Public Health Team Sports New Gear

Sante Piblik, "Public Health" in Creole.

Equipped with new shirts, hats, backpacks, lab coats and watches, the public health team is official. These uniforms wouldn't have been possible without the help of generous donors in Rhode Island who had the gear made special for our team.

Long Long Overdue

The marathon went well. It was quite possibly the most physically and mentally challenging thing I’ve ever done, but I’m glad that I did it. When I arrived in the Grand Caymans the first night, Fritzner was not there. He never arrived on the 4pm flight, 3 hours earlier. Enlisting the help of the race coordinators and strangers I met on my flight, I spent the next two days and nearly $100 in calling cards, calling Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Haiti and the US, trying to locate him. With Fritzner not there, I struggled with whether I should stay and run the race. We had trained for nearly 3 months together and supported each other the entire time. Now, I was there and he wasn’t. I had to run the race by myself and at the time, the only thought going through my mind, was that something horrible happened to him. For 72 hours, the worst possible thoughts were going through my head. I pictured him being robbed, beaten and even killed. If I had at least known that he was ok, I would have felt better. But that entire run, which should have taken me no longer than 3.5 hours, took me nearly 4.5 hours to finish. My heart was in my throat the entire time. I was depressed, scared and incredibly lonely the entire time. The first hour and a half of the run was before sunrise, in the pitch dark. I imagined Fritz running beside me, smiling at me, running faster than me, telling me to hurry up. I felt as though his spirit was with me and though I’m sure that’s what got me through the race, the thought that he was dead, petrified me and gave me shivers. My breathing was irregular; my heart rate was racing even while I ran at a steady pace. I’m amazed that I finished that race considering my fragile emotional state. Marathons are nearly all mental. I’ve realized that if your mind is not clear and focused on the run and nothing else, the whole thing will feel like hell.

The race director and coach Jerry were the two primary people who convinced me to still run the race, in honor of Fritzner and the country I’m representing. But the last thing I wanted to do was run alone. I was responsible for Fritz and I couldn’t live with myself if anything had happened to him. It was his first time on a plane and first time leaving his country. With the support of many, and a big welcome over the megaphone at the start of the race, I had become motivated to run the 26.2 miles. The race began at 5am while the sun was still down. The first hour and a half of the race was in the pitch dark and not having a running partner, I quickly found myself distressed. That feeling never let up the entire race.

A few hours after I passed the finish line, I received an email telling me that Fritz was ok and that he was back in Haiti. It turns out that he was detained in Cuba and not allowed to board the flight to the Caymans because he didn’t have a British visa. Even though, just a few days earlier, I had the director of Immigration in the Caymans clear Fritz from needing a visa, he was not allowed to board. The director had given us a number to call if there was a problem, but apparently no one answered the phone and Cuba said no. With no money in his pocket, Fritz ended up staying with his taxi driver for three days. He fed him and gave him a place to stay for three days. On the fourth day, he found a stranger to buy him a ticket back to Haiti.

After I found out that Fritz was ok, I was able to relax a little more. I spent everyday in the ocean and even became a certified open water diver while I was there. Soon after, I flew home to spend Christmas and New Years with my family and had a wonderful time.
I’ve been back in Haiti for a week now. Everyone welcomed me with wide open arms and big kisses. I found myself putting out my hand for a handshake for the same people who just a month earlier, I would hug nearly every morning. They avoided my hand and went straight for the hug regardless. It has been great to see everyone again. My public health team has been working around the clock while I’ve been away. They have been continuing the DOT treatment of TB and monitoring the houses in the children’s village. They even designed and executed another public health lesson for all 600 children in the village without my being here! The presentation was on worms and parasites. According to Fr. Marc and others who were there, they were entertaining, well-prepared and captivating. I’m so proud of them. They’ve already prepared for their next presentation on malaria. We’ll be holding off on it until next week for when our visiting group of doctors come down from the states. I’d like them to see firsthand what the PH team is doing.

Guest Post

The following is a guest post from a freelance writer who is looking to add to her writing portfolio. She prepared an article entitled "Third World Public Health Issues" for my site and included her by-line (with a link to her site) underneath it. She tried to come up with something that seemed like it would fit my audience as well as was something she knew enough about to write fairly confidently on. She welcomes your comments.


Third World Public Health Issues

Not many of us are aware of the health issues that face the poor, especially those who live in developing nations. We take basic facilities like running water, clean toilets, hygienic and regular meals, and a warm roof over our heads for granted while children are being born every second into conditions of squalor and poverty. Lack of sanitation and no access to even the most basic of amenities ensures that people are beset by diarrhea, malaria, HIV/AIDS, malnutrition, and other chronic health conditions. While it’s true that organizations, both public and private, from developed countries are doing their best to alleviate this state of affairs, there are various fundamental issues unique to third world countries that prevent any kind of aid from working effectively:

Lack of infrastructure: Aid can only do so much – it can help treat existing conditions and use vaccines to prevent the reoccurrence and spread of diseases. What it can’t do though is build enough toilets, arrange for clean drinking water, provide the children with access to education, or ensure that the poor get to eat healthy food. While there are a few aid programs dedicated to improving the basic infrastructure in villages, there’s not much improvement that they can bring about, because of bureaucracy issues.

Political red tape, corruption: Politicians are known to be a greedy lot; they’re only interested in lining their coffers and looting public money as long as they’re in office, little caring for the needs of the people in their constituencies. Most third world nations are governed by power and money hungry politicians who create as much red tape as they can when it’s a question of foreign aid. They end up taking a large part of the money as bribes in return for allowing the aid crew to do its job. With continuous situations like this, disillusionment creeps in and does nothing to improve the status of the poor.

Malnutrition: Children are born to undernourished mothers, so there’s no chance for them to grow up healthy. Most street children live off food waste scrounged from dumpsters or beg for a living. With no regular source of food, malnutrition is a major problem. For aid to tackle this issue, the root must be identified, which means people must be given access to jobs that allow them to earn a decent living so that they can continue to feed their families. This again depends on various local factors, not the least of which is the government.

No education: With no education to speak of, men and women are hardly aware of the dangers of eating off the streets, living in filthy conditions, having unprotected sex, and drinking unclean water. And even if they are, there’s not much they can do about it, not without money. The little money that comes their way is squandered by the men on alcohol and tobacco, with the women being abused if they oppose this habit.

For aid programs to be effective and achieve their goal, long term planning, combined with local effort, is a must.

This article is contributed by Sarah Scrafford, who regularly writes on the topic of Radiology Technician Classes. She invites your questions, comments and freelancing job inquiries at her email address: sarah.scrafford25@gmail.com.

Public Health Team Gives First Lesson for 300!

Webert, distributing toothbrushes.

Webert and Fritzner work in the girl’s home, taking names and doing general health exams.

In the children’s village, the team took down the names and ages of all the children living in each house, while at the same time, doing a general health exam of each child, noting who had scabies, ringworm etc.

The public health team giving their first public lesson to a group of nearly 300 children and adults after Sunday Mass. The topic was oral hygiene. Using posters, skits and even a monologue, the team emphasized the importance of taking care of your teeth and brushing twice a day. Everyone in attendance received a toothbrush and toothpaste.

By the end of the day, over 600 children and 20 adults received new toothbrushes and toothpaste.

Today is World AIDS Day. Today is dedicated to raising awareness of the AIDS pandemic caused by the spread of HIV infection. AIDS has killed more than 25 million people with an estimated 33.2 million people living with HIV making it one of the most destructive epidemics in recorded history. Despite recent, improved access to antiretroviral treatment and care in many regions of the world, the AIDS epidemic claimed an estimated 3.1 million (between 2.8 and 3.6 million) lives in 2005, of which more than half a million (570,000) were children.

The concept of a World AIDS Day originated at the 1988 World Summit of Ministers of Health on Programmes for AIDS Prevention. Since then, it has been taken up by governments, international organizations and charities around the world. (Wiki.com)

The following is a link if you’re interested in learning more about World AIDS Day and how to get involved in fighting HIV/AIDS around the globe. http://www.worldvision.org/content.nsf/getinvolved/hope-home

HIV/AIDS in Haiti

8,706,497: population of Haiti (2007 est.)110,000: Estimated number of people living with HIV/AIDS by the end of 2007

2.2%: Estimated percentage of adults (ages 15-49) living with HIV/AIDS by the end of 2007

53%: Estimated percentage of HIV cases that occured among women (ages 15-49) by the end of 2007

6,800: Estimated number of children (ages 0-15) living with HIV/AIDS by the end of 2007

7,500: Estimated number of deaths due to AIDS during 2007

Source
UNAIDS 2008 Report on the Global AIDS Epidemic. July 2008

Here are a few great sites if you’re interested in learning more about the demographics and epidemiology of diseases endemic to Haiti.

Globalhealthreporting.org
Kaisernetwork.org
Globalhealthfacts.org

It's not too late!

TO PLEDGE, simply email me at willinhaiti@gmail.com with your pledge amount per mile or a flat rate pledge.


TO MAKE A DONATION (CHECKS), please make checks payable to:

Theo’s Work, INC.2303
West Market Street
Greensboro, NC 27403
Memo: Will’s Medical Mission


TO MAKE A DONATION (CREDIT CARDS)

You can also donate using a credit card by visiting Pwoje Espwa’s website at freethekids.org

You can follow up your donation with an email to inquiries@freethekids.org to designate your donation to "Will's Medical Mission."


TO MAKE AN IN-KIND DONATION

If you would rather donate a service, product or frequent flyer miles, you can email me at willinhaiti@gmail.com


Thanks so much everyone! Nearly $16,000 raised in cash pledges and donations. $4,100 raised in in-kind donations!

Public Health Team Graduates

When I started the Public Health Education Program back in July, I began by teaching five bright and highly motivated boys, ages 16-20, who were residents of Castel Pierre Village, information about a variety of issues pertaining to public health including hygiene, sanitation, nutrition and water quality along with testing, treatment and prevention strategies aimed at reducing the incidence of several diseases endemic to the area. Last night, the boys graduated from the program and received a certificate, stipend and lab coat. Thanks to the generosity of several people in the states, the Public Health Team (PHT) will also be receiving "Sante Piblik" (Public Health in Creole) t-shirts, backpacks, hats and scrubs.

The purpose of the program is to spread as much knowledge relating to public health as possible, in hope that through education we can empower those most vulnerable in rural Haiti--the children. In order for this program to be a success it is crucial that the teaching is done through peer education, teaching Haitians to teach other Haitians. For this reason, I wanted to find a reliable and motivated student who can serve as my apprentice, who can then go on to teach a small group of interested “public health workers,” who will then go on to teach their peers in schools throughout nearby villages.

As public health workers, they are helping to teach health education classes, running mass treatment programs for scabies, ringworm and tuberculosis, and doing daily surveys of the living quarters looking for health hazards and accompanying children who are sick to the clinic and making sure that the children on TB and Malaria meds are adhering to their regimens. Paul Farmer had it right when he said that the only way to make it sustainable was to teach Haitians to treat Haitians. It won't happen overnight.

The program I have designed was made specifically according to the needs and interests of the residents at Pwoje Espwa and nearby villages. The lesson plans are translated into both English and Creole. Accompanying each topic covered, is an oral/written exam and or an oral/written project assignment for the students to complete. These means of evaluation are in place to ensure that the public health students retain a firm grasp on the material so that they may teach their peers in both informal and formal settings. The program is designed to be completed in three months time, which includes a 2-week period of mock-teaching, where the public health students will take turns presenting all of the material we have covered over the span of the program.

The following is a list of the topics covered in order as to which they were originally taught:
· Malaria—testing, treatment and prevention
· Scabies—treatment and prevention
· Prevention vs. Treatment
· Home Remedies and Popular Beliefs
· Witchcraft, Magic and the Evil Eye
· Common Causes of Sicknesses
· How to do a Physical Exam
· How to Care for a Sick Person
· Alternative Medicine
· The Healing Powers of Water
· The Use of Antibiotics
· How to Give Medicine—Measuring Doses
· First Aid
· Nutrition
· Prevention via Cleanliness
· Prevention via Sanitation
· Parasites—testing, treatment and prevention
· Prevention via Vaccinations
· Prevention via Other Habits and Behaviors
· Dehydration, Diarrhea, Dysentery and Vomiting—treatment and prevention
· Tetanus and Rabies—treatment and prevention
· Ringworm
· Teeth, Gums and Mouth Health
· Sexually Transmitted Diseases—testing, treatment and prevention
· HIV/AIDS—testing, treatment and prevention
· Children’s Health
· How to Teach



Ambroise (Sam) Mackenzy
Webert Constant

Delince Pierre

Marckenson Gedna

I'm so proud of these boys and am excited about what comes next! Their first public health presentation for the 650 children of Espwa will be this Sunday. The topic is on oral hygiene, with a focus on how to properly brush our teeth. After the program, they will be handing out toothbrushes and toothpaste (donated by the Athens Medical Group) to all of the house monitors for the children.

On Sunday evening, they will also be going house-to-house with Elimite cream and mass treating all of the children for scabies.

The purpose of my running the Cayman marathon next Sunday is to raise money for programs such as these. I know this was a long post but thanks for hanging in there!