HELP US REBUILD MANICHE'S SOLE HEALTH CENTER

101 donors

$16,526 raised of $300K

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HELP US REBUILD MANICHE'S SOLE HEALTH CENTER

Madeleine Dorval-Moller is organizing this fundraiser.

Dear Friends,

We are the Dorval family, originally from Maniche. We are raising funds to help rebuild Maniche's only health care center, which was destroyed by the recent earthquake.

It is with heavy hearts that we are appealing to you to help us with the rebuilding of Maniche, our hometown. On August 14th, the Southern Peninsula of Haiti was hit by an earthquake with a magnitude of 7.2, killing over 2000 people. The town of Maniche was among those hardest hit because it is located near the epicenter of the earthquake. As a result, 80 percent of Maniche’s infrastructure was destroyed: all 28 schools are either totally destroyed or severely damaged; the only community center (Sale Paroissiale), the credit union (La Caise Populaire), and the community park with an event pavilion (La Piste), have all collapsed. All of the 7 churches, including the local catholic church, the emblem of Maniche, have collapsed. (The community was proudly getting ready to commemorate the St. Rose of Lima Church’s 110th Anniversary, but now it is a pile of rubble.) In addition, the earthquake caused the nearby mountains to unleash a landslide, and many people have been buried and have not been accounted for.

Most alarmingly, the only local heath care center, Le Dispensaire, which had served Maniche and its surrounding communities (including Melon, Dori, Madame Marain, Dasma, and Jeffrard, with a total population of 35,000) has been destroyed. According to Sister Gislaine, the Director of Le Dispensaire, in an average month, 15 women would give birth at the center. Le Dispensaire had an ambulatory room, a small maternity ward, a laboratory, and a pharmacy. Nothing is left.

In 2017 Maniche was hard hit by hurricane Mathew, which destroyed many homes, killing the livestock and the crops of the area. Before Hurricane Mathew, the area was hit by three consecutive hurricanes. There is just so much an area and its people can take.

We traveled to Maniche soon after the earthquake hit. It’s heart wrenching to describe the level of destruction and misery. For us, our hometown is now just a memory. The house we grew up in, our elementary school, the health clinic we went to when we were sick, and the church we attended as young kids are all destroyed. (When the church collapsed, a wall fell, killing a beautiful 8-year-old girl, the only child of the pastor & his wife.) With this level of destruction, we don’t know where one starts. But as daughters and sons of Maniche. (including among us medical doctors (3), nurses (2), a social work executive director, and a senior accountant in the United States), we feel it’s our duty to help with the rebuilding of our hometown.

We believe that the rebuilding of the local health care center, Le Dispensaire, is of primordial importance. We are concerned that without the local healthcare center to provide first aid and basic health care, more people will suffer and die, and that those deaths could be prevented. We need to rebuild this center as soon as possible!

This new structure will be built to withstand an earthquake or a hurricane. The new Center will include 3 consultation rooms, a general admission ward with six beds, a small maternity ward with four beds, a laboratory, and a pharmacy. A Center like this would attract newly graduated medical students to complete their required social service year, and would also attract attending physicians to work in the community, which would drastically improve the health care needs of the area. This model has been used in other parts of the country with great success.

We are committed to closely monitor the entire planning and construction process to ensure that the Health Care Center is properly rebuilt. The funds raised will be controlled by a committee: the Dorvals, some Maniche residents, some members of the Maniche diaspora in the US, and two members of the international community. We will set up a bank account for the project. The funds will not be released until firm construction plans have been established, and builders are engaged.

Friends, there has been much suffering and so much loss. We can’t rebuild Maniche alone; we can’t save those lives alone, but collectively we can make a difference! Won’t you open your heart to help?

In Compassion and Solidarity with the People of Maniche,

The Dorval Family:

Madeleine, Marie- Jose, Gertrude, Marie-Ange, Rosemonde, Miriette, and Danny

Photos of Maniche

Maniche's Sole Health Care Center