Advent, 2007

Bringing Hope to Northern Haiti:

Clinique Esperance et Vie

Terrier Rouge, in northeast Haiti, has all the manifestations of extreme poverty: subsistence living, insecurity, illiteracy, high mortality, poor nutrition and health, and a rapidly deteriorating environment. Clinique Esperance et Vie (The Clinic of Hope and Life) promotes health education and wellness in the local community. The Clinic, funded by the non-profit organization Bethlehem Ministry, is part of a 3-fold initiative: education, economic independence and environmental sustainability

The problem:

• Highest maternal mortality rate in the Western Hemisphere, 118 deaths per 1,000 live births.
• High infant mortality rate that comprises a third of all deaths in Haiti. An estimated 38,000 Haitian children aged birth to 5 years old die each year.
• No services for some basic health care needs:
• No trained midwives
• No pharmacy (for even most basic needs, such as vitamins)
• No vision care support
• No dentists
• No emergency transportation options for crisis healthcare situations

The solution:
A community advisory board has been formed to gather feedback from the local population. The board will be the liaison between the clinic and the townspeople. The community board has shown its support for the clinic by creating a sign to announce to residents the existence of the new facility.

Development of a local clinic. This clinic is currently:

• monitoring inoculation records of school children
• weighing and measuring new students in St. Barthelemy school
• providing physicals to school children with visiting professionals
• teaching dental hygiene and nutrition

Construction has begun on a new clinic building. We are urgently seeking funds to support the clinic's effort. Funds would go toward hiring and training health care workers as well as opening and sustaining both a pharmacy and a medical lab. Visiting and local doctors need support from local nurses and social workers, funded by the project. The budget for the first three years is $300,000.

For more information, call 706 353-2083 or visit www.BethlehemMinistry.org/clinicproposal.php