Author Archives: Allison Howard-Berry

New Beginnings: Introducing C2C’s new Managing Director in Haiti!

Dear friends,

It is truly my pleasure to wish you a happy and healthy start to the New Year. 2020 was such a difficult year for everyone and I want you all to know how much we appreciate the inspiring and vital support that our stakeholder community provided as we navigated challenging circumstances for C2C’s healthcare operations in Haiti and — crucially — for our patients.

2020 was one for the history books. It was a year that demanded adaptation, innovation, and resolve. In Haiti, as everywhere else, the COVID-19 pandemic presented a looming health threat for a nation with very little adequate healthcare infrastructure. Haiti also faced fallout from widespread economic and political instability. The impact of the global economic slowdown and interruptions in trade have been devastating for an island country that depends heavily on imports. Many necessities are scarce and livelihoods are increasingly threatened.

Still, the 95+ staff members of C2C worked hard to meet the challenges of the moment and we are so proud of all that we have accomplished together this past year: serving over 50,000 families with essential primary care, ensuring that our specialty care for women and children continued uninterrupted, and strengthening our partnership with the Haitian government.

We are kicking off the New Year with some exciting and hopeful news. I am honored to introduce Racha Yehia, who will be leading C2C into the future as our new Managing Director! Racha, a leader of unique talent and vision, exemplifies the values that are at the core of our shared efforts together: a deep commitment to expanding health access for families; a sophisticated view on how we work to ensure that our services are sustainable and impactful in the future; and a creative and tenacious spirit that keeps us all focused on what is possible. Based in Cap Haitien, Racha will lead our talented and dedicated team as we grow the organization toward deeper and broader impact.

We look forward to a bright and hopeful 2021 and offer our gratitude for your ongoing support.

Sincerely,

Allison Howard-Berry
Board Chair

Meet Racha, C2C’s Managing Director in Haiti

CHWs Provide Blood Pressure Checks, Education for Community Members

C2C’s health services are not only offered in our clinics; community health education is an extension of our clinical activities into the community. One of the activities provided by our community health workers (CHWs) is a rally post in a different community once a week.

At this week’s rally post, the CHWs discussed hypertension and checked the blood pressures of community members. The first half of the rally post is dedicated to education, while the other half is spent doing blood pressure checks. This service is completely free. It is an opportunity for people to easily access blood pressure checks without having to go to a clinic. Our CHWs also use this time to inform community members about C2C’s clinical services.

At our latest rally post, we had a great turnout of about 100 people. These are popular events in the community, where people can come together to get their questions answered and check on their health.

How C2C launches a new clinic site

Dear Friends,

As we begin the work on rehabilitating the clinic site in Roche Plate, we wanted to give you a behind-the-scene look into C2C’s process for opening a new clinic!

Step 1- Agreement with the Ministry of Health:

During the first stage in the process of opening a new clinic, members of our Haiti leadership team meet with the Departmental Director of Health to review the list of clinics that the ministry would like us to take on. Our team visits each clinic and meets with the staff to get a sense of what the partnership will look like for C2C, the existing clinic staff, and the community.

Step 2- Market Research & Analysis:

A key component of C2C’s process for choosing which clinic to renovate is to first review the Ministry reports of potential clinics we can improve through our Public-Private Partnership. Then, we compile and analyze data about the clinics and the communities they serve. After lengthy internal discussions, C2C works closely with the Ministry to weigh the pros and cons of each clinic site, taking into account the Ministry’s priorities, needs of the catchment area of the site, and renovation costs. We also make sure to survey the economic conditions of the communities in order to set our service rates fairly and to consider the needs of the community. Once this process is over, we make the final decision about which clinic to rehabilitate.

Step 3- Clinic Site Renovations:

This is the stage where the clinic transformation truly begins. Our Haiti team gets bids from local contractors for the renovation project. Once we choose the contractor, the physical renovation begins to take place: we ensure that the building is structurally safe and meets the needs of our clinic services; the waiting area is welcoming; and that the entire facility provides patients with a high-quality experience that they will feel comfortable returning to for all of their primary care needs.

Step 4- Staff Training:

At C2C, we want to make sure our staff is able to provide the high-quality care people have come to expect from us. We integrate the core value of “bon acceuil” into our visual brand by adopting a tagline: Sante’w se Priyorite’n (Your Health is Our Priority). We make sure to weave this tagline by infusing every client interaction with our clinics, which starts with our friendly staff. We also train all staff members on our electronic medical records system to support our mission in providing efficient, high-quality care.

Step 5- Community Relations:

We believe it is of utmost importance to build trust between C2C and the community that we aim to serve, and we do this through community building. We meet with local political leaders, elders, local priests, directors of schools, and many personalities that play a big role in their community to build our working partnership. While community members may have visited the clinic before as a public dispensary, we aim to improve upon their past experiences by providing high-quality primary care services that are also affordable and convenient, along with our accessible services such as our on-site pharmacy and laboratory. Also, through our community health program, our agents educate community members on the importance of primary care and how C2C works to respond to their needs.

Step 6- Grand Opening:

Once our clinic is fully renovated, our staff is trained, and the community is familiar with our services, we add the finishing touches such as ensuring that our pharmacy is fully-stocked and that we have all of the necessary supplies and equipment. On opening day, we have a welcome ceremony to celebrate our new clinic as well as our new partnership with the community!

In collaboration with the Ministry of Health, C2C’s next clinic will be our first in the Northeast Department. This is an exciting time for our organization, as we prove how our model can scale across Haiti and beyond. The clinic, located in Roche Plate, is projected to open this fall. Stay tuned for more updates!

Maylennie’s Story: Recovering from Malnutrition

Maylennie is 23 months old, born in November 2014. Her mother was 22 years old when she was pregnant with Maylennie and her twin, who passed away when just four months old. Maylennie is her 4th child.

Maylennie’s father lives in the Dominican Republic and works part-time. He can rarely afford to send money to his family. Maleynnie’s mother does not have a job and must care for her four children on her own. She says that she often does not have enough money to feed herself and all her children, but she must do the best with what she has.

Since birth, Maylennie has experienced many health issues. She was first hospitalized at two months for weight loss and skin infections, but her health never improved. Her mother went to many hospitals and spent a lot on her care, but could not find a treatment that worked.

Maylennie was the first child to join our malnutrition program on August 24, 2016. On her first day, she weighed 14.9 pounds (6.8 kg), had a height of 64 cm and an arm circumference of 11. She had edema on her feet and legs and was severely malnourished. During her second week, her edema diminished and she weighed only 11.4 pounds (5.2 kg).

After 12 weeks in the program, Maylennie reached her goal weight and now weighs 19 pounds (8.6 kg). Her mother sees a significant difference in her child, physically and psychologically. She is now much more playful and less shy. She smiles and interacts with other family members, and even strangers which she never used to do. In fact, her mother said that she put on so much weight that, in the last weeks of the program, she could not walk to the clinic while carrying her because she was heavier. Instead, she had to take a moto taxi.

With the personalized education that Maylennie’s mother received every week on nutrition, health, and hygiene, we are hopeful that Maylenie will keep progressing. We will visit her in three months for a follow up to monitor her health and growth development.

Eye Clinic Day at C2C

According to the World Health Organization 90% of blindness and vision impairment occurs in developing countries. Blindness is caused by treatable conditions left unexamined: cataracts, glaucoma, uncorrected refractive error and diabetic eye disease. Developing countries, like Haiti, offer few eyecare options for populations who live in abject poverty. C2C is committed to tackling this problem for our vulnerable patient population.

In partnership with Justinien Hospital, a government-run teaching hospital in Cap-Haitien, we recently hosted an eye clinic at our Acul du Nord location. We screened and treated approximately 100 patients for vision problems and cataracts.

Vitamins Help Treat Malnutrition

Providing the highest quality medical care to vulnerable families takes collaboration. We are proud to partner with Vitamin Angels to source vitamins for malnourished children and for our maternal patients, including antenatal multivitamins and supplements.

Recently, C2C Nurse Herlande Duvot attended a training course by Vitamin Angels on how to distribute vitamins according to expert-approved best practices. The training focused on the benefit of multivitamins for pregnant women, especially vitamin A. Vitamin Angels also discussed their mission to reduce child mortality worldwide by connecting essential micronutrients with infants and children under five.

This partnership with Vitamin Angels strengthens C2C’s supply chain and empowers our work to support women through safe and healthy pregnancies and to combat malnutrition. C2C is proud and excited to partner with Vitamin Angels in Haiti to expand our services for women and children for years to come.

CHW Training: Week Two

Week One of CHW training ended on a high note with vaccination practice, led by Dr. Sévère and Miss Noël, Auxiliary Nurse at the Acul du Nord clinic.

During Week Two, we were honored to host Miss Rose Edith, a midwife and nurse at MamaBaby Haiti. She took the time to talk to the staff about looking after mother and child after birth, breastfeeding, and child nutrition after 6 months. The staff had the opportunity to discuss myths and misconceptions regarding childbirth and childcare that are still prevalent in Haiti. Miss Edith also shared how to properly address these issues with mothers. Her input added great insight to the training!

We also welcomed Dr. Thal, C2C’s OBGYN, who talked about HIV and other STIs, as well as different forms of contraception.

The CHWs spent the rest of the week practicing the education portion of the community health training and screenings, according to new requirements. Some of the subjects covered were about cholera, the importance of clean water and how to treat it.

To cap off the two-week training, we practiced with the new data collection tools and how to conduct postpartum visits. We concluded our time with a discussion about the qualities that make a great CHW.

CHW Training: Week One

C2C is kicking off November with a comprehensive, 2-week training for our Community Health Workers (CHWs), focusing on building skills and knowledge to support pregnant women and rural families with their health concerns. CHWs live in the communities where they work and they are trusted and welcomed into patients’ homes to provide health education, counseling, and follow-up for a wide range of health problems.

This week, we welcomed a new team member, Santia Vital, who will join our clinical team at C2C’s clinic in Acul du Nord.

The first few days of training focused on C2C’s malnutrition program, specifically how to screen and treat malnutrition. The CHWs also learned how to use new data collection tools to aid them in their work.

Dr. Sévère, resident physician at C2C’s Acul du Nord clinic, also provided training on vaccinations.

The Lancet Revisits Maternal Health

“Every woman, every newborn, everywhere has the right to good quality care.”

This is the guiding message of the 2016 Lancet Maternal Health Series. More than a decade ago, The Lancet published their first report focusing on maternal survival. The new series is made up of six papers discussing maternal health, its successes and current failings.

In 2015, 216 women died of reported maternal causes per 100,000 live births. In order to meet sustainable development goals (SDG), the global target is to reduce maternal mortality to 70 per 100,000 by the year 2030. The series offers a five-point action plan for local, national, and global communities to achieve the SDG vision: quality, equity, health systems, financing, and better evidence.

Women and children under 5 are uniquely vulnerable to health threats and C2C believes in providing them with specialized, subsidized care. As part of our free antenatal care program, our physicians saw more than 1,000 pregnant women so far in 2016. We employ an OB/GYN specialist in each clinic two days per week, and pregnant patients have access to local, community-based care: pre-natal exams, diagnostics, medicine and vitamins, and ultrasound. 75% of our pregnant patients receive the WHO-recommended minimum of 4 prenatal visits and we’re determined to get that number to 100%. In 2017, C2C will expand our maternal health program to focus on keeping enrolled patients in the care system and supporting them through safe deliveries and a healthy post-partum period.

C2C's New Partnership with Meds & Food for Kids!

1 in 5 Haitian children is malnourished. It’s a tragedy that we see every day in our partner communities and C2C is proud to announce a partnership with Meds & Food for Kids (MFK) to treat malnutrition.

MFK produces and distributes RUTF – Ready To Use Therapeutic Food – to treat malnutrition in children. Sometimes called “miracle peanut butter,” RUTF in Haiti is called Medika Mamba, and is considered the gold standard for treating malnutrition by the World Health Organization. Founded in 2003, MFK has saved the lives of over 200,000 children in Haiti and has trained thousands of health providers on the care regimen for treating malnutrition. MFK produces Medika Mamba locally, building the economy and training Haitian peanut farmers.

C2C’s nurses and Community Health Workers have been trained on the protocol of care for treating malnutrition and will begin screening and treating children on August 23, 2016.

Care 2 Communities