Hope for Haiti Foundation is pleased to announce its continued partnership with Saba Foundation to provide medical care to individuals in rural Haiti. After receiving a $50,000 grant for the construction of the Gandou clinic, Hope for Haiti Foundation has been awarded a second $50,000 grant, which will provide medical staff salaries, medications, and medical supplies for Hope for Haiti Foundation’s clinics in Zorangé and Gandou.
The Saba Foundation supports health care services and educational projects for under-served populations in the Caribbean Basin and Central America.
“We are thrilled about our continued partnership with Saba Foundation” says Jean Elade Eloi, HFHF’s founder. “This funding will allow us to continue our important work of providing basic medical care to rural communities who have no other access to life-saving care.”
While $50,000 may seem like a small sum for medical expenses by U.S. standards, the funds go a long way in Haiti. Thanks to a dedicated and determined Haitian staff, the clinic is able to serve a community of more than 20,000 with these funds, providing medications, laboratory tests, and ultrasound technology. The clinics charge a small fee for service, but also see anyone regardless of their ability to pay.
Eloi adds, “When people realize how far their money will go, and the dramatic impact they can have on not just one, but hundreds and thousands of lives, they want to get involved and make a difference. We invite people to come to Haiti and see the impact they can have. Once they are here and they see what their $30, $50, $100 is doing to change the course of someone’s life, they are invested.”
“Haiti is our second home” says Marlene Rickert, a Nurse Practitioner who volunteers with the Foundation. Hope for Haiti Foundation offers medical trips for U.S.- based physicians in general medicine, maternal health, and surgery. The trips are centered around providing specialties and instructing Haitian medical staff. “We believe that to truly have an impact, the Haitians must be the leaders,” Rickert explains, “We come alongside the Haitian medical team and empower them with knowledge and training.” Rickert is currently working with Health eVillages to provide the Haitian medical staff with iPods containing health reference information. “In the United States, we are on the Internet constantly researching information on medications, symptoms, and treatments. Limited Internet availability in Haiti does not allow for this. These iPods will bring life-saving information into the hands of the medical staff.”
Additional medical projects the Foundation hopes to implement include a moto medical program to provide motorcycle transportation for health workers and sick patients, increased maternal healthcare through midwives, and expanding the scope of medical services offered at its clinics.
For more information about HFHF’s medical programs, contact Jean Elade Eloi at jeloi@hopeforhaitifoundation.com.
To support Hope for Haiti Foundation’s medical projects, donate online.