One year has passed since that tragic earthquake that killed over 250,000 and injured many others.  Driving around PAP, seeing the rubble and the still growing tent camps, you would have to ask if any progress has been made. There has been little progress on improving the infrastructure and rebuilding of public spaces, but most of those living in tent camps have access to clean water and basic health care. In some areas health care is more available to the poorest living in PAP and the surrounding area than it was before the earthquake.  Dumay is a good example.

In January 2010, we expanded the Dumay clinic’s services and hours of operation to 5 days a week, with minor surgical and general medicine care, providing all medications at no charge to the patient.  We brought teams of volunteers to Haiti to work wherever we were needed most, including the tent camps and Hospitals in the PAP area that were overwhelmed with victims of the earthquake.  We developed a relationship with the Haitian Ministry of Health (MSPP) that our Haitian medical director, Dr. Jacques has nurtured through the year, helping us to complete all the steps required to become an NGO in Haiti and work as a partner with the MSPP.  We have developed supply lines in Haiti so that we don’t rely on importing medications, and are better able to keep the pharmacy stocked with needed medications.  We have greatly expanded our staff and improved our procedures to better care for patients. 

Throughout the year, we have improved the facilities in Dumay to better serve the people. The earthquake toppled the security wall around the clinic, so it has been rebuilt to earthquake standards.  We installed solar panels on the roof of the clinic to secure reliable, clean energy for clinic activities. We brought internet service to the clinic and wired the entire building for internet access to improve communication now and to be ready for computer record keeping in the future. Water is still brought to the clinic in buckets from a nearby well, but we are working in installing a water pump that can be run on the power generated by our solar panels. Construction is almost completed on a sleeping porch, so volunteers can stay on the clinic property and avoid the long trips through heavy traffic we encounter every day we travel to and from the clinic.

When the cholera epidemic struck, it spread quickly to the Dumay community via the river Grise, a major source of water the community uses for laundry and bathing. Our medical staff quickly obtained supplies needed to treat cholera patients and began an education program on the prevention and treatment of cholera. We set up a 3 bed 24 hr./day cholera treatment facility (isolated from the main clinic) and are working with UN OPS and UNICEF to set up a larger needed cholera treatment facility at the clinic site.  Trees have come down, a cholera latrine is being dug, and a cement slab is being poured as a base for the cholera treatment tents.  Teams of our health care educators are going door to door in Dumay, teaching about cholera prevention and treatment.

This past year has been very difficult.  Every one of our Haitian friends lost close friends and family members. With the generous outpouring of support from of our friends and donors, Healing Art Missions was able to respond immediately to the earthquake and the cholera epidemic, bringing whatever relief to the crisis we could. But we are committed partners with Haiti for the long haul. Our goal is, and always has been, to empower the Haitians we work with to improve their lives and the lives of those in their communities.  We continue to do this by providing the critical resources of funding, knowledge, and experience to the partnership.  The reality is, with 24 hr. service now available in Dumay, the daily cost of operations has more than doubled in the past year.  Healing Art Missions has made good investments, and we have every intention to continue investing in the Haitian people into the future. But we can’t do this without the help of our partners in the U.S., our friends, supporters, donors; those who make our work here in Haiti possible.  Please join us on our journey forward as we continue to make a real difference in the lives of so many, with so little.

Tracee G. Laing
Founder and Medical Director
Healing Art Missions