One 16 year old was having her 8th baby.

Kim is seeing many patients with eye problems who are excited they can see with their new glasses. The people are so grateful for the care they're getting. We're taking a short lunch break now. And the goat I saw grazing in the field the other day is no longer there... ...pretty sure we had it for dinner.

-Pamela

Today we were scheduled to train the four nurses that run the clinic on the ultrasound machines and the slit lamp. Well, Kim has been training the vision part all day, but I haven't been able to do anything since the ultrasound machine is broken. It looks like it got damaged in shipping. I'll try to find a replacement part when I get back.

One of the best parts of this trip is meeting all these passionate, determined people that help out the HFHF team. Kim, Cean, Liz and Gabby are all so kind and helpful. Elade, the founder, envisioned all this - the school, the clinic and much more only 9 years ago.

There is so much poverty in this country. I wish I had the opportunity to visit Haiti before the earthquake, although from what I understand it's not much different. The people still lived in shacks and tents, just not as many.



This all is being sent from my phone - and the internet is sketchy here...so bear with me with short blogs. Here are a few pictures from the journey here:

We got to our dorm at 8:30 Sunday night - it was quite an adventure. We four-wheeled up muddy mountains and drove through rivers to get to Zorange. I'm very excited to go to the clinic and start meeting the people. This picture is the new dorm HFHF built.



Before the adventure. Here's Liz, Cean and Kim getting ready to depart. We're all excited to start our new journey. A few minor bag technicalities, but we're good to go!



This is the clinic/ school.




-Pamela

A Case of the Hiccups

It wouldn't be a Haiti trip without a few hiccups along the way - and we had several! Hiccup Number 1 occurred when we arrived in Port au Prince without one of our bags of supplies. No worries, mon -- the bag will arrive on the 3:00 flight and will get to us by noon tomorrow!

We made our way towards the mountains, and somewhere between Jacmel & Bainet, we had a flat tire. No worries, mon - our Haitian friends driving the dump truck with our supplies took charge. With the speed of a NASCAR pit crew (well almost), they changed the tire and off we went! Made it through hiccup Number 2!

Hiccup Number 3 occurred when we reached Bainet to get the tire fixed, only to discover the tire had fallen off the dump truck! The first option was for us to all pile in the dump truck for the river ride. The section option was to hope for the best & continue in the Land Cruiser. We took Option 2. The river was higher than I've seen it -- sometimes it was above the dump truck tires. The Land Cruiser was a mule of a vehicle & we made it -- even with the spare tire. Our original ETA had been 6:30 but we arrived at the top of the mountain at 8:15 -- right on "Haitian time". We're safe & happy to be here!

Your Haitian eye doc,
Kim

We got to Port au Prince safely, but one of our checked bags didn't make it. It's the bag with all of our ultrasound equipment in it! So we'll have to improvise tomorrow... maybe use hair gel.

Haiti is beautiful, but it is very, very sad here. We drove past miles of tents and shacks that the people live in. A lot of the buildings are crumbled.

We've been riding all day on bumpy, mostly unpaved roads, and we just got a flat tire. Elade says we're in "the donkey parking lot " - the HFHF folks will know what that is.

Oh, and our first meal that was graciously provided to us was rice n beans, beet salad and goat meat. Yum!

Will keep you all posted :)

-Pamela

Back in the Saddle: October Trip To Zorange

Hope for Haiti Foundation’s October trip is en route to Haiti & ready for the rodeo! The team left RDU bright and early this morning, and they should be landing in Port au Prince any minute. We might be just a little jealous as we think about them feasting on Vierge’s carry-out specialty – beet and potato salad – our favorite! (One day, Tara and I are for reals going to start The Gourmet Goat, our Haitian foodie blog side project. It's going to be legen…dary).

While we don’t have any “floggers” on this team (yes, apparently that’s the official term for a “foodie blogger”, as opposed to someone who beats, whips and/or flogs people - luckily, we don’t have any of those on the team either!), we do have four amazing ladies who are going to be providing you updates from Haiti this week! This October trip has a medical focus, and much of the team’s time will be spent training the nurses at the clinic to use some of our new gadgets like ultrasound machines and fancy microscopes...ya know, the little things those medical people like to keep around.

We've got veterans and newbies on this trip, and each of our bloggers has a unique perspective to offer based on their specialty area and past experience in Haiti. So while they spend the day making their way to Zorange, we'd like to introduce you to your lovely tour guides for this week.

Kim Bowers

An optometrist who will be leading the trip, Kim has been involved with HFHF for many years and has been traveling to Haiti since 2007. She “brought sight to Zorange” and fits people there with glasses for near and far sightedness as well as other eye problems. This trip she is training our nurses in Zorange how to use a slit microscope that will allow them to save eyesight by seeing and removing sand, wood or metal that gets in people’s eyes and causes damage.

A great story about her first trip to Haiti: she was fitting an older gentleman with a pair of glasses for distance. She had him go out of the room with the glasses on and look around. When he got out there, he said “The mountains are so beautiful!” He wasn’t the only one with tears in his eyes!

Cean Grinnell

Our resident detective, FedEx expert, master packer and all-around rockstar, Cean keeps the HFHF supply line open! As the our supplies director, she handles obtaining, organizing and packing supplies to be sent to Haiti with trips and in containers; it’s a huge job! She also has a knack for finding places in Haiti for us to buy needed items. If you remember anything about the logistics of getting, well, anything in Haiti, you’ll understand how awesome she is for the stuff she’s able to get her hands on.

This will be Cean’s third trip to Haiti, though she’s been volunteering for much longer. She usually helps Kim out in the eye clinic when in Haiti, and helps Elizabeth out all the time here in the States. In Elizabeth’s words: “I love her. She’s my buddy.”. We all love her, too.

Liz Holland

A nurse who has been traveling to Haiti since 2002, she does everything! Originally, she started out seeing patients with GI problems and eventually added eye patients to her repertoire, treating infections and conditions like dry eyes (Ben Stein shoutout!). Now, she sees just about anyone, treating a variety of illness and providing amazing support to our full-time clinic staff. What a great asset to the team!

Pamela Schiavone

An ultrasound technician at WakeMed hospital in Cary, N.C., Pamela is one of the most recent volunteers to drink the HFHF Kool-Aid. After hearing Kim Sniffin give a presentation about Hope for Haiti Foundation at WakeMed this spring, Pamela signed up to go on a trip the same day! She was right on time, too! Remember that cool ultrasound machine that was donated to the clinic back in May? Well, Pamela will spend the week training the nurses how to use the machine so they can detect and provide care for pregnancy, GI issues and other medical needs. A first-timer to Haiti, we’re really excited to read about the trip from her perspective.

Please pray for smooth travels for the team as they make their way to Zorange. Of course, we don’t mean LITERALLY smooth travel (we might be optimists, but we ain’t crazy); that’s practically an oxymoron on those Haitian roads and we’re already pushing our miracle quota. But we are praying for a safe trip, maybe with a little less river drama this time around. Check back this week for regular updates from the ground in Haiti!

Yeehaw!

New Jeans Brand Giving Back to HFHF; Featured at NYC Holiday Lookbook Event

David Jackson is giving a whole new meaning to “good jeans”.

After traveling to Zorange with Hope for Haiti Foundation in March, the Elon Univeristy professor and entrepreneur launched a new brand of women’s jeans – S2 Jeans – as a way to help victims of the January earthquake and rebuild infrastructure in Haiti. Moved by what he saw in Zorange, especially the damaged school, clinic and future hospital buildings, David knew he had to do something. Because textiles represent a major export for Haiti, the idea for the premium jeans brand was born. He immediately began the production process to create a comfy, stylish pant, made even better by the fact that 3 percent of the profits will be donated back to HFHF!

After months of picking out buttons, rivets and stitching, trying on samples and perfecting the fit, S2 jeans was ready to debut its altruistic apparel. On October 5, S2 jeans was featured at the Holiday Lookbook in New York City, a biannual media-only event designed to give invited media outlets an exclusive glimpse at select brands and products for inclusion in holiday gift guides. Jackson and his team traveled to the Big Apple to show off their latest denim fashion, and their presence at the show gave them the chance to interact with editors from top news, fashion and women’s interest publications, such as the AP, Lucky and Elle. Jill Martin, a fashion and entertainment reporter who has contributed to The Today Show, Extra, Access Hollywood and other top entertainment shows, hosted the event.

[the S2 booth at the Holiday Lookbook]

S2 Jeans’ attendance at the event has already paid off! A reporter from The Examiner featured the brand in a recap article, and a video summary of the Holiday Lookbook shows Jill Martin stopping by the S2 booth to check out the jeans.

Jackson has met with many buyers, investors and retailers to work on developing relationships and getting the jeans in stores. Soon S2 jeans will be available to buy, with the line starting out with a sulfur top indigo jean with classic lines, washed for comfort. Keep checking their website for purchasing info and getcha some!

Many thanks to David for his big heart and incredible initiative. We look forward to the official launch of S2 jeans and partnering with the team. Just more proof that looking good and doing good can fit like…well, your favorite pair of jeans.

LINKS:
S2 Jeans
The Holiday Lookbook
Examiner Article
Video featuring Jill Martin and S2 Jeans

GUEST BLOGGER: Lydia Dant talks about the new Community Health Workers program

We think it's time for you to read other people. While we know you love us, your faithful bloggers, things are getting a little too comfortable, and it's time to spice things up. That's why we bring you: the guest blogger (after all, distance makes the heart grow fonder, right?). In all seriousness, one thing we aim to do on this blog is to bring in other writers who can provide a different viewpoint, unique insights, expertise on a certain project area or a fuller picture of our work in Haiti. Whether it's someone who has been impacted by HFHF's projects in Haiti, a trip member or a core volunteer who focuses on specific programs, we're going to regularly bring in guest bloggers to offer a new voice to our communications. Our first guest post comes from Lydia Dant, who you've read about before from our September trip news. She shares about our recently-launched Community Health Workers program and what it means for the Bainet area.

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You have a headache, or arthritis, or the flu. You have an upset stomach, and you’re not sure if its something you should be concerned about. You think you might be pregnant, or you know you are. You have high blood pressure, or diabetes, or cataracts. Your son fell and has a large wound on his leg.

What do you do?

If you live in Zorange, Haiti, you only have 2 options: 1) do nothing 2) take a long & expensive journey to visit a health clinic.

Until recently, in fact, the second option did not exist. Thanks to generous donations and a dedicated Haitian medical staff, Zorange now has a medical clinic that sees about 50 patients a day – providing basic medicines, lab work, wound care, women’s health services, vaccinations, and maternity care. It is hard to appreciate the impact of this clinic when you live in the states, where a 10 minute car ride will bring you past at least a dozen places where you can buy Advil. Imagine if all of those drug stores vanished? Welcome to Zorange, pre-HFHF clinic.

[people waiting in line to be seen at the Zorange clinic]

While the clinic provides hundreds with necessary medical care, there are hundreds more who don’t know about the clinic, or can’t travel to the clinic. Some are too sick. [When is the last time you had the flu and thought “I know what I’d like to do right now. I’d like to take a 4 hour hike in 100 degree weather over 4 mountains with no water, food, or shoes.”] Even if you are up for the trek, the river is too high to cross at certain times of year, making it impossible to reach the clinic. Others have to stay home because they are the sole caregiver for their family. And, while the clinic will never turn down a patient for lack of funds, spending the day traveling to a clinic is an expense of lost wages.

These are just some of the reasons why it was necessary to create a third option to meet people’s health needs: Community Health Workers. CHWs are a critical part of HFHF’s medical program. HFHF currently has two community health workers in each of the 9 sections of Bainet. Many of these sections have no medical care whatsoever. The CHWs are trained to take blood pressures, temperatures, educate the community about sanitation and vaccinations, and also refer people to the HFHF clinic when they recognize a serious illness. The CHWs are also trained in basic prenatal care and to recognize complications in pregnancy and respond to these complications where appropriate. These CHWs are the eyes, ears, and, often times, hands of medical care in these communities where previously, health problems have never been addressed.

The CHWs are also helping HFHF to gather baseline data for each community. With this information, our medical staff will have a better sense of the scope of medical issues in the communities, and will be more equipped to meet people’s needs. Because they live in the communities, the CHWs can catch things like malnutrition early on before it becomes life threatening. They can educate families on the importance of hand washing, how to prevent dehydration from diarrheal disease, or the signs and symptoms of malaria. Communication & education is a big part of what CHWs can do in a community. Without WebMD or ‘The Learning Channel,’ CHWs are the primary source of medical information and knowledge. These CHWs are the lifeline for each of these communities.

[Myrlan, who oversees the community health workers, in the Zorange pharmacy]

So, that cut that your son got on his leg can now be bandaged without a day-trip to the clinic, decreasing the risk of infection. You can receive some pain relief from that headache without investing an entire day to do so. Your fears can be relieved when the CHW takes your blood pressure and lets you know that everything is fine, or that you are responding well to the blood pressure medication the clinic gave you last month.

The impact of these CHWs is immeasurable (well, almost. We do believe in monitoring & evaluation for effective programming!) But to a sick or suffering patient, these dedicated workers are an answer to prayer. And, would you believe that all of this happens for only $70 per month? For a mere $840 a year, a community health worker is provided with a living wage and a stable income to support their family. In return, they provide a community with health, support, peace of mind, and hope. For $70 a month. For those of you who struggle with numbers, the cost-benefit ratio here is about a gazillion to one.

As we finish the first year of our CHW project, and look ahead to year two, we are more excited than ever at the impact it is having. Thanks for letting us share it with you.

XXX

Lydia Dant first traveled to Haiti in 2008 to conduct a research project for her master's in public health degree. She and Mahsa (see video below) traveled through the nine sections of Bainet, surveying community members about their greatest medical needs. Like most unsuspecting first-time travelers to Zorange, she was hooked and has been involved with Hope for Haiti Foundation ever since. With her background in public health, Lydia works with several of HFHF's medical projects, with a focus on maternal and child health and the Community Health Workers program. Lydia is originally from the Boston area, and now lives in Ft. Myers, Florida, where she and her husband, Brian, work at ECHO.


Check out this video to hear Matt, Mahsa and Laura explain more about the Community Health Workers program.

Move over, Brita

It looks like Sawyer's got the corner on the water filter market - at least in Zorange.

Remember two weeks ago when we told you about the Sawyer water filters that Brian and Lydia were able to bring to Zorange on our September trip? Here's a rapid-fire recap, intro-to-Glee style, for those of you who don't: This simple filtration system was developed by Sawyer to provide developing countries with a low-maintenance, fast, cost-efficient way to purify water, and they were included in relief kits that ECHO put together after the January 12 earthquake. ECHO, which stands for Educational Concerns for Hunger Organization, is based in Florida, and though they now work all over the world, they actually began their mission of "equipping people with resources and skills to reduce hunger and improve the lives of the poor" in Haiti. Brian & Lydia currently work at ECHO and were able to get their hands on a few filters to be used in the school and clinic. For the people in Zorange, whose only source of water is the dirty river accessible by a long, steep climb, these filters were life-changing. While they still have to walk to get water, that water is now safe for them to drink, which will greatly reduce waterborne illnesses like cholera. (And that's what you missed on our blog).

Following the trip, Brian and Lydia had an opportunity to give a presentation at ECHO, focusing on the water filters and their impact in the community. Well, thanks to their mad presentation skills and ECHO’s generosity, Hope for Haiti Foundation is receiving 60 more water filters to distribute throughout the community in Zorange! The donated filters have a total value of $3000 and will provide clean water to households throughout the Bigot habitation and greater Zorange area. These bad boys are en route to North Carolina right now, and we are so excited. (We’re talking SNL-Surprise-Party-Sue-excited here.)

We can’t express our gratitude to ECHO enough. Providing clean water to 60 families anywhere would make a huge difference in the lives of hundreds of people, but because of the close community in Haiti, we really believe these will have a have a widespread impact. Now kids won't just have clean water at school, but at home too; people who are already sick won't have their immune systems further compromised by drinking contaminated water and healthy adults will have a much better shot at staying healthy. As we get ready to send our October trip to Haiti in two weeks, we're sure we'll be stuffing checked luggage full of filters, and after the community has used these filters for a consistent amount of time, we are going to work with our medical team on the ground in Haiti to try to track the decrease in diarrheal disease and other waterborne illness . Thanks again to ECHO for making this possible!

Sonie's Water Filter
To see a video of one of Zorange's residents with her new water filter, click here!

In Their Voice: Medical Care in Haiti

If you've spent any time around those of us involved with Hope for Haiti Foundation, you've probably heard us say, well, a lot of things. Raving about the Haitian coffee. Excessive use of the word "awesome." And if you're in Haiti with us, probably a lot of "pa komprann" (which means, "I don't understand" in Creole :)). But one thing you definitely will have heard us talk about is the enormous need for accessible medical care in Haiti.

It's hard for us here to imagine life without doctors - not to mention specialized doctors, pharmacies on every corner (and in every Target! Hello, new shoes with each prescription filled!) and cutting edge surgical centers. But for many in rural Haiti, it can take 6 to 12 hours - and a lot of money - just to get to somewhere that can administer medical care, which is often subpar or completely insufficient. And keep in mind that this is not your average 6-to-12-hour trip. The lucky ones with vehicles face a long journey of bumpy, unpaved roads and potential obstacles like swelled rivers (not only is the lack of medical care an issue in and of itself, but the lack of infrastructure complicates everything), but for many, this journey is done on foot, over mountains. Women in labor. People bleeding to death. People with high fevers, headache, diarrhea from infectious disease. WALKING to the doctor. Not only does that sound completely miserable (let's be honest, last month, I had a simple ear infection and still subjected myself to five hours of "Real Housewives of New Jersey" before I could drag myself off the couch to drive to the doctor. I'm. so. embarrassed.), but it makes emergency response essentially nonexistent. People die senseless deaths everyday from things that we don't even consider life-threatening here - all because a simple lack of access.

Much of the knowledge we have about the current medical situation in the Bainet city section of Haiti (remember, Bainet is a region in the Sud Est department of Haiti - it's divided into nine sections, one of which is Zorange) is thanks to a health survey that Lydia and Mahsa did in May 2008 as a research project for their Masters in Public Health degree (not only are we cute, but we're smart!).
The facts that we learned from these interviews have proved invaluable and guided much of our approach to our medical projects, but it's the stories that stick in our hearts. As we begin focusing on fundraising for some major medical initiatives, we wanted to share some of the quotes from the interviews with y'all, because, while you've probably heard us talk about a lot of stuff, we think it's always more powerful when told in their voices. These truly paint the picture of the medical situation in Haiti and the challenge people face regarding their health.

“I was walking home my water broke. I went to Petit - Goâve and then after that to the General Hospital and it was closed. I had a friend who took me to a hospital in Caw Foo. It was raining and when I got there the doctor said if you have money you will survive, if you have no money you will not survive. I gave the money, and they bought medicine and gave me an IV. He told me the baby won’t survive and when the baby was born they hit the baby but the baby didn’t cry. The baby was born abnormal. The baby died 5 days after delivery.” (Female, Section 6)

“If someone has complications during labor, we have to create a stretcher to carry that person for 6-7 hours to Bainet by hand. They do not always make it and die on the way.” (Section 4)

“We go to Fonds des Blancs if more serious, but it takes all day to walk (12 hours). We do not go to Jacmel, Bainet because they have nothing there.” (Section 9a)

“When our wives give birth we carry them on our shoulders to give birth and they die. When we arrive at Bainet we have to then go to Jacmel.” (Male, Section 5)

“Sometimes we went so far and when we arrived we did not have medicine for our troubles and it is bad because we used our money and did not receive anything.” (Male, Section 8)

“If you have a serious illness, you will most likely die before you get to the hospital, because the road is bad.” (Section 9a)

“We hear that help is coming but we do not receive the help because where we live is the last corner and what the government gives does not arrive here.” (Male, Section 5)


We also have some awesome quotes about how much the clinic in Zorange is helping, and we're really excited about some of our recent initiatives like the community health workers program, but we can't seem to shake the knowledge that there's still so much more to be done. One thing that came out through the focus groups was the fact that in the entire Bainet city, there isn't a hospital that can perform a surgery. That's why we're so serious about building this hospital - it will give more than 500,000 people access to medical care that simply doesn't exist for them now. We have the buildings and we have a really exciting plan that our amazing architects put together, and we're about to get serious about fundraising to make this thing happen (game faces on!). Because, while we hate to make it about money, hospitals ain't cheap, and we need to raise at least $1 million to make the beginning phases of the plan a reality (cue the early-90s Barenaked Ladies hit "If I Had a Million Dollars". Or if we really want to dream, fast forward 15 years to "Billionaire". *sigh* Inflation.). Check back soon for some more details about the hospital (including snazzy 4-D imaging of the plans!) & details on how you can help...we're excited for you all to dream with us :)

-Your Favorite Marketing & PR Team

P.S. If you want to learn more about the medical scene in Haiti, we highly recommend reading Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder, about Paul Farmer's work in Haiti. Paul Farmer is one of the founders of Partners in Health, probably one of the most effective charities working in Haiti right now, and one of the great champions for medical care in developing countries. His work is centralized in the Centre Department but the book does a great job describing the medical challenges the country faces. And while you're at it, why not put on Arcade Fire's latest, The Suburbs? They're strong supporters of PIH, and that CD has been on repeat for weeks. Happy reading & listening!

'I am Saved!' - Clean Water Comes to Zorange!

I'll always remember the realization I had a few weeks into my first "real" job, standing at the iconic water cooler, filling my 'Stuff White People Like'-worthy, reusable, BPA-free water bottle with crisp, cold, ultra-filtered water. Right behind me was a sink & faucet, with perfectly good water, that I refused to drink from. There, in a 3-foot radius, I had not one, but two, sources of unlimited clean water, and I was being so picky as to only drink from the cooler because of a preference in temperature - when much of the world doesn't have access to a single source of clean water.

For almost all of the developing world, lack of clean drinking water is one of the most pressing health and social issues people face. Women spend thousands of hours collecting water, waterborne diseases kill more than 1.4 million children each year and in some developing countries, 80 percent of illnesses are linked to poor water and sanitation. Zorange, Haiti, where Hope for Haiti Foundation works, is no exception. The main water source for the community is the river that cuts through the mountainous region (remember the river we got stuck in?). This is the same river they bathe in, walk in, drive in, tend their livestock in. Though they try to find side springs to avoid collecting water directly from the fast-moving, muddy main current, this water still isn't potable. The cost for this water? Miles of walking up steep hills with buckets of water and enormous health risks. The choice? There isn't one.

The health implications are obvious; waterborne diseases like cholera and dysentary can plague communities where they would otherwise be avoidable. The social implications, less blatant, are equally devastating. In communities facing water scarcity, women's time and resources are focused on obtaining water, sometimes walking hours each day to bring back small amounts of water for their families - water that will still make them sick. Sometimes children even drop out of school to help with gathering water. In communities where wells have been drilled, not only does public health immediately and immensely improve, but education, family structure and sometimes even economies strengthen, as women can focus on developing trades, skills and business. Providing clean water is one of the most effective ways to drastically change a community in an instant.

That's why one of the most exciting and powerful moments on our trip to Haiti last week was when Brian and Lydia presented the community with a water filter system that would allow them to purify water before drinking it, with no fancy contraptions and in just a few minutes. The filter, created by Sawyer and provided in conjunction with ECHO (Educational Concerns for Hunger Organization, where Brian interns), can purify up to 500 gallons of water a day, has a lifetime warranty and can be used just by attaching it to a bucket and running water through it before drinking. Several filters were donated to Zorange through ECHO's earthquake relief efforts, and Brian and Lydia trained community leaders on how to use the filter. The filters will be used for the school so the children have safe water to drink and in select homes in Zorange.


[Community members learning how to use their water filters]

The community reaction to the systems was incredible; they were so excited! “The idea of water for us is a mystery," said Obed, the head of our host family. "It’s true that we have water, but it is far to get to, and when we do get it, no one thinks about how to get it clean. Most of the time, when our kids get sick, the doctor tells them the reason they’re sick is what they’re drinking.” Sonie Adam, another community leader who was trained on how to use the system, yelled that she was "saved" after seeing the system at work. We can't imagine what it would be like to be forced to drink water that you knew was making you sick and the feeling of having that problem solved in an instant. Witnessing this moment impacted everyone on our team; the cool thing is that we know it impacted the community in Zorange even more.


[Olivier getting clean water for the first time]

Ultimately, we hope to build a well in Zorange as a wide-reaching, easily-accessible, long-term solution to the water crisis, but the weather, location and cost makes it quite the task. In the meantime, we are thrilled to have the answer in the Sawyer filters! We can't imagine how many deaths, illnesses, missed days of school and economic setbacks these will prevent. Brian and Lydia are continuing to work with ECHO and Sawyer to try to secure filters for the whole community, and we're really excited about the future of this project. It can pretty much all be summed up in what Sonie said when we talked to her after giving her a filter: “Because of this project, we will have a different life. When you come back, you will see our faces healthy.” It doesn't get more beautiful than that!


[Sonie, so excited about her water filter]


Special thanks to ECHO and Sawyer for their generosity. You can learn more about the Sawyer product here: http://www.sawyerpointonefilters.com/

Coming Home (when everything is the same but you)

I've always loved going more than I've loved coming home. I thrive off of new experiences, get bored with routine and dream of far off places. Part of me has always wanted to be a flight attendant, and I didn't think that George Clooney's character in Up in the Air was really that bad of a guy. But I will say that after our epic and ridiculous time trying to get back to Raleigh (I don't know if we mentioned that we got stranded in Miami overnight and had our flight delayed again the next day), I have never wanted to come home so badly. I typically walk through the airport staring at the destination above each gate and thinking of the planes I'd much rather get on than the one heading home, but yesterday, the only place I wanted to go was to RDU. And in many ways, it has been nice to be back. I spent Friday night dreaming of hair straighteners and air conditioning, of opening my closet instead of a plastic bag to pick out my outfit, and I've spent the last few days running, spending time with friends & sleeping - some of the things I missed the most in Haiti. It's funny, because I've gone on plenty of trips before where I've camped, lived out of a backpack and not showered for days, but I've never felt the same relief of coming home with those as I do now. Something about being in a country so different from home, about knowing that I didn't have resources at my fingertips, has made coming home so comforting.

But, coming home has also been much harder and different than I expected. Aside from the common challenges of trying to describe an amazing trip to curious friends in just a few words, the let down of getting back to normal life after an adventure and missing the beautiful places and people I met, I have thought about Haiti almost constantly since landing in Raleigh. I have never had to process a place and an experience so much, never struggled so much to comprehend things that I can't really get my mind around. I had been warned that it takes time to decompress from a trip like this, that Haiti is somewhere you come back to over and over, but I guess I was naive to it all. I've been to other countries before, and I was only gone for a week this time. I wasn't expecting to be left with so many thoughts, so many things that I struggle to make sense of and so many questions about politics, dynamics, causes and effects and the best way to move forward. There are so many things - good & bad - that I'm trying to translate, to find their equivalent for in my own life, with very little luck. And there are so many amazing and meaningful personal experiences and people I've fallen in love with that I miss.

The thing that has surprised me most, besides the way I still struggle to process it all, has been my feelings as I have processed it. I knew that I would come out of this week changed, and I knew that I would see and experience a lot of shocking, difficult and beautiful things that would ultimately shape my perspective and worldview. Honestly, I expected to come back with the temporary feeling of guilt about my nice things and comfortable life, write an extra donation check instead of buying a new dress and get back to normal life. But for some reason, Haiti hasn't left me feeling guilty, but it has left me feeling very unsettled. I don't feel like I need to change how I'm living, but it bothers me at little times throughout the day - driving down the road, drinking a cup of coffee - that I can't do more to change how the people there are living. It bothers me that right now someone is sick and having to walk over mountains to get to a doctor, that a kid is drinking water that will make him sick. It bothers me that with one shower, my life was quickly brought back to normal while what I left was their normal. It bothers me that with a plane ticket and a U.S. passport (a birthright, really), I can literally be lifted above it all, taken to 30,000 feet where life is equal - we're all just specks on a globe - and dropped back into my life here, exactly as I left it, while they can't escape from the struggles they face everyday. I think I'm realizing that the way Haiti has affected me has much less to do with personal conviction and much more to do with what I believe about justice and my role in it at a deep level. I think this upsets me so much because it's not how the world was designed to be, because it bothers God too.

The temptation is to try to adjust, to just want to get back to normal, knowing that if I just let myself get back into my routine, it will eventually all feel right again, like waiting for a drug to wear off. But there's also part of me that wants to cling to this feeling because I know it's really the opposite of a drug wearing off, and that my normal life is the numb part and that this real. There's part of me that doesn't want to get back to normal, because injustice should always bother me. Because I should always be aware that there's no "me" and "them", but merely a difference in where we were born, which has come with a huge difference in opportunity. Because I should always realize that with awareness comes responsibility to not live selfishly, to do whatever I can, no matter how small.

I'm honestly not sure what to do about it all. There's that immediate desire to do anything - donate clothes, food, whatever - just to alleviate the feeling of helplessness, but I realize that that's not the ultimate answer. While it's not an easy answer for someone growing up in an instant gratification society, I know that the fight is much bigger and the road is much longer than a quick fix. That it takes time and a diversity of skills and building on top of previous work and providing resources that equip people to change their own nation rather than just providing a bandaid. I really believe that Hope for Haiti Foundation does just that, and I'm so proud to be involved. While the spoiled part of me wants instant results, ultimately, I'd rather see long-term and sustainable change that's community-owned and empowering. I absolutely believe that Haiti isn't a hopeless nation; I've seen the strength, passion, pride, intelligence and drive of the people there, and I know that in the long run, they don't really need me. All we can do is provide the jumping point - the school, the antibiotic, the access to information through the internet - and remove obstacles that allow them to live fully in that potential. It's humbling, and motivating to continue the work. If you'd ever like to be more involved with HFHF, give us a shout - we always love meeting more "victims of Haiti's passion" and promise there's a fit for your skills. You'll fall in love and you'll be bothered, but it's worth it. After all, waking up is always hard - but necessary - to do.

-Kristen P.