Help fund Klinik Jubile

Not to toot our own horn, but I think that Klinik Jubilee is a pretty fantastic place.

 

Our current staff consists of 6 Haitians. Our RN Wisline sees patients 4 days a week and is so compassionate that one of the teenage moms who graduated from our prenatal program named Wisline the godmother of her baby boy.

 

Samuela and JB are graduates of the nursing assistant course that Martha started and I inherited. They also work all week in clinic and have never said no to any assignment we've given them. They are the first people you see when you walk into clinic and you can't help but grin when you see how cheerful they are.

 

 

We sent our former nurse, Vesline, to another city in Haiti to participate in a year-long midwife training course. She is back in Gonaives now part-time, helping with our prenatal program and training local midwives with her new expertise.

 

Valmy and Oscar, also graduates from the nursing assistant class, do our weekend visits to the elderly and handicapped children. I love watching them stoop down to their patients' level - something no typical Haitian would willingly condescend to do.

 

 

This week, the hospital in the neighborhood of Raboteau is on strike, not receiving any patients. It is one of two hospitals in this city of approximately 400,000. Our clinic may be small, but we see anywhere from 150-200 patients a week in our general, prenatal, malnutrition, blood pressure, and vision programs. Not to mention all the after-hours visits when our staff comes in, without getting paid, to stitch someone up or to put bandages on a burned infant.

 

 

We are struggling to raise the funds that we need this year to keep our staff paid and our clinic stocked. Last year, our budget was $12,000. This year, with staff raises and expanded services including more lab tests, infant formula, and specialized medications, we expect to need closer to $20,000. If you are looking for a cause to support regularly or would like to make a one-time gift to help us out, please go to muchministries.org and donate through PayPal. Make sure to note "Clinic" in the Comments box! Or you can mail a check made out to Much Ministries, memo "Clinic", to PO Box 24599 St. Simons Island, GA, 31522.

Haiti

When I walked into clinic today, I saw a handwritten sign on the wall. It read, "Welcome, Miss Keziah! Jubilee is so happy that you're back!" None of my staff would admit to writing it, but their huge smiles confessed louder than words.

 

Haiti. Home.

 

It's the heat and the exhaustion - I forgot a little about the heat and the exhaustion - but it's also the hugs and the squeals of delight. I think I forgot about those too.

 

Haiti. Home.

 

It's good to be here.