medical missions south haiti
november 2009
Our team for this 2009 November trip was split into two teams. Team A was led by Dr. Ryan Venis, they were based at Pwoje Espwa and focused on the children and employees of Espwa and the people from the surrounding
communities. Team A consisted of Ryan Venis MD, Barb Lockart, nurse practitioner, Lori Gibson, RN and nurse practitioner student, Megan McConnell RN, Jerri Sills LPN, Ellen Ball RN, Bradford Moulton, paramedic, Andrea Venis,
Christopher Sill , a high school student, and Ilene Albright CNA. They worked with Drs. Jacob Baptiste and Pierre Duvall from Haiti and with the nursing staff of Klinik Espwa.
Team B was based with an organization we worked with for the first time, Hope for Haiti, and did outreach medical clinics in more remote areas. Team B included: Mike Blood MD, Tom O'Connor MD, Teresa Hall RN, Kelly O'Connor
RN, Kristen Blood RN, Dr. Allen Sparks, pastor of Liberty Chapel, Jay Prosser, treasurer of MMSH, June Blood,worked in pharmacy, and Jon Rodda, photographer and graphic artist. Team B also worked with our Haitian doctors Vladimyr Roseau, Merline Milien, Francise Milien, Fritz Pierre, and Rikar Noel.
Our mission started early Saturday morning November 7, with a flight to Port-au-Prince. Upon our arrival we loaded our 2000 pounds of baggage including medical supplies, clothing , shoes ,toys, school supplies, 6 sewing machines, new soccer nets for Espwa, soccer balls, new handmade dresses for the girls at the orphanage, toothbrushes, toothpaste, and floss, stethoscopes, blood pressure cuffs, and otoscopes for Haitian doctors and nurses, walkers,
crutches, canes, and various other items for the Haitian people, onto a small bus and drove the 5 hour journey to Les Cayes. This was a great opportunity to see the city of Port-au-Prince and the Haitian country. On Sunday we attended church at Espwa, and Father Marc had Pastor Allen Sparks present 20 Creole bibles which were donated by Liberty Chapel to a group of young men at the orphanage who have expressed a desire to further their religious education and serve their fellow Haitians. We then performed medical screenings on the children of Espwa and examined and treated over 150 children from the orphanage. We also spent hours unpacking and
organizing the supplies which we brought to Haiti and prepared footlockers with medical and surgical supplies and medications for our outreach clinics with Hope for Haiti.
On Monday team B visited Ravine Sable , a very rural mountain community 1 hour down a very bad road. Our team examined and treated over 200 patients at a cement block school. June and Teresa manned the pharmacy, and we
ran out of Tylenol and acid reduction medications. We treated a wide variety of conditions, ranging from a pregnant woman with a urinary tract infection to a 4 year old with an infected knee. There were many children, and the people
of the area were "very beautiful and amazing people" according to Dr. Tom O'Connor. Patrick Eucalitto from Hope for Haiti demonstrated proper flossing technique to the patients, who all received a gift pack with a toothbrush,
toothpaste, floss, and chap-stick. As we left, we had to push start the truck, with Jay at the wheel. It was a long and tiresome day, but very productive. Tom and Mike did a lot of teaching with the Haitian doctors. Team A saw the
children at Espwa . Espwa is the home to more than 650 orphans.
On Tuesday the group at Espwa saw 120 patients , including a young woman with tuberculosis of the lymph nodes and another who probably had lymphoma. The group with Hope for Haiti went to Foca, a town on top of the mountain. The roads required four wheel drive up a very steep hill , which made Teresa and Kristen a little nervous, but with the great skill of our Haitian driver, we made it safely. We saw about 200 patients, mostly children. Teresa was surprised by a bat in the church building where we did intake and pharmacy. Mikey from Hope for Haiti came to the rescue and
got rid of the bat. Drs. Tom and Duvall examined patients in the principal's office, and avoided leaning on the walls, as they looked like they could fall down at any time. We gave out canes to several older patients, and treated
everything from malaria to stroke patients and from hypertension to severe dermatitis. Things went smoothly and more quickly as we learned the system that Hope for Haiti uses. We handed out toothbrushes, toothpaste, and floss
to everyone, and the chap-sticks were very popular with the girls. That evening we all got together at Espwa, and we presented the Haitian doctors with certificates recognizing their work with us over the past four years. Pastor Milien, father of Drs. Francise and Merline, was there to greet us also. We also got to see Pierre, the son of Dr. Jacob and Gerlade Baptiste, who is now 13 months old and growing quickly. We presented Pastor Milien with a new laptop which we brought for him, and with 48 Creole Bibles which were purchased by Liberty Chapel.
On Wednesday the team with Hope for Haiti worked at their dispensary in Les Cayes, seeing a "paltry" 150 patients. We met Dr. Steven Victor, a Haitian who attended medical school in Cuba and who works for Hope for Haiti (H4H). We
saw some interesting patients, including a man who had a gunshot wound in his arm which he sustained in Port-au-Prince during a kidnapping attempt, a rare case of lymphogranuloma venereum and an infant with club feet with a very sad story. The mother was married for 9 years and had 8 miscarriages. When her baby was born with a deformity, the father declared that such things did not occur in his family and then he abandoned them. She was unable to breast feed so we gave her formula. She started crying, and told us that formula costs 90 Haitian dollars for one container, about $12, which is a fortune for families that may make $1 per day. Dr.Tom O'Connor saw two sisters, one was very malnourished and developmentally delayed, and both had scabies and parasites. We gave them formula as a nutritional supplement, and treated their scabies and worms. The younger child was 18 months old and weighed only 15 pounds and was not yet walking. After we finished, we toured the outdoor market in Les Cayes. Jon was almost chased by a woman who took offense at having her photo taken, claiming he was stealing her soul with his camera.
The meat hanging unrefrigerated in the market covered with flies was most appetizing. The team at Espwa toured some locations in Les Cayes, including the Sisters of Charity who run a hospice and a facility for disabled children, a nursing home, the market, and saw some sights in town. Allen Sparks met with theteachers of the Baptist Bible Institute, an advanced course for pastors, and he taught a class there in Spiritual Formation.
On Thursday we all went to the beach at Port Salut for a well deserved break and had a great dinner at a French restaurant named L'Auberge. We were able once again to see the beautiful Haitian countryside and enjoyed having
both teams together to reflect on the previous days.
On Friday the team at Hope for Haiti (H4H) was joined by Jerri Sills and Bradford Moulton and visited the community of Morency, which was located on the beach. In fact, the vehicles had to drive across the beach to reach the churchand school where we held clinic. It is a small world, because Pastor Milien, Francise and Merline's father, used to pastor a church there. We saw over 150 people there in about 4 hours. On the way we got some small bananas from a farmer that were incredibly sweet. There was a lot of pathology including a breast cyst that was aspirated, heart murmurs, a man with a large thigh hematoma from being beaten with a club, some sickle cell anemia patients, and an 18 month infant who weighed only 13 pounds and could not bear weight on her legs.
Dr. Ryan Venis and the Espwa team did several surgical procedures and continued to care for the local people. At the end of the day we all got together and were treated to a "Spectac" at Espwa, which is a dance and music show put on by the young people there. We then served all of the children over 600 ice creams, courtesy of Dr. Tom O'Connor. Many of the children had never tasted ice cream before and the smiles on their faces were priceless! Jay
had been working hard at Espwa, including taking apart the broken transmission on their tractor.
On Saturday part of the team returned home while the rest visited Sister Flora at the Isle La Vache, which is located about 3.5 miles offshore from Cayes. They traveled to the Island via a small open boat with an outboard motor. Sister Flora runs an orphanage for a large number of disabled children. A large team of Irish men were working on building her a new building and a playground. Sister Flora was able to remember people we had treated there in the past and shared how they had progressed. We gave Sister Flora a large box of medications for use with the children and the local people.
The team walked to the high point of the island, It was a magnificent view, and a great setting for some discussion and debriefing on the trip.
On the return trip we saw our old friend Jacques Rivette, who works as an interpreter for the UN. The pier had several UN soldiers with their automatic weapons on our return, apparently to provide security for some VIPs who were visiting.
It was interesting to see how a shipload of cement was unloaded- the ship anchored half a mile offshore, and the bags of cement were unloaded by hand onto large rowboats, then taken to the pier and unloaded by hand onto the pier and then onto trucks. It seemed a very laborious and inefficient process.
We provided several boxes of medications and supplies for Drs. Merline, Francise, and Vladimyr. They traveled to Cotes de Fer , and held a clinic there for several days, seeing patients in follow-up whom we saw last March. It is a
proud moment for all of us to see them use their talents and training for the good of the people of Haiti. It was an excellent trip with two great teams, and we accomplished our mission, providing significant teaching for the Haitian
doctors, and treating poor Haitians who would otherwise not have access to care. The team as a whole treated roughly 1200 patients.
We thank all of you for your support and encouragement, without your donations our missions trips would not be possible! Medical Missions South Haiti would also like to thank Espwa and Hope For Haiti for helping us accomplish our mission.
Our team for this 2009 November trip was split into two teams. Team A was led by Dr. Ryan Venis, they were based at Pwoje Espwa and focused on the children and employees of Espwa and the people from the surrounding
communities. Team A consisted of Ryan Venis MD, Barb Lockart, nurse practitioner, Lori Gibson, RN and nurse practitioner student, Megan McConnell RN, Jerri Sills LPN, Ellen Ball RN, Bradford Moulton, paramedic, Andrea Venis,
Christopher Sill , a high school student, and Ilene Albright CNA. They worked with Drs. Jacob Baptiste and Pierre Duvall from Haiti and with the nursing staff of Klinik Espwa.
Team B was based with an organization we worked with for the first time, Hope for Haiti, and did outreach medical clinics in more remote areas. Team B included: Mike Blood MD, Tom O'Connor MD, Teresa Hall RN, Kelly O'Connor
RN, Kristen Blood RN, Dr. Allen Sparks, pastor of Liberty Chapel, Jay Prosser, treasurer of MMSH, June Blood,worked in pharmacy, and Jon Rodda, photographer and graphic artist. Team B also worked with our Haitian doctors Vladimyr Roseau, Merline Milien, Francise Milien, Fritz Pierre, and Rikar Noel.
Our mission started early Saturday morning November 7, with a flight to Port-au-Prince. Upon our arrival we loaded our 2000 pounds of baggage including medical supplies, clothing , shoes ,toys, school supplies, 6 sewing machines, new soccer nets for Espwa, soccer balls, new handmade dresses for the girls at the orphanage, toothbrushes, toothpaste, and floss, stethoscopes, blood pressure cuffs, and otoscopes for Haitian doctors and nurses, walkers,
crutches, canes, and various other items for the Haitian people, onto a small bus and drove the 5 hour journey to Les Cayes. This was a great opportunity to see the city of Port-au-Prince and the Haitian country. On Sunday we attended church at Espwa, and Father Marc had Pastor Allen Sparks present 20 Creole bibles which were donated by Liberty Chapel to a group of young men at the orphanage who have expressed a desire to further their religious education and serve their fellow Haitians. We then performed medical screenings on the children of Espwa and examined and treated over 150 children from the orphanage. We also spent hours unpacking and
organizing the supplies which we brought to Haiti and prepared footlockers with medical and surgical supplies and medications for our outreach clinics with Hope for Haiti.
On Monday team B visited Ravine Sable , a very rural mountain community 1 hour down a very bad road. Our team examined and treated over 200 patients at a cement block school. June and Teresa manned the pharmacy, and we
ran out of Tylenol and acid reduction medications. We treated a wide variety of conditions, ranging from a pregnant woman with a urinary tract infection to a 4 year old with an infected knee. There were many children, and the people
of the area were "very beautiful and amazing people" according to Dr. Tom O'Connor. Patrick Eucalitto from Hope for Haiti demonstrated proper flossing technique to the patients, who all received a gift pack with a toothbrush,
toothpaste, floss, and chap-stick. As we left, we had to push start the truck, with Jay at the wheel. It was a long and tiresome day, but very productive. Tom and Mike did a lot of teaching with the Haitian doctors. Team A saw the
children at Espwa . Espwa is the home to more than 650 orphans.
On Tuesday the group at Espwa saw 120 patients , including a young woman with tuberculosis of the lymph nodes and another who probably had lymphoma. The group with Hope for Haiti went to Foca, a town on top of the mountain. The roads required four wheel drive up a very steep hill , which made Teresa and Kristen a little nervous, but with the great skill of our Haitian driver, we made it safely. We saw about 200 patients, mostly children. Teresa was surprised by a bat in the church building where we did intake and pharmacy. Mikey from Hope for Haiti came to the rescue and
got rid of the bat. Drs. Tom and Duvall examined patients in the principal's office, and avoided leaning on the walls, as they looked like they could fall down at any time. We gave out canes to several older patients, and treated
everything from malaria to stroke patients and from hypertension to severe dermatitis. Things went smoothly and more quickly as we learned the system that Hope for Haiti uses. We handed out toothbrushes, toothpaste, and floss
to everyone, and the chap-sticks were very popular with the girls. That evening we all got together at Espwa, and we presented the Haitian doctors with certificates recognizing their work with us over the past four years. Pastor Milien, father of Drs. Francise and Merline, was there to greet us also. We also got to see Pierre, the son of Dr. Jacob and Gerlade Baptiste, who is now 13 months old and growing quickly. We presented Pastor Milien with a new laptop which we brought for him, and with 48 Creole Bibles which were purchased by Liberty Chapel.
On Wednesday the team with Hope for Haiti worked at their dispensary in Les Cayes, seeing a "paltry" 150 patients. We met Dr. Steven Victor, a Haitian who attended medical school in Cuba and who works for Hope for Haiti (H4H). We
saw some interesting patients, including a man who had a gunshot wound in his arm which he sustained in Port-au-Prince during a kidnapping attempt, a rare case of lymphogranuloma venereum and an infant with club feet with a very sad story. The mother was married for 9 years and had 8 miscarriages. When her baby was born with a deformity, the father declared that such things did not occur in his family and then he abandoned them. She was unable to breast feed so we gave her formula. She started crying, and told us that formula costs 90 Haitian dollars for one container, about $12, which is a fortune for families that may make $1 per day. Dr.Tom O'Connor saw two sisters, one was very malnourished and developmentally delayed, and both had scabies and parasites. We gave them formula as a nutritional supplement, and treated their scabies and worms. The younger child was 18 months old and weighed only 15 pounds and was not yet walking. After we finished, we toured the outdoor market in Les Cayes. Jon was almost chased by a woman who took offense at having her photo taken, claiming he was stealing her soul with his camera.
The meat hanging unrefrigerated in the market covered with flies was most appetizing. The team at Espwa toured some locations in Les Cayes, including the Sisters of Charity who run a hospice and a facility for disabled children, a nursing home, the market, and saw some sights in town. Allen Sparks met with theteachers of the Baptist Bible Institute, an advanced course for pastors, and he taught a class there in Spiritual Formation.
On Thursday we all went to the beach at Port Salut for a well deserved break and had a great dinner at a French restaurant named L'Auberge. We were able once again to see the beautiful Haitian countryside and enjoyed having
both teams together to reflect on the previous days.
On Friday the team at Hope for Haiti (H4H) was joined by Jerri Sills and Bradford Moulton and visited the community of Morency, which was located on the beach. In fact, the vehicles had to drive across the beach to reach the churchand school where we held clinic. It is a small world, because Pastor Milien, Francise and Merline's father, used to pastor a church there. We saw over 150 people there in about 4 hours. On the way we got some small bananas from a farmer that were incredibly sweet. There was a lot of pathology including a breast cyst that was aspirated, heart murmurs, a man with a large thigh hematoma from being beaten with a club, some sickle cell anemia patients, and an 18 month infant who weighed only 13 pounds and could not bear weight on her legs.
Dr. Ryan Venis and the Espwa team did several surgical procedures and continued to care for the local people. At the end of the day we all got together and were treated to a "Spectac" at Espwa, which is a dance and music show put on by the young people there. We then served all of the children over 600 ice creams, courtesy of Dr. Tom O'Connor. Many of the children had never tasted ice cream before and the smiles on their faces were priceless! Jay
had been working hard at Espwa, including taking apart the broken transmission on their tractor.
On Saturday part of the team returned home while the rest visited Sister Flora at the Isle La Vache, which is located about 3.5 miles offshore from Cayes. They traveled to the Island via a small open boat with an outboard motor. Sister Flora runs an orphanage for a large number of disabled children. A large team of Irish men were working on building her a new building and a playground. Sister Flora was able to remember people we had treated there in the past and shared how they had progressed. We gave Sister Flora a large box of medications for use with the children and the local people.
The team walked to the high point of the island, It was a magnificent view, and a great setting for some discussion and debriefing on the trip.
On the return trip we saw our old friend Jacques Rivette, who works as an interpreter for the UN. The pier had several UN soldiers with their automatic weapons on our return, apparently to provide security for some VIPs who were visiting.
It was interesting to see how a shipload of cement was unloaded- the ship anchored half a mile offshore, and the bags of cement were unloaded by hand onto large rowboats, then taken to the pier and unloaded by hand onto the pier and then onto trucks. It seemed a very laborious and inefficient process.
We provided several boxes of medications and supplies for Drs. Merline, Francise, and Vladimyr. They traveled to Cotes de Fer , and held a clinic there for several days, seeing patients in follow-up whom we saw last March. It is a
proud moment for all of us to see them use their talents and training for the good of the people of Haiti. It was an excellent trip with two great teams, and we accomplished our mission, providing significant teaching for the Haitian
doctors, and treating poor Haitians who would otherwise not have access to care. The team as a whole treated roughly 1200 patients.
We thank all of you for your support and encouragement, without your donations our missions trips would not be possible! Medical Missions South Haiti would also like to thank Espwa and Hope For Haiti for helping us accomplish our mission.
Copyright 2011 Medical Missions South Haiti
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