Haitian Health Foundation

Our next Container Loading is Saturday, May 26th. Join us!

Honoring Mothers

Mother’s Day is Sunday, May 13th—
This Mother’s Day, honor your mother by helping those in need in Haiti, and receive a beautiful card for your mother’s special day.

A mother and her vibrant daughter, Stalamanana—who was treated for malnutrition at Sant Lespwa—prepare for their return to their remote village in southwest Haiti. She's wearing a dress given to celebrate her recovery!

The Haitian Health Foundation relies on your generosity to operate Sant Lespwa—Center of Hope in Jérémie, Haiti. It is the only maternal waiting home and children’s malnutrition center in all of southwest Haiti, providing in-patient services to mothers with troubled pregnancies and severely malnourished children.

Over the years, your gifts have helped provide services to thousands of mothers and children—saving countless lives and helping families tackle the injustices of poverty. We need your support today to continue this mission.

Between now and May 7th, donors who give $50 or more in honor of their own mother will receive a beautiful full-color HHF Mother’s Day card with a special Kreyol proverb inside. This limited-run card will let mom know that a gift has been made in her name to aid the mothers and children of Sant Lespwa—Center of Hope.

To take advantage of this offer, you must either send a check directly to HHF (with a note indicating this is a Mother’s Day donation) or, preferably, donate online.  HHF must receive the donation by May 7th to ensure that the card reaches you in time to present to your mother.  When completing the online donation form, be sure to:

• Check the option “My Donation Is In Honor of Someone”
• Select “Center of Hope—Malnourished Children and At-Risk Pregnant Women” from the drop-down menu
• Enter a reference to “Mother’s Day card” in the Comment section.  Unless otherwise indicated in the comment section, the unsigned card will be forwarded to the Donor’s attention at the address specified in the fields on the donation page—in time for you to sign the card and send it to your mother.

This year, honor your mother while helping Haitian mothers and children in need.

TAKE ME TO THE DONATIONS PAGE
TO HONOR MY MOTHER

A Family’s Book Project to Raise Funds for HHF.

A few months ago, John and Helene McCabe decided that as a family project they would find a charity worth supporting and then figure out a way to raise funds for that charity.  “We looked carefully at many organizations and yours was the one that impressed us the most,”  explains the McCabes, ”Our next step was to figure out a way we could raise funds.  We decided to publish a book and donate all the money we received from its sales to the Haitian Health Foundation.”

“The idea behind this was a family project where we all learned everything involved in publishing a book (writing, graphics, editing, marketing, ebook conversion, cover art…) and in addition, we could help children in need.  We realize the book might not equal some of your other fundraising activities, but with some help, we can make a difference and at the least, we’ll have taught our son about publishing and charity.”

Here’s where you can find Guess When I’ll Puke – a collection of humorous family vacation memories:

Amazon.com:

www.amazon.com/Guess-When-Puke-John-McCabe/dp/1614349606

FaceBook page for book:

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Guess-When-Ill-Puke/305081906177774

Four Star Rating for Fifth Year

Charity Navigator, one of the nation’s leading organizations that rates charitable organizations, has just announced that it awarded HHF its coveted 4-star rating for the fifth straight year. Charity Navigator writes:

“We are proud to announce Haitian Health Foundation has earned our fifth consecutive 4-star rating. Receiving four out of a possible four stars indicates that your organization adheres to good governance and other best practices that minimize the chance of unethical activities and consistently executes its mission in a fiscally responsible way. Only 4% of the charities we rate have received at least 5 consecutive 4-star evaluations, indicating that Haitian Health Foundation outperforms most other charities in America. This ‘exceptional’ designation from Charity Navigator differentiates Haitian Health Foundation from its peers and demonstrates to the public it is worthy of their trust.“

You can review our full Charity Navigator rating here.

We at HHF recognize our responsibilities as stewards of our donors’ dollars and trust and we are proud that our fiscal responsibility and transparency has been recognized again. We pledge to continue to use these best practices to ensure your continued trust in the Haitian Health Foundation.

Happy House Costs Rise

The expenses associated with building Happy Houses in rural Haiti has increased in the last few years (including our costs for cement, rebar, fuel, and roofing material). HHF has been subsidizing the building of these with moneys from our general fund; however, we must now increase the donation amount for a Happy House to reflect the true costs. Therefore, we ask our generous donors who would like to support the construction of a Happy House to please designate a donation of $1,000.

Mesi for Helping to Load the Container!

With many volunteers, the HHF container loading was a living example of the Haitian proverb, "Anpil men chay pa lou" (many hands make light work).

Thank you to the approximately 75 HHF supporters who showed up on January 14th to help load the latest container to Jérémie!

It was a cold morning, but thankfully the wind died down for the hours that we were packing.

Recognizing the two years since the Haiti earthquake, the volunteers formed a circle and remembered all of those who were injured or killed from the earthquake. Many of our HHF employees in Haiti lost immediate family members in the earthquake, and we continue to support many of those who took in relatives who escaped the devastation in Port-au-Prince. Our thoughts are with all of those in Haiti who continue to be affected by this tragedy.

We managed to pack roofing materials for 50 more houses in Makandal, as well as cases of tuna and peanut butter, food from “Kids Against Hunger,” boxes for Save-A-Family recipients, medical supplies, new shoes, and school supplies.

Thanks to all who helped out. Without you, getting supplies from here to Haiti would take many more weeks. Mesi!

Two Years Later: HHF Reflects on Haiti’s Earthquake

Read HHF Employees’ Reflections on the Earthquake

A newborn is carried off of the dangerously overcrowded ferry from Port-au-Prince, days after the earthquake of January 12, 2010.

It’s difficult to believe that it’s been two years since the tragic earthquake struck Haiti. Hundreds of thousands of innocent people were killed or injured, and many are still living in subhuman conditions – in tent cities teeming with violence, their residents suffering from malnutrition.

In my past few visits to Haiti, I have been frustrated traveling through Port-au-Prince. With more than $5 billion pledged and raised for Haiti following the earthquake, it is heartbreaking to see this awful lack of progress. However, I am slowly beginning to see some positive changes in the capital city – for example, there appear to be fewer tent encampments in Port-au-Prince and the buildings at the international airport are slowly being renovated.

I am pleased to report many positive changes in HHF’s catchment area in southwest Haiti. As I’ve noted in the past, immediately after the earthquake approximately 120,000 internally displaced persons fled Port-au-Prince to come to the Jérémie area, and our public health department continues to monitor the inflow and outflow of earthquake migrants.

With the help of generous benefactors, HHF responded immediately to this influx, providing food, medical care, business opportunities, and other relief to these traumatized people, many of whom left Port-au-Prince with little more than the clothes on their backs. HHF has rebuilt almost 1,000 houses that were destroyed or severely damaged. Other positive changes in the area included a road repair partnership project with another relief agency, which helped to provide HHF with better access to remote villages and created temporary income for unskilled laborers.

HHF’s public health director, Dr. Bette Gebrian, says, “We remember those who died, were injured, and lost jobs, houses and, almost, their hope. But, we have been inspired by the strength of the Haitian people that we work with here to pick up and move forward.”

HHF continues to be ready for any future emergencies. Food and medical stockpiles have been replenished thanks to our many benefactors. Our prayer is for a breather for Haiti, victimized by the earthquake, hurricanes, and the very lethal cholera outbreak.

HHF appreciates and continues to need your financial support as we begin our 30th year of service to thousands of wonderful people trapped in poverty.

On their behalf, merci!

Jeremiah J. Lowney, Jr., DDS, MS, MPH
Messenger of the Poor of Haiti
HHF Founder and President

PS: HHF welcomed a number of earthquake survivors to our permanent staff in Jérémie and we are proud of their contributions to the Haitian Health Foundation. We recently asked some of them for their reflections on that tragic day; please read their thoughts about how the earthquake — and their journey to HHF — has forever altered their lives.

Pascal, a nurse, is responsible for six family members. “My life changed for the worse because all that I had was lost and I started again at zero. Although I lost my mother in the earthquake, I am better now because HHF gave me a job. All of us need to stop and pray to commemorate the day.”

Naleine, responsible for eight family members, says, “Everything changed. My house was destroyed and I lost my business and everything else. Right now, I am not too bad and not too good. I am working at HHF and this helps me to live. I have a great deal of sadness when I remember my people who died and my husband’s lost job. Since then, I alone am the woman and the man of the house, with the grace of HHF.”

Herla came to Jérémie by boat after sleeping on the street with her husband and injured toddler. HHF gave her a job as a housekeeper; she relies on this income to care for seven family members. Herla says, “I feel sad because I lost my mother and father, who had helped me a lot. I will never forget that day. My son’s lost eyesight is my souvenir. Because of the grace of Sister Maryann and HHF, I have received help: food, medical and surgical care for my child, and a job. I feel OK because my child still has a life.”

Jonas, hired as a cook, reflects, “My family helped me – I had nothing, not even clothes! I feel sad, remembering the day of the earthquake, because I was face to face with death. God saved me. Now I feel happy because I am not sick and I am working at HHF.”

Container Loading for the New Year: Saturday, January 14th

Start the new year right! Come help the people of Haiti as we load a container bound for southwest Haiti. Come be a part of a team that's been there for Haitians for 25 years!

Please join us in the New Year to pack another container with much-needed food and relief supplies to Jérémie, on Saturday, January 14th, at our Norwich office. The loading begins at 8:00 am.

To those of you who packed our two (count ‘em, TWO!) containers earlier this fall, they both arrived within a couple of weeks of each other in November—so all of the supplies, food, computers, and solar panels arrived just before or during our last group visit after Thanksgiving. So, we give thanks to all who carefully pack the containers and spend their (cold?) mornings with us!

Join us on January 14th at:

Haitian Health Foundation
97 Sherman Street
Norwich, CT 06360

Click here for a satellite map to the Norwich office.

HHF Marks World Pneumonia Day 2011

November 12, 2011, marks the 3rd Annual World Pneumonia Day. The Haitian Health Foundation has long been a leader in Haiti in the diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of this childhood killer. Our public health programs in pneumonia have been recognized by global health organizations and have been the subject of numerous studies and other academic research that have proven the effectiveness of our interventions over more than two decades.

Through HHF’s programs, pneumonia deaths were reduced by 50% in our catchment area, and HHF health agents have successfully treated over 70,000 cases of pneumonia (children often get it more than once).

As with nearly all of HHF’s programs, education is a strong component of pneumonia public health efforts. Click here to view Haitian Health Foundation health agents presenting a song that they wrote – the song educates families about recognizing and obtaining treatment for pneumonia.  There is a significant rate of non-literacy within our population, so HHF uses creative teaching techniques, such as songs, skits, and stories – easily remembered and shared.

Did you know…

• More than one million children die from pneumonia each year.
• Pneumonia is the leading cause of death among children under 5 years of age worldwide.
• One child dies from pneumonia every 20 seconds.  That’s 4,300 young lives lost every day.
• Most children who die of pneumonia live in developing countries, including Haiti.
• 98% of children who die of pneumonia live in developing countries.
• Illness and hospitalization due to pneumonia are preventable sources of suffering and stress, as the disease is preventable with tools like Hib and pneumococcal vaccines, and the integrated collection of steps that can be taken to protect children.

Please take a few moments to watch the following video describing pneumonia’s toll on children in poverty in the world.

ADA Humanitarian Video (New Video!)

The short video below — a great overview of Dr. Lowney’s 30 years in Haiti — was presented at the American Dental Association national convention to honor Dr. Lowney, who was recognized as the ADA’s 2011 Humanitarian of the Year. Congratulations, Dr. Lowney (and the award will pay for another house in Mackandal!).

Thanks to Jack Kenny, Jason Lamkey, and the American Dental Association for producing this video. Mesi Anpil!