Gratefulness and collaboration are two words that describe our recent fall medical team.
We are grateful for family and friends who provide support and pray while the team is in Terre Blanche. Grateful for safe travels. Grateful for the Haitian staff that we work with at the Clinic of Hope. Grateful for the collaboration we experience. And grateful for the patients who trust the clinic staff with their care and treatment.
Collaboration on a medical team is essential. We had a very large team and couldn’t accomplish our goals without one another.
The Clinic of Hope continues to grow. The new tuberculosis treatment center will open soon. And the HIV treatment program has a new leader: Dr. Katiana. We are thankful that testing and treatment for both of these diseases will be available in Terre Blanche.
Another wonderful time of collaboration for our teams is the evening teaching sessions for team members and clinic staff. The sessions are led by American and Haitian medical professionals and teach and refresh others on various medical topics.
During the day we saw many patients. We are grateful to the patients and their families who put their trust in us. One of the first patients who came to the clinic while the team was there was carried by her family on a stretcher. She was treated throughout the week and was able to return home when the team left.
We saw many other things to be grateful for:
- Watching nearly 1,000 students lined up for morning prayers and flag-raising. This was a tremendous sight, especially since prior generations had no school opportunities in Terre Blanche.
- The Ti-Foyer program – part of the Community Health outreach – has expanded. Teenage girls are now helping to teach healthy habits to younger children.
- The collaboration between two American pastors and three Haitian pastors was a rich experience for all!
- Celebrating Elvire Bazilme’s birthday was great fun! Elvire is the loving and faithful hostess behind all our teams.
We remain grateful to the Lord that we were able to go and serve together with our Haitian partners!
by Linda and Dr. Joe Markee, HFH board members