Haiti Healthy Kids

We are a neurosurgical team from Nicklaus Children’s Hospital in Miami, FL and we undertake pediatric neurosurgery trips to Haiti a few times a year to perform neurosurgical interventions on children suffering from neurological diseases. Since our first mission in 2003, when we performed the first surgical intervention for hydrocephalus in Haiti, we have provided care for over 1000 children suffering from hydrocephalus. We do realize that this, indeed, is a small fraction of the neurosurgical need of the children of Haiti.

Our goal in Haiti is to improve awareness, train the Haitian surgeons to become self-reliant and help manage the neurosurgical needs of their children. And while we work towards that goal, we want to continue to be in Haiti and help the children and their families with their neurosurgical needs. The most common disease these children suffer from is hydrocephalus: a neurological disorder where excess brain fluid fills the cavities of the brain which in turn leads to an enlarged head. Several surgeries can be done to fix this, each taking more than a couple hours. In our short trip of 3 days, we are able to help only 18-20 of these children who need it most. However, there are many other diseases where neurosurgical interventions will be needed once the infrastructure is improved.

Due to the brevity of our trips, we are able to reach out to only a small population of children who need our help. As a result, we are looking for donations to help continue our support for the children in Haiti by sending a team to Haiti at least once a month and continue to train the local Haitian surgeons. Your donation, no matter how small, would be greatly appreciated as we work towards our goal.