The lovely Susan and Judy took suitcases to Haiti, one to a small clinic and one to an orphanage. Thank you so much ladies, what a great story about your trip! <3
“I just returned from a week stay in Haiti. I stayed with a friend at the first all inclusive hotel in Haiti, the Royal Decameron in Montrouis, 90 minutes away from Port-au-Prince.
Air Transat has a generous baggage policy for Haiti – two 50 Kg checked bags and 11 kg carry on. We had no problems getting the two NJT bags through customs. It was challenging getting transportation that was safe to get to clinics – public transportation is crowded and not well maintained, not safe to use. We found a guide to get to the nearby village clinic and the orphanage director arranged a private car with a driver and an off duty policeman to get to the orphanage – the policeman was for our safety.
We visited the clinic in the nearby village, Montrouis. We delivered our first medical suitcase of basic supplies to Dr Lamarre Marie France. The clinic was very crowded with many mothers and sick babies waiting to see the doctor. There were very few medical supplies in the cupboard. The doctor was delighted to get wound care and anti-septic supplies, condoms, syringes, gloves, etc. The doctor mentioned that there are many motorcycle accidents, and that these supplies will be quite useful.
Most of the second suitcase went to an orphanage / community school in Deschapelles, Hands Across the sea. There are 18 full time orphans, and 530 school children who have highly subsidized school fees – the organisation is a central part of the community and helps any child that comes. Some disabled children have been left at their door, and taken in. The children have many scrapes and sores, and again the wound care will be very useful. With the lack of hygienic conditions, clean water, along with many flies, a small scrape or cut can easily become dangerously infected. For more info see www.hatshaiti.org
I took out some of the supplies out of the second suitcase to give to an American nurse staying at our resort. Cody Smith works in a poor neighbourhood clinic in Gonaives, one of the poorest towns in Haiti. She was taking a week holiday at the resort with her visiting adult children for a break. She has lived in the community since 2012, and provides basic medical care to the local people. She also talked about motorcycle accidents, and the need for wound care. She told us about childhood anemia, worms, and fevers, along with adult skin lesions, high blood pressure and diabetes. She was very happy to receive syringes, saline syringes, anti-septic wipes, and a children’s blood pressure cuff. She is happy to speak English as she speaks Creole most of the time, and would love to have visitors at her clinic!
We were very happy to bring basic medical supplies to Haiti. The country is very poor, and lacks most basic needs. The people from the three communities that received the medical supplies from NJT will benefit. Thank you to NJT for letting us be more than just tourists!
Susan Ford and Judy Deutscher
