Haiti Mission

report by Sara Dail.

On March 20, 2010, ten individuals landed in Port-au-Prince to serve the wonderful people of Cite Soleil and the surrounding areas, suburbs of Port au Prince. Four doctors were on this team – Dr. Robert Majors, Dr. Lee Blackburn, Dr. Martin van Cleeff, and Dr. Richard Michal. Two nurses were involved – Ms. Gloria Peterson who works with Dr. van Cleeff and Ms. Betty Michal who is the wife of Dr. Michal. Ms. Brittany Montgomery, a second year medical school student from Iowa and Mr. Harris Wexler, a newly accepted medical school student for next year also worked with the team. Philip Dail and Randy Wiersma were team leaders.

Back row, left to right: Randy Wiersma, Martin van Cleeff, Lee Blackburn and Bob Majors. .Second row, left to right: Pastor Leon Dorleans, Betty Michal, Richard Michal, Britanny Montgomery, Philip Dail and Harris Wexler. Front: Gloria Peterson

Pastor Leon Dorleans of Haiti Outreach Ministries has an amazing presence in Port-au-Prince. He’s built 4 community centers, yet can be easily described as a powerful and yet humble man, loving and yet firm, visionary and yet completely aware of each day’s needs.

The community centers are located in Blanchard, Cite Soleil, Repatriate, and Ibo Beach. Plans are in place for a fifth center at Bon Repose. At this point, the centers at Blanchard and Cite Soleil are operational. Blanchard was virtually undamaged in the earthquake whereas Cite Soleil and Repatriate sustained a lot of damage. The church at Repatriate was totally destroyed. These areas are classified as the poorest slums in the Western Hemisphere, but poverty is not in the hearts and spirits of the people. The living conditions are difficult, but the people are amazing, warm, friendly, determined and some of the most optimistic people you will find.

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Our accommodations were better than we expected. We were fortunate to have excellent showers and bathroom facilities just outside our sleeping areas. The food was remarkable. Cooked over open flame, we were treated to some of the best grilled fare, fresh vegetables, rice, beans and more. Having eaten the local cuisine of many countries, this is as good as it gets.

We held clinic at Cite Soleil. The original clinic had sustained serious damage requiring us to set up operations outside. During our 4 days there, we documented serving 680 patients not including returns for follow up. We completed a patient ‘chart’ on each individual and saw people dealing with post-disaster trauma such as depression, sleep problems and a host of common health issues.

The range of patient conditions was extensive. Seriously ill individuals were sent directly to local hospitals. We suspected typhoid in one young man. A small baby with severe pneumonia was listless. Others came with less life threatening conditions, but nonetheless serious needs. There are estimated to be fewer than 700 physicians in Haiti, a ratio of 1 physician for every 15,000 citizens compared to 1 physician per 650 Americans. We provided everything free including all medications.

Your donations made this possible. Already plans are being made for a dental team to go as well as the return of a medical team at some point. We will keep you posted.