CHI, Haiti- Support our Friends

The Community Health Initiative Haiti has been working the the Arcahaie region of Haiti since 2011. We have built a road, established clinics, put in a solar powered streetlight, installed wells and latrines, established a water treatment program, trained hundreds of women to perform safe deliveries, and recycled a ton of plastic. With the help of our Haitian partners, we have seen tens of thousands of people through our clinics that otherwise would not have had access to care. We have treated pregnancies, we have treated diabetes, seizures, chronic wounds, thyroid problems, heart failure, pre-eclampsia, and so many different rashes, wounds, parasites, and infections. We have done hundreds of surgeries that were previously unavailable, and have permanently improved peoples’ lives and allowed them to care for their families. We have been with people as they faced their mortality, and helped their families to adjust to life without loved ones. We have delivered babies and watched them grow.

We have trained 7 community health workers, mostly women, who have become the folks in their communities that people look up to and respect. They are now leaders in their villages in every sense of the word. We have been with people as they develop organizational, accounting, computer, managerial and leadership skills. They have been running clinics on their own for 4 years now. Our staff has not had a raise in about 18 months. Despite gut wrenching inflation, they have kept working for less money because they understand how important the work that they do is. In the last few years, as the violence has metastasized from the capitol to Arcahaie, they have continued to go and visit people, despite tremendous personal risk and spiking gas prices. When it was too dangerous to do clinics, they went door-to-door to make sure that people get the care that they need. Despite burning tires and barricades, Nola, Widlyne, Agnes, Ketma and Denis found a way to get people to the hospital when they need it. Dr. Daphene and Dange have scoured the scary streets of Port-au-Prince for medications to distribute and braved the gauntlet to get to Arcahaie. No matter how nervous the board got about conditions, our staff was always willing and eager to do more for their communities.

Now they need our help. With the shuttering of CHI, they are left without an income in the midst of all of the chaos. We are asking you to contribute to this fund in order to provide 2 month's severance pay for our friends in Haiti to help them get by until they can find other means of support. Chris will make sure that every penny makes it down to them.