Category Archives: Haiti

Just Three Days Until Clinic Staff Arrive!

In three short days, the new staff members of C2C’s Camp Coq clinic will report for duty! Activities next week will focus on staff orientation and training in advance of the clinic’s opening. C2C’s Global Program Manager, Julia Maxwell, and Haiti Country Manager, Dr. Jean Calvaire, are on-site this week preparing the clinic for staff training and opening day.

They are unpacking furniture, equipment, and supplies from inside the containers and converting the space into a first-class medical facility. C2C believes treating patients in a welcoming, clean, professional setting builds respect and trust between the organization and the communities we serve lexapro pill. When patients step into our clinics, the consultation areas look just like any doctor’s office in the U.S.

Medical supplies and pharmaceuticals are in-stock for the first patient visits and the final clinic set-up is underway. Local tradesmen are working with Julia and Dr. Calvaire to connect the water and electrical systems, install air conditioners and a propane vaccine refrigerator, and set up the computer and inventory management system.

When the staff members arrive for their first day of work on Monday morning, they’ll be introduced to their new workplace: a fully-functional medical clinic awaiting patients! Check the blog next week to meet clinic staff…

Community Health Workers Spreading the Word

Over the last two weeks, C2C’s Community Health Workers (or CHWs) have been visiting their Camp Coq neighbors, sharing news of the clinic opening, talking through the services that will soon be available, answering questions about the clinic opening later this month, and receiving valuable feedback from the community. Each CHW visits an average of 20 households per day, often gathering a crowd of interested neighbors. These three women have visited more than 500 homes already, and will continue reaching out to the community in advance of the clinic opening.

CHWs have a very important job: they serve as “ambassadors” to the community of Camp Coq. All long-time residents of the town, our CHWs are attuned to the health needs and concerns of fellow community members and they are well-positioned to provide advice and counsel, as well as to screen for early warnings of health risks. Soon, the CHWs will be educating the community on important health topics from clean water and nutrition to safe pregnancy and sexual health.

However, before the clinic opens for business, the CHWs have a unique and important role: they are educating community members about the new services that will soon be available. We call this process “social marketing,” because it is a patient-centered, supportive form of information sharing. The CHWs carry information both ways – talking through the clinic offerings with families and also sharing the unique needs of families with clinical staff.

Because the C2C clinic will be the first full-service, high-quality health facility in the community, people have questions about how the clinic will run: What can services can they expect at the clinic? How much will services cost? How can the clinic help when their children are sick? In the course of their social marketing duties, CHWs visit households and have the opportunity to discuss these questions with families, while at the same time encouraging healthy behaviors and habits.

CHWs have been trained to carry out this social marketing role for the next 6 weeks, traveling from household to household, encouraging dialogue, answering questions, and preparing the community for the exciting changes that are coming soon!

Steering Committee Members are Ambassadors to the Community

The local Steering Committee is a central part of C2C’s approach to sustainable health care services. In Camp Coq, we have recruited 11 community members to join the committee and they meet regularly to advise C2C on everything from local health needs and priorities to the clinic staffing model and pricing.

Members of the Steering Committee serve as links between C2C and the community – acting as C2C’s ambassadors to the community as well as bringing the voice of the community to C2C. It is vital that membership be diverse. We are delighted that both the Catholic and Baptist churches, teachers from local schools, the former mayor, local women’s groups, and micro-credit organizations are represented on the current Committee.

With the clinic opening scheduled for late August, the Steering Committee is busy planning important engagement events, including community orientation sessions and a launch celebration to welcome the clinic to the community. The Steering Committee will welcome community members to the clinic for tours of the facility and the chance to meet the doctor, nurse, lab technician and auxiliary nurse who will staff the clinic.

The Steering Committee is a valued part of the C2C model, and we rely on their wisdom and advice to most effectively serve the community. Over time, they will continue to advise C2C about how to tailor our service offerings to meet local needs.

Meet the New C2C Community Health Workers

C2C is delighted to announce that Loudrige Declasse, Louinise Odysse (pictured above, right, with Haiti Country Director, Dr. Jean-Eric Calvaire), and Jorane Pierre (pictured above, left) have been hired to serve as Community Health Workers (CHWs) based out of the Camp Coq clinic. These women were selected from a pool of more than 30 local applicants who attended two application sessions (pictured below).

Loudrige, Jorane, and Louinise will provide a variety of important services to the community, including door-to-door outreach, general health and hygiene education, nutrition and breastfeeding counseling, in-home follow-up visits, and education sessions in the clinic and the community. They will also serve as links between the clinical staff and the community. We look forward to sharing stories with you in the future; in the meantime, we would like to introduce them!

Loudrige Declasse is C2C’s youngest CHW. She lost her mother in her last year of high school, and had to drop out to support herself. She became a substitute teacher for younger children, and used savings from that job to start her own small business selling cosmetics at Camp Coq’s weekly market. She says, “People in Camp Coq are unhealthy because they have no one to teach them to be better. As a CHW, I can share what I learn and help people take responsibility for their health.”

Louinise Odysse is in her late 30s, and lives in Camp Coq with her 10-year-old son. She began training as a nurse years ago, and credits Florence Nightingale as her inspiration. Her favorite part about her new job is that she will be able to help people make better health decisions through education. She says, “People don’t have the information they need to stay healthy. When cholera came to the country, they didn’t know they needed to be careful of their water and food to stay well. CHWs can help.”

Jorane Pierre is in her mid-thirties. She always wanted to be a nurse, but could not afford the training when her father died. She has worked in health care before, volunteering with the Ministry of Health during immunization campaigns, and loves to help people keep their children healthy. She and her husband live in Camp Coq with their two little girls, and she says, “CHWs will take responsibility to help community members address health issues together. The biggest health problem in Camp Coq is that we have not had a facility, and now we are changing that.”

Clinic Arrives in Camp Coq!

Clinic containers are in place in Camp Coq and Community Health Workers are on-staff! Next steps – hiring clinical staff, unpacking, opening to serve the community…

Clinic Clears Customs! Leaving Cap Haitien for Camp Coq!

Happy Friday from C2C! Our newest clinic has arrived in Cap Haitien, been cleared through customs, and the containers are happily on their way to serve the community in Camp Coq. American Global Logistics ensured the containers arrived safely in Cap Haitien, donating shipping costs to C2C. The containers will be in place with plumbing and electricity early next week! Photos coming soon!

Clinic leaving Miami. Now Bound for Camp Coq, Haiti!

C2C is delighted to share that our third clinic will soon be on its way to Camp Coq, a community in Northern Haiti.

People living in Camp Coq now must travel hours to receive high-quality medical care for themselves and their children; C2C will bring care closer, make it much less expensive, and create a sustainable community asset in Camp Coq that will serve women and children in the community for years to come.

This clinic will be staffed with local Haitian physicians, nurses, a lab tech, and community health workers, and will serve between 6,000 and 8,000 patients in its first year of operations.

Special thanks to all who donated to make this clinic possible for the people of Camp Coq, especially Jack Connors, Gerald Sheehan, guests at a fall 2012 event hosted by Jack, Gerald, and Sue and Bernie Pucker, members of C2C’s 50 Women group, Ruthie Barker and Kathryn Sargent, the Emerging Markets Trade Association, and American Global Logistics.

Follow the Journey From Fabrication to Opening Day and Beyond

What does it take to open a primary care clinic in Haiti? Join us as we work to open our newest clinic – from fabrication to opening day and beyond, follow what happens on our blog. We hope you will ask questions and offer suggestions and support along the way.

Let’s start with where we’ve been:

Clinic Fabrication

Our fabricator in Miami started with an empty shipping container. He added high windows for ventilation that preserves privacy; then he added flooring, shelves, cabinetry, and doors until the interior looked just like any other doctor’s office. Medical equipment, including examination tables, lab equipment, and other necessary items, was packed inside the clinic. This entire process takes up to 6 weeks.

Site Research/Decision

C2C spent many months researching potential clinic locations in Haiti, suggested by the Ministry of Health and other nonprofit organizations. C2C chose Camp Coq because there was need, a population large enough to support a clinic, and community support for a clinic. C2C conducted in-depth community research – focus groups, door-to-door surveys, community leadership interviews – early in 2013 before finalizing the site.

Now where we are:

Shipping and Site Preparation

From our fabricator’s site in Miami, the clinic will soon travel more than 600 miles to its new home – Camp Coq, Haiti. Workers are preparing the site for the clinic, placing concrete footings to hold it in place, and leveling the grounds.

Community Steering Committee

A steering committee is in place, comprised of 11 Camp Coq community leaders, to guide C2C’s entry into the community and serve as ambassadors for the organization to their neighbors and friends.

And finally, where we’re going in the next few weeks – we hope you will check back often for news! Health Education Staff Hiring

Clinic Staff Hiring

Staff Training and Orientation

Community Outreach

Clinic Opening

International Women's Day 2013

At C2C, women are at the heart of everything we do. Our clinics, which specialize in maternal care, ensure that women stay healthy so that they can care for their families and be leaders in their communities. Today is International Women’s Day, which gives us a special opportunity to honor and thank women around the world who do so much for their communities each day.

UN Women has also chosen to honor women today, through the art of music. They’ve teamed up with women from many countries to create One Woman, a song “that inspires listeners to join the drive for women’s rights and gender equality”. It’s a beautiful song that features singer Emeline Michel of Haiti, among others.

We encourage you, in honor of this holiday, to talk to someone today about the challenges that women face and C2C’s dedication to keeping them healthy.

Seeing Their Child for the First Time

Who hasn’t stared with at least a little confusion at an ultrasound picture? Is that really the baby’s head? Those fuzzy pictures connect us to babies before we can hold them. They link us to our children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, and the children of friends – all of whom we can’t wait to meet! Even more important, they help doctors identify and address many complications before they endanger mother or baby.

Unfortunately, most soon-to-be parents worldwide don’t have access to this technology that we take for granted. Doctors and nurses practicing in the developing world are often unable to spot difficulties in time to save lives. By including ultrasound as part of comprehensive prenatal care, we can address many of the World Health Organization’s top causes of maternal and neonatal mortality: hemorrhage, obstructed labor, asphyxia, birth injuries, and preterm births.

Thanks to generous funding this year from MA and James Gallerani, the Dorothea Haus Ross Foundation, and the Jack Tarver Foundation, expectant mothers visiting our clinic in Port-au-Prince do have access to ultrasound technology. Our clinicians are able to identify abnormalities early, determine gestational age and estimate due dates, and monitor uterine cysts and other conditions that might become dangerous. They are able to diagnose issues on the spot – without asking the mother to wait, return to the clinic in a week, or travel for a referral. For women who often journey hours to our clinic, it is critical that they are able to access necessary care quickly and in one location.

As we all look forward to a bright 2013, I would like to introduce you to Rosemonde and Joulie (pictured above and below). They are especially hopeful for the New Year, and have much to look forward to as they wait to meet the babies they have just seen for the first time. From all of us at C2C, here’s to a beautiful New Year for our patients, our supporters, and our organization’s growth to serve thousands more women and children!

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