WHEN: November 4-20, 2008
WHERE: Les Cayes is in the southeast of Haiti, about 120 miles from Port-au-Prince. It is the third largest city in
Haiti, with about 70,000 residents. We will see patients at Pwoje Espwa outside Les Cayes, at Charlotte, a rural
farming community, at Isle La Vache at Sister Flora’s orphanage on the island off Les Cayes, and possibly at the
prison in Les Cayes.
WHO: Athens Medical Group has partnered with Project Espwa, an orphanage for over 600 children near Les Cayes,
run by Father Marc Boisvert (website www.theoswork.org) to participate in a medical mission to Haitians deprived of
even basic medical care. Non-medical people can also contribute. Our long-term hope is to provide continuity of care
through a local physician and nurses, with a regular series of visits from members of our local medical community.
The Athens Medical Group has been supporting a Haitian nurse, Marie Geralde Baptiste, since November 2005 to
assist with continuity of care. Klinik Espwa is now open, with 2 nurses, 2 nurse assistants, and Dr. Jacob Baptiste. We
will have a group of Haitian medical students working with us from the Haitian Academy.
HOW: Team One flew from Indianapolis to Miami on the afternoon of Tuesday, November 4, where they met those
team members who flew out of O’Hare and we all stayed in a Days Inn motel near the Miami airport, and departed for
Port-au-Prince early on the morning of November 5. Team two left Indianapolis on November 12, arriving in Port-au-
Prince on November 13, after a similar overnight stay in Miami. After clearing immigration, claiming baggage, and
clearing customs, we met the medical students, Vladimyr, Francise, Duval, and Merline,and went to a smaller airport
nearby, where we flew on a smaller plane to Les Cayes on a local airline called Tortug’Air (which costs $150 per
person RT). We stayed at the Guest House at Project Espwa. They have satellite Internet access at the
orphanage, and they have local power with a generator for back-up and a battery bank. There was no AC but they
had fans. We use the checked baggage allotment for 2 Action Packers, suitcases, or duffel bags with medical
supplies and equipment per person. These are limited to 50 pounds each, or an additional fee is assessed. We had
packing sessions for the medical equipment and supplies. We returned by flying on a small plane from Les Cayes to
Port-au-Prince, and then via American Airlines to Miami and then on to Chicago or Indianapolis, arriving home late on
the evening of November 12 (Wednesday).
The two weeks were very productive seeing hundreds of patients both at ESPWA and some with outreach clinics. We
even were able to perform some small surgeries.
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| from March 2008 Trip |
Teresa Hall with the Haitian
medical students, she certified
them in CPR.
medical students, she certified
them in CPR.