Hope For Haiti Partnership

My blog is back! Though my official website is now up at www.willinhaiti.org, I will continue to use this blog as a way of updating you on any work that I'm doing in Haiti.

I've recently partnered with a large non-profit in Les Cayes, Haiti to bring my public health training programs to another 50,000 rural Haitians from 40 villages and 10,000 students from 40 schools.

By collaborating with Hope for Haiti we are building a strong public health education program that focuses on training community health workers in preventive care, first aid attention, emergency preparedness, and crisis management. Our goal is for this comprehensive public health program to be available throughout all of Hope for Haiti supported schools. Run and lead by Hope for Haiti’s medical staff in Les Cayes, trained community health workers will be integrated into Hope for Haiti’s on-going education program impacting the lives of students as well as their families and community members within southern Haiti.

Sample of Desired Outcomes:

1. Earlier detection of treatable health problems due to the increased availability of basic first aid and local knowledge about health and malnutrition.

2. Earlier identification of malnutrition and common diseases that can then be addressed by other Hope for Haiti-supported projects.

3. Initiation of community sanitation or other health-related initiatives lead by trained community workers, teachers and their students.

4. Integration of all schools with Hope for Haiti’s existing medications distribution network.

5. Increased quality of medical care to all schools through medical team visits and regular follow-up care.

6. Improved health among students resulting in improved school attendance and academic performance.

7. Improved health within students’ families allowing for more effective employment of their labor and reduced need to use scarce funds for health-related purposes.

8. Improved coordination of patient medical records between various school systems in the same geographic region.

9. Community emergency plans in place in preparation for a natural, political, or social crisis.

10. Emergency supply kits safely stored for immediate distribution.