Greetings to All ... Members/Volunteers/Friends of A.H.D.H....Bonjour a Tous !
Your AHDH is back! From its blessed Fall 2009 medical mission. Its 45th!
Once more with the support of so many, we were able to bring quite some relief to
quite a few of our beloved Haitian brethren.
Those of you who were able to join us (photo #1), thanks so much for helping us
continue making a difference in our people's lives.
To the "vets" (Mike/Ultrasound, Paul Samm/Anesthesia, Sandra/RN,
Louis/Surgeon), hat down for unwaveringly offering your God-given talents,
resources, and love. There are no words to thank you. (But, Mat:25:35 is still real)
When those 2 patients we spared from cervical cancer death came to thank us with
baskets of mandarins, you know that they gave us their heart - their best - and that
on another plane you are storing up more than mandarins.
Our "first timers", Jeanna/EMT/CNA, Lucien/Surgeon, Arsene/RN, Marrah/RN ...
We would like to salute your faith in our efforts.
That was Jeanna's first trip to Haiti, and she may have met the full meaning of her
aspiration to become a physician;
Lucien Baptiste, surgeon at Zanmi Lasante/Health Partners, in Cange, Haiti, did not
waste any time to offer the best of his skills;
Arsene and Marrah, from Faculte des Sciences Infirmieres a Leogane,
(www.haitinursing.org), are the epitome of what nursing must be in our
health care system: competence, ethics, discipline. Great job, Dean Alcindor!
You need to know that you just brought our number of volunteers to 184 since
1986. And each one of you counts, as each one of you enriches the mission in
his/her own special way.
Challenges, we had some. A big one was:
The whole content of our 42 foot container, in Port-Au-Prince (photo # 2),
had to be trucked to the mountainous La Vallee de Jacmel, as the container
could not negotiate the difficult road. One of the required four delivery trips
arrived at 2 o'clock in the morning (photo # 3: Our C-Arm Fluoroscope,
donation of Savoy Medical Center, Mamou, LA), when destination is reached.
It is so rewarding to see those precious equipments set up and ready to serve
the less fortunate.
Thanks again Serge, Chantal, Claude and Sony, for your superb help.
We would be amiss not to thank those who could not make it, but participated in
their own way, either by contributing financially or collecting supplies.
And, as we were on a real mission, we accomplished a few grandes premieres:
* First Transvaginal ultrasound (Thanks again, Mike), which opened a new
dimension to our imaging capability;
* Opening of the L&D suite with in-service for the staff of our modern delivery
beds (Thanks again the Michaels, TFMCT, Dr Belizaire and Women and
Children of Lafayette, LA).
We wholeheartedly shared some of the equipment (delivery beds, supplies) with
our dear Dr. Philippe, of Cayes-Jacmel, and our very new partner, Dr. Duvilaire,
a classmate last seen more than 30 years ago, who is determined to make a
difference in Les Abricots/ Jeremie..
It is so comforting to have now very reliable partners throughout Haiti, as we are
also anxiously awaiting input from some colleagues from Meyer (Drs. Julien,
Mathieu, Midy), Camp Perrin (Dr. Toussaint), Fond des Blancs (Dr.Cadet,
St Boniface Church) etc.
We continued to enjoy our 3 room Operating Suite, and the tremendous
progress going on, like the construction underway to move the lab upstairs, freeing
the current space for our E/R division,. We had a productive tour with our bona fide
engineer, Eng. Bede Boursiquot, to whom we can never express enough our gratitude
(photo #4), as we are projecting together into the future the next step for rational
management and sustainability of the hospital.
2009 was indeed a year of incredible progress:
* First cataract surgeries ever: Feb. 09, followed by many more.
Dr. Anika Michael, supported by local colleagues, Drs. Eugene and Monsanto,
is writing history, and we can but feel that relief to see a younger generation
already stepping in.
* First plastic surgery (Dr Jay and Dorval ) (refer to the July trip memo)
* Inauguration of our 3rd OR, with A/C etc
* First ultrasound guided surgery and introduction of Transvaginal ultrasound
* 2 modern sterilizers in our system.
* Washing machine and dryer installed in our OR area
* Initiated temporary employment for the CNA graduates with impact that will
be measured in years to come....Thanks all of you who helped AHDH give
hope to those young graduates.
* First time ever to have a professional clown teach the youngsters of the village
hat the still exotic art is a real profession, which a few already want to embrace.
Next trip: Winter 2010 Medical Mission : February 12 thru 28
Please, express your interest ASAP as we already have close to 20 volunteers
lined up for that trip.
It leaves no doubt that experiencing the transforming power of banding positive
energies together for the benefit of humanity, bringing new horizons to countless
young folks - making us full participants in the continuous creation process -
is just a tremendous blessing.
You all helped AHDH once more leave hope in the hearts and minds of hundreds
of beautiful folks in those corners of Haiti , HIS field, in this year 2009, and certainly
HE will send blessings and harmony along the path of your life.
Let us continue, in this coming year 2010, those efforts together, as the Executive
Committee of AHDH wishes every one and your family Health, Wisdom and Faith
in a better future for Humanity.
Cordially, Charles
.PS:
Your IRS info for those who made it with us in 2009: If I already have the info
regarding your expenses for lodging, food, charter planes etc, with the check
issued to AHDH, you need to send me the exact amount of your ticket so i can
process your AHDH's letter for your taxes, and ASAP, now, not on April 14, 2010.
Charles Rene, M.D.
Co-founder, Past-President,
Treasurer, Coordinator of Projects in Haiti
149 W. Lakeview Dr; La Place, LA 70068
Chasrene46@bellsouth.net
