#HAITI News, Updates, & Stories...Good, bad & indifferent...xoxoxo

If ANYONE has a question about why I continue to go to HAITI, just take a few minutes to watch this video and you'll see why xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxo ♥♥♥♥♥♥

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TAW9iR1UNwk&feature=share

www.youtube.com

EXCELLENT, gut-wrenching, and utterly necessary blog depicting the conditions in their nasty, full realness.

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Marc Julmisse

Hi all,
We will be holding a clinic in Carrefour with the Carrfour pompiers on Thursday Sept 8 1pm-5, Tuesday Sept 13 9am-5pm, Thursday Sept 15 1pm-5pm at the Maires office for the people in the tent cities. Anyone that is available to assist with the clinic or prevention talks please contact me at 3454-2959 or message me. We are also looking for medication donations.

We will try to hold these clinics at least once every month so if you are unable to come on these dates and would like to participate please contact me anyway.

Thank you Marc 

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Dying in Haiti: What Have We Come Too?

dyinginhaiti.blogspot.com

An anecdotal account of Haiti's medical situation created by structural violence and negligence. Go to Peoria's Medical Mafia and PMM Daily to see Peoria's role. Also see Live From Haiti and Haitian Hearts.

 Debby Mohr I just took about 5 cases of powdered formula last trip a couple weeks ago.. I feel for the women (especially mommies) in Haiti.. xoxoxoxo ♥♥♥♥

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Solar powered street lights in Cite Soleil. Nice!!

Solar-Powered Street Lights for Cité Soleil

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (defend.ht) - Project "Light and Safety", brought by Haiti's only designer and manufacturer of solar panels and appliances, Enersa and the Brazilian Embassy have begun to install 208 solar street lights for 26 blocks at 8 street lights per block in the neighborhood of Cité Soleil.
Residents attended the installation of the first 24 street lights on Wednesday. According to reports, the street lights are resistant to vandalism and theft and are made, assembled and installed by Haitians in Haiti.
Jean Ronel Noel was quoted, saying "to date we have trained 19 people in Cité Soleil to produce and install panels."
Reports say that the installation of the lamps are changing the nocturnal habits of the residents of Cité Soleil.
Before streets were empty at night due to darkness and the threat of crime. Now residents benefit from lighting, powered by solar power.
"This is a good initiative, we are no longer in the dark, we can walk quietly through the streets," said a resident, reported by Haiti LIBRE.
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Sun Oven Facebook Challenge
Please take a moment out of your day and click on the like button on their FB page. It won't cost you anything but a couple of moments and it could ultimately help a family with something they need badly. Also if you could stretch your generosity out and click on the share button so that you can share it with your FB friends, that would help even more families. Remember, here is a great way you can help someone, a

For every 250 new LIKES to our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/SunOvens between now and September 30, 2011 we will provide a Sun Oven to a family in Haiti.

Sun Ovens International strives to help people in North America save energy and prepare for emergencies. A portion of the cash flow from US sales is used to empower women in deforested developing countries to cook with the sun. This fall we are cutting back on advertising and are using the savings to send additional Sun Ovens to Haiti. We are trusting our Facebook friends to get the word out by making people aware of the many benefits of cooking with a Sun Oven so the money normally spent on ads will be used to provide Sun Ovens to Haitian families.

Sun Ovens International has been working in Haiti for 14 years. We have helped thousands of Haitian women learn how to cook with the sun but close to a million Sun Ovens are needed so we have a long way to go.

Perhaps you have witnessed the deforestation in Haiti and year by year watched the trees disappear-

- Or seen the once clear mountain streams turn murky brown as a result of soil erosion,
- Or read about the thousands of Haitians who died or have been left homeless as result of mudslides,
-And wondered, why do they keep cutting all of the trees?

The answer is simple: they do not have a choice. Wood and charcoal are needed for cooking fuel and unless an alternative is provided, the few remaining trees will soon be gone. Sun Ovens International is committed to providing Haitian women with an alternative to cooking with wood and charcoal.
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HOLY CRAP!!! The Film...

About the Film

Holy Crap! is a documentary film about how human waste is creating a bright new future for Haiti. That’s right! Human waste.

About SOIL:

SOIL is a non-profit organization working in Haiti since 2006 to transform human waste into rich, viable fertilizer for crops with simple, urine-diverting, composting toilets, and teaching others to do the same. This unusual compost has a multi-tiered positive impact on communities throughout Haiti, as it simultaneously cleans up a wide variety of public health issues, energizes agricultural yield in a country where malnutrition claims many lives, and stimulates the local economy by providing jobs for Haitians.

www.oursoil.org

Haiti and Beyond

The film also asks how First World issues might be addressed by a similar process. Could we in the U.S. also benefit from a reduction in water-based sanitation? What impact would this have on our overall environmental landscape?
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www.betterhealthforhaiti.com
Fantastic job by Mark Coughlin who works tirelessly and without fanfare or tooting his own horn. If you can use his teaching videos please purchase them from the website, as that is how he offsets costs. One ofthe few people concentrating on disease prevention. You have to check the site out.

Health Education Tour of Haiti August 2011

By: Mark Coughlin

Kathryn B. Johnston This is really great stuff and just what our clinic in Cite Soleil needs! Ordered the DVD today!

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https://www.facebook.com/notes/ben-pritchard/volunteering/247740555242328

Volunteering

by Ben Pritchard on Wednesday, June 29, 2011 at 4:31pm

This is for those who are considering coming down to volunteer here in Haiti. First and foremost, if you come for a few weeks or stay for months, this will change you at your core. It is a hard thing but it is incredibly rewarding to be here and the need is still great.
There is need for both medical and non medical personnel. For the non medical, I live at GRU (grass roots). They are a sustainable resources based group that works with housing, water supply, resources management for other groups, logistical support and aids a Haitian NGO (nongovernmental organization) in its goals. It aim of GRU is to work themselves out of a job. Many of the NGOs come down here, provide a service and when they leave that service leaves with them. GRU wants to hand their organization over to Haitians in time so that the services that they provide stay here. Further, much of what they provide is education that will further disseminate on it’s own. They are looking for people with all kinds of skills from construction to web design. If you can do something they can find a way to use it.
The base is an informal affair. They have a walled compound and 24/7 security guards but unlike many ORGs down here you are allowed to leave the base and in fact it is encouraged, whether it is for a project or just to go wander. It is actually encouraged. They feel that unless you are part of the community the work you try to provide will miss the mark. We wander out for projects in the tent cities, education trips up into the mountains, backpacking trips to map water sources up in the mountains to aid in the identification of cholera sources or just to head out to the clubs and bars in our neighborhood.
While there are some rooms, most of us sleep in tents on base. We do have a functional kitchen and meals are prepaired for us. There are “showers” that are bucket operated. We even have a hole in the back wall that provides beer and bakara (DR rum). It is a bit roughing it but not so much so.
There is a core staff here that is fantastic and is always running more projects than you can shake a banana leaf at. This is actually quite difficult as they are kind of floppy. In addition to the core staff there is an ever changing group of volunteers meandering in and out. The people that you get to meet here are all in all fantastic in their own “unique” way. Seriously this is one hell of a group.
For the medical folk. I work with a US MD Dr Megan Coffee at the TB ward that she runs. It is located within the main hospital in Port Au Prince. It consists of one permanent structure that is essentially an open, metal pole barn. We have cots, head to wall towards the center and when the volume increases they line the center as well. Many of the patents here are quite stable and are just waiting to become healthy enough to head home and continue their care on an out patent basis. However, often when these people come to us they are crashing with severe respiratory distress. These are clearly ICU patents but as one does not exist, we are it. It is a totally different type of medicine and we do pretty well. It is defiantly a challenging environment but it is safe and the work is good. in the US, if you leave there is no one to take your place. Your presence makes a difference like no other place you have been.
I work with Jeannie who is an Rn who came down here after graduating without ever held a medical job before. She is teaching me things left and right. This place teaches you clinical skills that you could not acquire in the US.
If anyone is interested or knows someone who might be please contact me and I will answer all of your questions.

Thank you for your time
Ben Pritchard RN EMT-P
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