Homeopaths Without Borders has been treating and teaching in Haiti since 2010, first responding to the country’s devastating earthquake of January, 2010, by bringing homeopathic relief to its communities. In 2012, Homeopaths Without Borders launched a four-part training program, teaching homeopathic medicine to Haitian citizens.
Warm greetings from Haiti—I can’t believe it’s already been three weeks since the February team members returned to the wintry weather of the northeastern states. I am enthusiastically acclimatizing to the details of neighborhood life in Port-au-Prince: roosters crowing at 10 p.m. or 2:30 a.m., little dogs with large barks, delicious cooking aromas in the neighborhoods and plenty of activity. There’s calmness, thoughtfulness and resourcefulness to daily activities, with bountiful smiles. Having learned how best to conserve my laptop battery life and connect into the internet because the electricity is turned on generally only in the evenings, I feel ready to adapt to whatever may come my way.
It is official: the Association d’Homeopathes Communautaire have officially registered the first homeopathic organization in Haiti with the Ministère des Affaires Social et du Travail. This group, our first graduating class (13) of community homeopaths from the Fundamentals Homeopathy Program, is serious about bringing homeopathy to their communities and throughout the nation—permanently. It’s remarkable that just a year ago this group gathered for their first introductory session to homeopathy. And now, 12 months later they are determined to bring homeopathy to others on a national-level—extremely impressive and inspirational.
On February 11, the HWB team of Lauren Fox, FNP, CCH and Wendy Pollock DC, CHH, the Homeoapthe Communautaires of Port-au-Prince and myself offered a free community clinic in Le Plaine. This clinic was organized by Homeopathe Communautaire Wilby Vernet. Eleven of us, along with our traveling dispensary, peeled out of a six-passenger vehicle and went to work for the day. The Homeopathe Communautaires quickly transformed yet another public meeting space into a free community clinic, while many people waited patiently to be seen by a Homeopathe Communautaire.
The homeopathes have arrived!
PG Legerme, Loveline Renelus and Phadael Fallens take a case.
During their lunch break, the Homeopathe Communautaires gathered outside in the shade of the trees to officially convene their association.
The formation of Association d’Homeopathes Communautaires.
Elected officers to the first homeopathic organization in Haiti are:
This past Sunday I attended the Committee’s weekly meeting. Not only was it another awesome opportunity to watch these movers and shakers of homeopathy in Haiti, but it was an ideal time for me to practice my developing Kreyol skills. (Not wanting to interrupt their process, I declined the assistance of a translator.)
They have organized the association as a membership organization, with expectations to have delegates throughout the country. The association will provide members with continuing education, staffing and remedies for community clinics organized by members, and camaraderie by attending special functions such as their weddings and parties. The membership fee will help support the association’s mission. Some of their future aspirations include developing a supply chain for remedies and establishing homeopathic universities and hospitals. Their first order of business, after they receive their paperwork from the Ministère des Affaires Social et du Travail, will be to assemble documents and justifications to present to the Ministry of Health for homeopathy to be legitimized in Haiti.
One of my first impressions from teaching and working with students in Haiti is their incredible vision, dignity and determination to provide for themselves. Now, having lived here for a month and making shifts to doing with so much less (electricity, office supplies, internet access), my awe in them is even more heightened. It has been an honor to be here with Homeopaths without Borders providing a Fundamentals of Homeopathy course—all made possible with volunteers, many donors and suppliers of remedies and donations for clinics. This education project is the springboard to bringing a viable healthcare option to the people of Haiti. Your help is still needed as we continue to ground the fundamental education program—please consider donating in whatever way makes sense for you: service, money or supplies.
Mesi anpil, Holly Manoogian, Executive Director
HWB’s first Continuing Education Program took place at the Port-au-Prince nursing school directed by Loveline, one of the Homeopathe Communitaires. She was very pleased to house this event and has welcomed HWB to use the space at any time. When asked if her school needed anything, she has produced a large “wish list”: sterilizer, centrifuge, scales (for adults and babies), teaching mannequins, a teaching skeleton, a hospital bed and a microscope.
It was quite wonderful to reconnect with the Homeopathe Communitaires: Phadael, Loveline, Linda, Wilby, Eugenie, and of course PG. They also seemed to enjoy re-uniting and had lively conversations.
We started the session with a general discussion and report of their practices. Each one delighted in sharing their successes and there were quite a few! The range of clients treated by them, in the last two months, was from 3 to 50! We discussed their concerns, which mainly centered around licensure from the Ministry of Health. A plan was discussed and made. They reported that the dispensary, which is housed at Loveline’s school, was working well. Three Homeopathe Communitaires are responsible for its welfare. HWB distributed more remedies for the Homeopathes personal kits, replenished dispensary stock and added new dispensary remedies. They also readily gave us a list of therapeutics they wish to learn for the next time.
Marina Braun, frequent volunteer for HWB, gave a talk on Potency and Repetition according to the intensity of the symptoms, creating a standard for all, including visiting volunteers. This was well received. They rest of the morning was filled with discussion about Epidemic Protocol and the various Epidemics: Malaria, Typhoid, Cholera and Dengue Fever. They were given all this material in chart form.
In the afternoon we discussed the therapeutics of Head Pain, Wounds, Burns, Protocol for Surgery (including dental) and the Protocol for Follow-Up Visits. The Homeopathes appreciated the information.
Wilby offered his church and his people for a clinic in La Plaine, a section of Port-au-Prince, and a date and time was set for clinic. The above students, plus Jean Rosier, showed up for clinic. Holly, Lauren, and volunteer Wendy Pollock worked with the Homeopathe Communitaires, supervising them taking cases. There were many families to be seen. A four-year-old child was seen who had been treated recently for Typhoid but was still having fevers, malaise and poor appetite. The Homeopathes chose to give him China 200c to cover Malaria and Typhoid. Another case they took consisted of a 70-year-old woman who had headaches in the sun and hypertension. She was asked about the etiology and revealed that she lost her husband and five children many years ago, but still thinks of them. The Homeopathes chose the correct remedy! Another family of three came to be seen and the three-year-old son was in his mother’s arms, rather listless and clinging to his mama, with the complaint of dry cough for eight days and dark, smelly urine which burned his penis when urinating for the last three days. The Homeopathes consulted with each other and gave him a dose of Phosphorus 200C. By the time his sister’s and mother’s cases were taken, he was up running around and smiling. The students were amazed!
Another woman had fallen through the roof of a TapTap (local bus) onto someone inside, landing on her chest. Since this accident she has had musculoskeletal chest pain and urinary retention.
The Homeopathes chose to give her Arnica 200C and she came back to clinic later and was walking around clearly pain-free, telling everyone how much better she felt!!
I was very proud of our graduates.
It was a good day!!
Lauren Fox FNP-BC, Educator, Homeopaths Without Borders
Homeopaths Without Borders has an inspiring program of education and treatment underway in the large but remote coastal town of Belle Anse, in southeastern Haiti. It’s a stunning location, nestled between 5000-foot peaks and the Caribbean. HWB Executive Director Holly Manoogian has spearheaded this major undertaking, first in Port-au-Prince, and now in Belle Anse.
The journey to reach Belle Anse is itself worth mentioning, to demonstrate the dedication of the intrepid people that work, live or volunteer here. After arriving in Port-au-Prince’s newly remodeled airport, there is a three-hour car ride winding up switchbacks with views of the steep, heavily-eroded barren hillsides over a mountain pass and then descending through several coastal towns to get to the town of Jacmel, then Margot. There, gear, water, food and people are unloaded and reloaded to a open cockpit motor launch for the last 1.5 hours along the turquoise shoreline, southeast to Belle Anse. It’s a town of some 70,000 residents with one rural, government-sponsored medical clinic that is staffed part time, but where medicines that are prescribed are for sale only, so often go unfilled.
The town consists of one main street, set back less than 25 meters from the sea—a street that’s regularly flooded during storms. Pigs, cows, dogs, roosters and donkeys share the street with people and mopeds, with only an occasional vehicle is seen, due to the tortuous overland road that is often washed out. Creole is the language spoken, and volunteers, termed “Blancs,” are greeted warmly at first as “Bonjour, Blanc.” By day two, it’s “Bonjour, Homeopathique”—word spreads fast that HWB is in town with a free clinic at the park.
HWB’s Fundamentals of Homeopathy program is set up in a local restaurant, Le Coin, in downtown Belle Anse. The clinic takes place in the town park’s gazebo, two blocks from the sea, where patients gather at 8 a.m. to take a number. More than 60 numbers go in a few minutes.
PG is a 21-year-old crackerjack teacher: a graduate of HWB’s first Fundamentals class in Port-au-Prince and testimony to the quality of the education HWB offers. He is articulate, empathic, skilled and far more mature than his years. He teaches a rigorous two-day course under the supervision of HWB Educator Lauren Fox, FNP, CCH, followed by two additional days of clinical training. The program is a huge success, with the first of the series of classes in Belle Anse attended by 22 people. This session was a surprise, with 30 students arriving, many with a two- to four-hour walk each way to their home village in the mountains inland from Belle Anse!
After the first four-day session in November 2012, the 22 homeopaths went home and began practice, with each homeopath seeing between 16 and 72 clients in the eight weeks until this second session! We have more people interested in studying than resources to teach them.
Beckert Descollines, a born organizer with the build and swagger of a Haitian cowboy, is on the ground in Belle Anse working tirelessly to spread the word about the school and the benefits of homeopathy. Beckert is also the founder and director of BATF, Belle Anse Timoun Family School, a community center and school for underprivileged children.
Reginal Mede and Roosvilitho Meitre were our translators, both doing excellent work for the first time with HWB.
Clinic for the people of Belle Anse was held for two days while students were in seminar with PG and Lauren Fox, then two more days of public clinic with students taking cases and volunteers supervising.
The ailments we treated included musculoskeletal injuries, headaches and head injury from accidents, many children with coughs and colds, malaria, hypertension, gastritis and ailments resulting from the earthquake. We did see some serious pathology, including dental abscess in the entire mouth of an eight-year-old child, malaria, torticollis for 20 years following auto accident, advanced diabetes and an infant near death after two weeks of vomiting and diarrhea. The students showed remarkable ability to take thorough cases after their second seminar series. The language challenges are major, with translating from Creole to English and back again but, with patience, two homeopaths took 70 cases in two days. During the teaching clinic, four homeopaths and 30 students (divided into four groups) took an additional 80 cases.
Late afternoon was time to take a walk, a dip in the Caribbean or a cold shower. Purifying water and making simple meals on Holly’s MSR camp stove was a daily ritual. Evenings were spent discussing the students’ progress and preparing for the next day’s teaching. When the power came on, everyone plugged in laptops to recharge batteries for the next day.
HWB has a great program underway in Haiti, and it is well worth coming for a stint of volunteer work—every eight weeks a trip is on!
Wendy Pollock, DC, CCH
Here I am, on my second trip to Haiti with Homeopaths “Sans Frontières”—I spiffed up my French to be able to communicate with the Haitian people better. My Creole is basically nonexistent but if you know the words “meci” (thank you) and “enpils” (a lot), you can get pretty far. More on that, later.
We all arrived on the same flight, allowing us to bond early in our adventure. We stayed at a new bed and breakfast in Port-au-Prince, which was far superior to our last experience at Matthew 25. Especially because it is run by Elena, who was one of the main people at Matthew 25. Very welcoming, good food and good beds!
We left the next morning at 7.30 a.m. for Belle Anse. Another night at the bed and breakfast would have been nice, but we get a few more at the end of the trip to look forward to. Jo, our usual driver, drove us through the mountains to Jacmel, where we encountered some kids celebrating Mardi Gras. Having just come back from New Orleans and experienced a very colorful, musical Mardi Gras, this was actually a bit scary. Kids in masks and clothes made out of very dirty rags, often with ropes attached as if they were prisoners, some with few clothes on, beating old pots and making noises. Not attractive whatsoever—I need to find out the meaning of it all. If we looked at them often they would beg for money.
We arrived in Marigot on the Caribbean, where we boarded a boat for a one and a half hour boat ride to Belle Anse. We had the same captain as the last time. Now, don’t imagine a yacht steering us along the coast. This is a motorized wooden boat and you need to hang on when hitting the waves, but the captain really does a great job. For me personally the shock was less intense than the last time. You somehow imagine arriving at this beautiful resort with lots of palm trees but the poverty hits you right when coming off the boat. There is nothing here but shacks and people surviving life.
However, the Fundamentals of Homeopathy program offered by HWB attracted a lot of people. Students came from all different communities, with some walking three hours to get to Belle Anse—they will walk home tonight and back tomorrow for the next class. In the morning there was some confusion going on, but Holly handled it calmly, as usual. She calls it “putting out fires.” At the end of the day, the teaching by PG was successful and it turns out that this is quite inquisitive group, all of whom are very eager to learn.
Wendy (a first time volunteer) and I ran a clinic for children in “La Place,” a sort of Gazebo in the center of town. We were very well tuned in to each other and had a great working relationship with a view of the Caribbean. We saw quite a few infants today with a variety of problems but most children had colds and coughs. It gets quite challenging because often it is not the mother who bring the infant or child and good information is hard to obtain. We keep telling the mothers who come to breastfeed their babies as long as possible because nourishment goes downhill once the children start eating. We had several infants today that were given bonbons (candy) to suck on. Here is where the word “anpils” come in handy because it is used for complaints all the time. It hurts a lot: “Ca fais mal anpils.”
Wendy is an outdoorsy type and knows how to survive in the wilderness. Holly and Wendy came quite equipped with any gadget you can imagine and meals are being whipped up. I feel hopeless and ill-equipped as a city girl but I brought good chocolate!
Finally, the Haitians are really amazing and are true survivors, who do not complain about their lot. It is a great privilege to be able to work with them.
~ Marina Braun
Mountains beyond mountains from Lespinasse, Haiti.
There we were, in a 12-passenger van with at least 16 people on our way to Lespinasse, crawling through Port-au-Prince traffic and breathing in all that lovely carbon dioxide. It did not spoil the fun the now Homeopathes Communautaire, they were very excited and the Creole noise could be heard wide and far.
The road to Lespinasse, Haiti.
When coming close to the village one of of the guys climbed on top of the van announcing that anyone with medical issues to come to the community center, basically the only building in town. Within minutes the benches were filled with patients because there is no medical care around at all.
Eugene and Phaedel selecting a remedy.
It was wonderful to see all the Homeopathes Communautaire at work. There were people of all ages from 8 days old to 80 years old. For me, personally, seeing the patients in Lespinasse reminded me very much of the patients I saw in Tanzania last summer. Hard working people who live a very basic life and do not ask for much. Their suffering however is written on their faces and sometimes the remedy was clear before asking any questions. What a gift to be able to help these people. Karen and I just moved between the group and helped where necessary because there was some serious pathology in which they haven’t been trained.
I will probably say this in every blog post. I am so incredible grateful to work with Holly and Karen who are so devoted to this project and work day and night to better it. Thanks to you both in supporting me here and the opportunity to learn more and more every day.
~ Marina
The red-eye flight from San Francisco to Miami and the short hop to Port-au-Prince are a familiar pattern now—just a blink between my San Francisco life and the jaunty-shirted fellows playing Creole music at the airport, the guest house in our Delmas neighborhood of P-a-P, and the greetings of the students as we gather for class. Our intrepid Dutch-recently-become-U.S.-citizen colleague, Marina Braun, has been working with Jeremy Sherr’s malaria / AIDS clinic in Tanzania, and joined us to introduce the therapeutics she learned there.
Back in the “Biblyotek” library of the school for class, she introduced her malaria lecture in French, without the need for a translator, and it was easy to see how positively the students respond when being spoken to directly. On the second day of class, we had a review of core concepts that was taught by PG, our remarkably capable student / translator. Again the entire dynamic of the classroom changed when the teaching was being done in their language—students increased their participation. All good news as we begin to transition the classroom training program to one with Haitians teaching Haitians, and have our volunteers focusing on clinical training.
HWB translator, PG, Karen and Marina discussing therapeutics for malaria.
A volunteer from last trip, Sheila Muldaur, led an effort over the past six weeks to create a graphic reference document for the Haitian students. Working with other volunteers who have been with us in Haiti, translators, local artists in her Massachusetts hometown, and existing English language documents, she created Haitian man, woman and child graphics that have quick reminders of common complaints and best therapeutic options. Sheila found a printer willing to donate cardstock and printing to provide copies of these for all of the P-a-P and Belle Anse students, and overcame the Hurricane Sandy logistical challenges to get the box of documents to us to bring on this trip. The students LOVED THESE! They send a big thanks to Sheila and the other volunteers who worked hard to create these.
Students in clinic check the Haitian man and woman reference charts as they work with a client.
Clinic was run differently this time. Holly announced that in the five visits we have had in Haiti since this training program began last February, our volunteers and students have seen 748 clients in various locations!! These students have seen many clients now and have more skills to apply in clinic. Some worked in independent teams, bringing in a supervisor if there are questions or they get stuck, but doing much on their own. They had actually held a few clinics on their own between the last visit and our arrival this time. Their skills are still developing, but they have all the tools they need to continue to increase their competencies as they work together, which led us to today’s graduation ceremony for the “homeopathy fundamentals” program. Our students received their certificates and each is now known as “homeopathe communautaire,” a community homeopath to serve in their various communities for acute / trauma, common complaints, epidemic disease and health education.
One of our students, Loveline Renelius, receives her certificate from Holly and Karen.
Loveline is a nurse here in P-a-P. Today, she told about her doubts as she was beginning to study homeopathy with us—and her surprise when she was seeing it work with the people she helped, to the point that she had people coming to her asking to buy the remedies from her. She shared with the group that she had been troubled with an ovarian cyst, which she had been told needed to be removed. During the September training session, she had received a remedy from our homeopath/midwife Lauren Fox for this, and today reported to the group that she had been back to her clinic for followup and the cyst was gone, along with her doubts! Other students told stories. One student ended up in the class because he happened to be in the building that day of the first session, an important coincidence in his life now. Several were very nervous about the student assessment interviews they were required to do with me in September. One thought working with adult clients easier than little children, until he had a case of an elderly woman who was unclear and confused, and Holly reminded him that working with children was not so bad. One student was surprised at the various ways the homeopathics can be used, so different from the conventional medicine that she already practiced at work. One student talked about being a quiet, reserved person who had opened up while taking these classes, and several talked of the friendship of the student group. All thanked us for being there, for returning each time to teach and help them so that they can help themselves and those around them.
Once all the certificates were awarded, each student received a shirt with “Homeopathe Communautaire” embroidered on it.
This project has come so far since I began with it in April. First, a rather unsettling early session where the students said almost nothing, and were uncomfortable asking questions of clients because it seemed impolite or invasive to ask those things. Then, another session where they started talking and had so many questions that I thought it must be different people altogether. That was the point where we figured out there were vision issues for some of them and simple reading glasses needed to be part of our dispensary. We had a discussion about epidemic prophylaxis where you could see from the looks on their faces that they were grasping the potential breadth of what they were learning. We watched their gradually increasing skills in clinic and the greater perception demonstrated by their questions in class. And now they have graduated and the project moves into a new stage of continuing education in P-a-P and the transition of our Haitian graduates teaching the next group in Belle-Anse.
So now the genie is out of the bottle here. Our graduates are still in need of much support and continuing education will be provided: we are working on a five-year plan for them now. But they are not expecting us to do everything for them. They are moving forward on their own as well. For example, there were several questions in the July session about fibroids—a common issue for women here. During the September session, I brought a book (in English) of successful treatment of fibroids using homeopathy with 50 sample cases by an Indian homeopath, Sharad Shangloo, for one of the English speaking students. Now the students have decided to have a conference day on December 5 where they discuss the information and cases in this book, translating the information for the non-English speakers, so that all the students will have therapeutics for fibroids. This is a group of proactive, capable, determined people with a sincere desire to help their fellow Haitians, who want to see homeopathy be widely available in their country.
PG shows students the fibroids book from India, and gives details of the plan for the December 5 “conference” day to teach this material to the group.
It has been a good day here.
~ Karen Allen, CCH
PG explains the concept of maintaining causes and obstacles to cure.
About a year ago my Aunt Holly presented me with the opportunity to go to Haiti. I have been looking forward to this experience for a long time. Leading up to the trip, the days were feeling slow and drowsy; now that we are here the time seems to be flying by! There has already been two days of classes. The classes are fun and interactive. Yesterday the students made a 6c liquid remedy of iodium. They (and I) also learned that you can make a remedy from your own bodily fluids. Those types of remedies are called auto-nosodes. I am only a junior in high school and am not as familiar with homeopathy compared to Holly, Karen and Marina; so sitting in on class has served as a great way to expand my own knowledge of the subject.
It is great to see the students show even more enthusiasm and fascination in class. Once one student asks a question, suddenly other hands shoot up in the air wanting PG to translate for all of them. Being a witness to all of the learning that has taken place these past two days has changed my own view of education. It certainly is not a matter that should be taken for granted. In the future if I begin to fall asleep in class, I now have motivation to keep myself focused; because the curriculum which I am being exposed to, for free, back in New Hampshire is not an advantage that everyone has. These past two classes in Haiti have truly attested to the old saying, “knowledge is power,” and that will always stick with me.
~ Mikael Manoogian
Wilby, Margarth and Eugiene make a 6C remedy by succussion.
It’s the day before election day and the Haitians are glued to their radios. There’s certainly a lot of interest in the U.S presidential election here.
I have many impressions on this first day, being with two amazing homeopaths, Karen and Holly who are making this project work. They have been diligently teaching Haitian students in a very practical way, and about 17 of those students will graduate on Thursday. I am truly honored to witness this event and the students are very excited. Getting a certificate means a lot in this country.
It will be really interesting to see the students in clinic where they will be taking the cases and coming up with remedies.
Going on to day two tomorrow.
~ Marina Braun,CCH RShom(NA), first-time volunteer in Haiti
At 7 a.m. Tuesday we were traveling back from Belle Anse—for six hours each way—on roads that had been damaged more than usual by Tropical Storm Issac. Our remarkable driver was a choir director named Bertrand, sweet natured, who put on his seatbelt. A good sign: caution or self preservation? In Port-au-Prince in the rented stick shift 4×4, he’d seemed to miss the concept of downshifting, or even moving out of third gear once he had arrived there, but soon our limited appreciation of his skills increases vastly as he navigated cratered and washed out roads with what can only be labeled fierce determination. I kept waiting for the point where we’d get out and push, but in the end the only reason why we had to get out was another vehicle.
Not sure if they found the poles or perhaps keep them handy? The usual 20 or so people who ride on top were standing along the side. Unloading the truck (my first thought) seemed not an option. We waited while they broke out the rock in front of the back wheels with a pick axe and finally moved the truck forward enough to get the drivers side front wheel on the ground…
More miles of dust and jarring, iPod on shuffle playing Big Bad Voodoo Daddy singing “Maddest Kind of Love”—what are we doing out here in the middle of this island???? Well, for one, we are enjoying our episode of air conditioning in 90+ heat day and night for a week. More than worth the bumps just for a respite. The heat becomes a constant oppressive presence that makes it hard to think and impossible to sleep—at least for me. And, as Pavarotti sings “Nessun Dorma” on the iPod, we finally come over a ridge and see Belle Anse (“beautiful coast”), which is so well named.
It is a fishing village, and we seem to be the only car in town. Bertrand and our translator Bekert both grew up here and know everyone. Holly and I are an item of interest in this very rural area, a child says “Les Blancs!” (the whites) as we pass and for the first time I felt the color of my skin. We eat lunch at “Le Coin” which apparently has no menu. They order for us, the local “pinkfish” over rice and beans, yummmmmm. Meanwhile, we can see through the open door: a woman is losing a battle of wills with a very stubborn donkey who is NOT moving, and a fellow pulls a loudly grunting pig past.
We walk to the beach and wade in the surf with pants rolled up; soft warm clear aqua colored water on a beach with thousands of small rounded rocks that roll shushing as each wave goes out. So beautiful. Again, I feel the color of my skin which is going to be lobster red if we stay long. We are to stay in a motel for the night, and meet the 26 students who are coming from all over the district the next morning. As we walk up to what is clearly a construction site I have my doubts—it is called “Cocky Hotel Resto & Bar.” Bekert assures me the water works and they turn the electricity on for a few hours in the evenings.
Our rooms are small, painted concrete, with a bed, shower (cold, blessedly), sink and toilet in each, with window screens and doors that lock. Holly and I have planning to do for the next day and tell our escorts thanks and bye—but they return shortly and stay nearby. Bertrand says in his mixed English that we are in his place and he must make sure we are safe. He sleeps in the room next to ours. The electricity comes on about 8:30pm and the fans work!
We retreat inside to escape mosquitos. Holly comes to ask me for help with the shower: she can’t reach the faucet handle which is high up on the shower head beyond her reach. Done with work, it is too hot for sleep. I listen to piano and cello on my headphones while the night passes. Eventually roosters crow us up to breakfast of Haitian coffee with canned evaporated milk, and white bread with a triangular packet of a soft cheese. The tray includes an ice pick: Holly and I learn to pierce the cans of milk. I ask our motel attendant, James, for hot water. He smiles and says “cafe.” We have this conversation a few times, and I show him my packet of Jasmine tea. He smiles again and shows me the coffee. I drink coffee.
Holly, at breakfast, at Cocky Hotel, Haiti.
Holly at the session with the students with Bekert, our diligent translator.
I have been translating our powerpoint presentation into French, which had been our method at the class in Port-au-Prince… Bekert thinks the powerpoint should be in Kreyol for this group, and we hurriedly rework the presentation for the class. As we walk to the meeting room, children wave, and we exchange “Bon jour” with many of the curious. People are already waiting half an hour before class will begin. Several of them have traveled hours to get here. It is hot, the electricity works, the one fan in the room diligently stirring the air. The projector works, so we begin.
I introduce the concepts of homeopathic medicine, describe the nature of the training program and the goals of creating community homeopathic caregivers who will work in their villages for acute and lesional therapeutics, epidemic prophylaxis and health education. We ask the 26 students who have gathered to tell us what the health problems are in their areas: malaria, cholera, typhoid, hypertension, anemia, malnutrition, epilepsy, yellow fever, dengue fever, flu and diarrhea, asthma, coughs, gastritis, vaginal infections and fibroids. They are mostly the same issues we saw in clinics in Port-au-Prince and Lespinasse, but with more epidemic disease. Twenty-four of the attendees decide to enroll in the program, and complete applications. Most speak and read French as well as Kreyol, very few have work, some have volunteer experience, some have medical training. On their enrollment forms, when asked about the health problems Haitian people face, we read again and again: no clinics, no doctors, no medications available in their area. They ask if there will be more classes offered after the initial program, how the medicines will be supplied and resupplied, whether clinics can be opened in their villages. We give out small introductory dispensing kits for each village/area and teach about the use of five remedies for injury/trauma—enough to get the new enrollees started. We let them know the next training session will be taught by one of the strongest Haitian students from the Port-au-Prince class with support from me and Holly. This is a big step to begin having Haitians teach Haitians, a milestone in the program to help Haiti have some self-sufficiency in local health care.
Bekert and Karen, meeting with the attendees from the villages all around Belle Anse.
At lunch break, we meet with the group of midwives (l’femme sages) from the region, which I am surprised to find has two men amongst them. Lauren Fox, one of our stalwart HWB volunteers, is a midwife, nurse and homeopath who has interest in working with the midwives and has given us a list of questions for this meeting. Holly asks how they have been trained. They reply that they started with no knowledge and learned by attending births. They learned from older midwives before them, but they have no training in anatomy, physiology and therapeutics of pregnancy and delivery, and ask earnestly for education. I am struck by how much courage it must take to sit by a laboring woman’s side with no training, no meds, nothing but local tradition and best intentions. Holly asks how they get paid, and they shake heads: none of them is paid at all. Sometimes they do not have the fare for a moto-taxi when they hear a woman in another village is in labor, so they can not go, and they hear later that she has died unattended while trying to give birth. The mortality rates are high. She asks how often they are attending births: each of the group of eight attends eight to ten births per month. The women in that region do not have access to birth control. We ask if they are interested in learning about homeopathy as well as basic education for pregnancy / delivery / post-partum, and they all reply yes. They ask when this training can begin; we let them know that we will begin to plan, and realistically will not be able to start anything with them until 2013, assuring them that we want to help and will begin gathering resources for this. Such a big to-do list. Getting pregnant should not be a death sentence for anyone.
The midwives from the region around Belle Anse.
The dust and jostle of the ride back to Port-au-Prince ends, and Holly and I are caught between the need to have so many planning conversations and being too tired to work anymore. We are heading for the airport early tomorrow morning to return to the worlds we know. We are encouraged by how forthcoming and sincere these people are in their desire to help those around them in need, in the care that they take in their studies, in the opportunity we have to make a real and substantive difference in the daily lives and health of their communities. That assurance, an ice cold drink, and the promise of sleep in the cool interior of an airplane will send us well on our way home.
~ Karen Allen, CCH
Roosters do their daily job and I wake up probably between 4.30 and 5.30 a.m. The first night it was a bit difficult to relax and go to sleep with all the new sounds but by the second day I was getting a good night’s sleep every day. I have bunked with different organizations, mostly from the United States all nights but two. After six days, I have learned the day for me always starts off with a nice cold shower. This helps to brush off the heat of the night’s sleep and feel refreshed and ready for the challenges ahead. Usually if I wake up real early, sometimes 4:30 a.m., and have a shower, Chef, the baby pitbull at the home greets me and wants to play. He is really a nice dog and very protective of all the guests and Home patrons.
We head out to pick up the students at the school/clinic where we have been assisting them the last five days. We pick up seven student homeopaths, our team of four homeopaths and our two drivers; we head up to Lespinasse in a van that is very full. We head out of Delmas and its bumpy, dirt, crevice-filled, most challenging roads and hit paved roads. There is a lot of bumper to bumper traffic—a lot of people of walking around. Each side of the road has a lot of shops. Everyone appears to have a cell phone and is talking to others. I observe a lot of Asian trucks and very little U.S. trucks. I did notice one Ford truck, however. Most are Asian. There were a few Mercedes cars and I saw one BMW, but those were few and far between. Pickup trucks and vans seem to be the most preferred vehicles and the most used. I see a lot of “taptap,” which are taxis but they are basically a pickup truck with two benches on either side on which the locals can sit, ride, pay for a trip further along their destination.
We see some beautiful scenery as we started heading up the mountain to Lespinasse. There are a few parks, benches, swing sets for the kids, here and there. Most of the landscape are filled with shops and homes and street vendors. There are a lot of street vendors, something like downtown Toronto or New York. You can get anything from those vendors from pop, beer, food, to cell phone cards etc.
Lespinasse is at the very top. The paved single lane road continues weaving its way up the mountain. There are a lot of big beautiful homes on the way up the mountain. Some are half finished. The higher we get up the mountain the road up reminded me of Italy. Donkeys and motorcycles are preferred up in the mountains as there are dirt roads, and a lot of rocks on skinny rock strewn roads.
We arrive at our destination for the clinic day after a two-hour ride. In total the Haitian student homeopaths saw about 40 to 50 people. We were split up into groups of four and each homeopath had a few students in the group that would take the case. After they were done taking the case we would add further questions helping the students find the remedy that would assist. Most of the issues were pretty clear and one could find a remedy pretty quickly. One patient even asked me, “Why are you asking so many questions?” as this was not normal for her.
We finished seeing everyone we could and then, around 4 p.m., we headed back down the mountain and got lost once. There were some very steep roads and a few times we had to get out of the van and walk ahead so that the van could climb the mountain.
Once back at Matthew 25 house we were treated to another local soccer game complete with loud music, DJ, and play by play announcers. I watched a bit while I sipped my cold coke and then headed for cold shower.
~ Domenic Stanghini, DiHom
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"I had my first great experience in using Homeopathy remedy. I have a friend who had a motorcycle accident ... In the next day [after remedy] the pain and inflammation were gone and she was able to go to school; that was awesome!
That experience makes me thirsty to learn more about homeopathy! I have my heart set on spreading homeopathy everywhere in Haiti."
~ PG, HWB's Translator in Haiti