Updates from Haiti – Spring 2024
PID’s Haiti Medical Clinic Staff
Partners In Development has been active and working in Port au Prince, Haiti since 1990. Through the ups and downs of the political climate, earthquake and all the other consistent challenges Haiti has faced, we've stayed active on the ground.
This has remained true through the current unrest in Haiti in the Spring of 2024. Please read on to learn about the challenges we're facing at the moment as well as what we're doing to tackle them and the ways you can help.
Current Major Challenges
Due to the unrest, many of the local healthcare facilities have closed down leaving our clinic as the only option for many of the people in the area in search of healthcare. The increased demand on our clinic has been extreme.
As we're not currently able to bring teams to Haiti, we're also not able to bring donated medicine from our home base in Massachusetts. Instead, we must buy medicine locally in Haiti, which is far more expensive at the moment, due to the conflict.
Donors are concerned that the kids in our Haiti Child Sponsorship Program aren’t being reached. It’s an understandable worry, that the kids aren’t able to receive the aid being provided, but thankfully, our program is up and running as always!
Ways We’ve Adapted Our Programs
To make sure our clinic is able to stay open even when there’s violence in the area, doctors stay overnight at our facility to be able to avoid traveling to and from their homes on unsafe roads.
We no longer require sponsored children to check in at our clinic on the 1st of each month. We allow them to instead come staggered throughout the month, when it's safe for them to do so. Or for just a parent to check in, if it feels too unsafe to travel with the child.
We are continuing to pay tuition for kids' schooling, even though there are days where the violence nearby the school causes classes to be canceled. We want to ensure their enrollment status is not in question so that they can attend school on the days when it is open. This support also provides them with free medical care and other emergency services if needed.
If a family with a child in the sponsorship program moves out of the city to escape the violence and the child is then withdrawn from our program, that child's sponsor is notified right away. If you haven't been notified by us, this means that the child you're sponsoring is still showing up to the clinic and still receiving assistance from PID. If you have questions regarding your sponsorship, please reach out to us directly at tali@pidonline.org.
How Can You Help?
Make a donation today!
We are in severe need of extra funds to be able to buy medicine, supplies and keep our clinic running.Spread the word that our work continues in Haiti. Please feel free to share this news update with friends and family!
