education

We fund primary school education, supplement staff salaries, subsidize secondary education, and…

Learn More

clinic

We support a permanent medical clinic, collaborate on a clean water project,…

Learn More

community health

We empower the communities we support to increase their education, health, and…

Learn More

economic development

We provide adult education, resources and local employment to support self-sufficiency.

Learn More

teams

Throughout the year we send medical teams to rural Northern Haiti to…

Learn More

Working Together

Team distributes food and provides medical care

By Dr. Joe and Linda Markee, HFH board members and team leaders:

“We are stronger when we work together.” This was the theme of the week for the recent medical team working in Haiti. (“A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.” Ecc. 4:12)

Some of the beans and rice for distribution following Hurricane Matthew.

Some of the beans and rice for distribution following Hurricane Matthew.

We served in Terre Blanche, both in 2004 and 2008, after devastating hurricanes and floods. This month, we arrived just a week after Hurricane Matthew hit the country.

Although villagers in Terre Blanche did not receive the devastation that they experienced in earlier storms, they did lose all of their crops which the community depends on. This compounded the existing problem caused by a drought that had been going on for more than two years.

With news of Hurricane Matthew’s impending arrival, the Clinic of Hope staff prepared for flooding, cholera, safe areas, and other emergencies. Terre Blanche is thankful that they did not receive the total destruction like the southern areas of Haiti.

So what do you do to help after a hurricane has wiped out the main food source? We asked Pastor Delamy and he immediately responded, “You invest in the students … You increase their nutrition with fish and vegetables and provide an additional breakfast meal for the youngest students.”

img_0861

Young students enjoying spaghetti for breakfast.

So that is what happened. These young kids (about 70) received a spaghetti breakfast (a Haitian favorite). It was a joy to see them wait until all were served, then pray and begin eating.

Thanks to the many generous donors, rice and beans were distributed to about 800 people. Pastor Delamy and the fleet of community health volunteers were able to find the most needy and deliver food. There was much dancing and singing when they opened their doors and found M. Merci Dieu handing them food.

There are many reasons to be thankful that we were in Haiti at this time. One reason was a 10-day-old baby girl who was brought to the clinic because she had not opened her eyes. She had a severe eye infection from birth. With treatment and many prayers, her sight was saved.

Another mother came to the clinic with her hydrocephalic child. When her husband realized the condition of his child, he had kicked the mother and both children out of the home. She was left without resources. Fortunately, a staff member at the clinic was able to assist the family.

Thank you for your continued support.

education

We fund primary school education, supplement staff salaries, subsidize secondary education, and…

Learn More

clinic

We support a permanent medical clinic, collaborate on a clean water project,…

Learn More

community health

We empower the communities we support to increase their education, health, and…

Learn More

economic development

We provide adult education, resources and local employment to support self-sufficiency.

Learn More

teams

Throughout the year we send medical teams to rural Northern Haiti to…

Learn More

Things happening in Haiti

Sixth Annual Medical Conference Held

Written by Dr. Joe and Linda Markee, HFH team leaders:

2016 Winter Team ReportWe’ve heard it said by former team members that Terre Blanche does not look the same as on previous trips. We can say the same for 2016. Thanks to all the support to upgrade the cafeteria, the Haiti Foundation of Hope campus is much different.

This month, we plan to feed 250 students at one time, compared to the present 45 students who eat in shifts. We want to say thank you to our favorite architect, Mr. Previl, who has put his mark of quality on the new cafeteria, as he has on all the numerous buildings of the campus.

Other highlights from teams this year:

Our sixth medical conference was held in February and attended by more than 120 Haitian health professionals from northern rural Haiti and Port-au-Prince. In addition to team presentations, we were honored by a presentation from Dr. Jack Guy Lafontant, President of the Port-au-Prince Medical Society.

In March, Dr. Buck Hoyle and his wife, Molly, along with other team members, held an eye clinic. These are the leaders of the only HFH ophthalmology team that has come to Terre Blanche. What a blessing this eye team was to these underserved people.

2016 Winter Team Report3Multiple teams combined their efforts to care for one of our favorite patients, Bienca. She was a severely malnourished 2-week-old infant when she first came to the clinic. Nurses from both the February and March teams worked tirelessly around the clock. There was much LOVE, GRIEF, PRAYER and finally JOY, when on our last clinic day, Bienca finally broke through the 4 pound barrier. Many people gave high-fives, including Bienca’s mother.

Outside the clinic, team members have been providing English lessons to students at the secondary school.

While the February and March teams were in Terre Blanche, we cared for more than 1,500 patients, performed more than 30 surgeries, and shared Jesus Christ with many people, not only during church services but also in the clinic. Additionally more than 5,500 pounds of rice and 1,200 pounds beans were distributed to many needy people.

Thank you again for your prayers. One last bit of good news… it is raining in Terre Blanche! High in the mountains it is raining, the land is turning green and the rivers are filling with water.

Please continue to pray that the rain will nourish the land, the crops will grow, and people will see this as God’s loving provision for them.

We are headed to Haiti again with our June team members. More stories to come…

education

We fund primary school education, supplement staff salaries, subsidize secondary education, and…

Learn More

clinic

We support a permanent medical clinic, collaborate on a clean water project,…

Learn More

community health

We empower the communities we support to increase their education, health, and…

Learn More

economic development

We provide adult education, resources and local employment to support self-sufficiency.

Learn More

teams

Throughout the year we send medical teams to rural Northern Haiti to…

Learn More

Failing Crops

We recently learned that about 80 percent of the farm crops have failed in Anse Rouge, a rural community where we work in northern Haiti. This is due to drought conditions. Anse Rouge, along with Terre Blanche and other nearby communities, constantly struggle with drought and flooding, both of which destroy gardens planted by local subsistence farmers.

When crops fail, the daily struggle for food becomes critical. We are fortunate that so many of you give to the school in Terre Blanche, where each student receives a healthy lunch. Through your financial support, we are also able to provide beans and rice to the individuals and families in the communities who are most in need.

We have two volunteer medical teams traveling to Haiti in February and March. They will have the opportunity to distribute additional beans and rice as there will be more team members, both Haitians and Americans, working in the communities. You can be part of the team from your own home or office. Consider giving a financial donation so that teams will have more funds and be able to purchase more food to be distributed. These teams know that without food, medicine will not be enough. And while we can’t all treat illnesses, we can all share a meal.

Give Now.

education

We fund primary school education, supplement staff salaries, subsidize secondary education, and…

Learn More

clinic

We support a permanent medical clinic, collaborate on a clean water project,…

Learn More

community health

We empower the communities we support to increase their education, health, and…

Learn More

economic development

We provide adult education, resources and local employment to support self-sufficiency.

Learn More

teams

Throughout the year we send medical teams to rural Northern Haiti to…

Learn More

A Newbie Shares Her Experiences

From Jo's blog...

One of our volunteer teams is currently in Haiti, working alongside Haitian staff at the Clinic of Hope. Jo, an ultrasound technician, is a self-labeled newbie to Haiti Foundation of Hope but she is already making a lasting impression, both on people in Haiti and back home in the States. She’s been blogging about her experiences in Haiti at Monkey Brain Musings. Here’s some of what she writes:

Tuesday night… In true Monkey Brain fashion, I woke up at 3am this morning, with lesson plans and training ideas bouncing around in my head! I refused to get out of bed that early, so I spent the next 3 hours going over ideas and napping, until the rest of the crew began to stir.

These people are so grateful for our care…remember that many of them travel for days to get here, and sleep on a concrete floor to be seen the following day. I am repeatedly being scolded for attempting to scan through lunch and into the evening. It’s so easy for me to lose track of time when I’m working. I’ve seen so much fascinating pathology that I feel like I am in an immersion program! Tonight was one of two nights that I gave a didactic lecture to the Haitian and HFH medical personnel, and my Monkey Brain paid off., the lecture went well. I received some wonderful feedback from my team and in spite of their exhaustion, the Haitian professionals seemed satisfied as well. For such a long, exhausting day, I feel so utterly happy about the day. This trip has been everything I had hoped and dreamed it would be for me. From the joy of scanning a healthy baby to the heartbreak of diagnosing terminal cancer, this trip has been one of the most gratifying experiences of my life.

Read more of Jo’s writings.

education

We fund primary school education, supplement staff salaries, subsidize secondary education, and…

Learn More

clinic

We support a permanent medical clinic, collaborate on a clean water project,…

Learn More

community health

We empower the communities we support to increase their education, health, and…

Learn More

economic development

We provide adult education, resources and local employment to support self-sufficiency.

Learn More

teams

Throughout the year we send medical teams to rural Northern Haiti to…

Learn More

The Joy of Sight

A woman has her bandages removed the day after surgery and is thankful to see again.

The March medical team working at the Clinic of Hope in Terre Blanche included an eye clinic. The medical team was joined by a five-person Haitian eye team with Medical Ministry International which performed 12 cataract surgeries all in one day.

For people suffering the loss of
vision due to cataracts, the chance to regain sight is life changing. After removing bandages the day after surgery, one woman could not stop expressing her gratitude.

In addition to distributing reading glasses and treating glaucoma and eye injuries, Dr. Buck Hoyle, an ophthalmologist from Colorado, and other members of the medical team screened patients for cataract surgery. The surgeries were a success, including surgery for an 11-year-old girl.

Staff at the Clinic of Hope continue to coordinate follow-up visits with the Haitian ophthalmologist for the patients, who are all doing well.

What an exciting time at the Clinic of Hope. Thank you for all you do to support this work.

Dr. Buck Hoyle does a pre-surgery evaluation on a patient.

education

We fund primary school education, supplement staff salaries, subsidize secondary education, and…

Learn More

clinic

We support a permanent medical clinic, collaborate on a clean water project,…

Learn More

community health

We empower the communities we support to increase their education, health, and…

Learn More

economic development

We provide adult education, resources and local employment to support self-sufficiency.

Learn More

teams

Throughout the year we send medical teams to rural Northern Haiti to…

Learn More

Haiti Debriefed

Written by Donna Vander Griend, February 2014 team member:

So, God…how was your trip to Haiti?  We want to give You debriefing time so You can express your thoughts in short sound bytes for the folks back home.  And we, your HFH team members, just think maybe a little talking might be good therapy for You.  We are all in this together, Ya know?

“Yes. I do know!  You literally have no idea how omniscient I am.  And omnipresent.  First of all, I scheduled Myself to be in Haiti long before you, then simultaneously came on your trip with each of you and all of you. Oh, and I stayed with your families at home as well.  And held the whole world in my hands while Seto told you from the rooftop of the clinic about my galaxies in the universe.

Just to remind you (because I love authoring this part of the story) … I was the One who prepared each of you long before the foundations of the earth to do this specific trip to Haiti.  Did you like the combination of characters I threw together? I mean, what would you have done without Harold’s heart for kids or Barb’s dry humor, without Linda’s detail work and Joe’s crooked smile, without Annie’s empathy and Nick’s French?  Not to mention the years of preparation I put into each of your résumés so that there was enough expertise to help each Haitian patient and even those on your team who had diarrhea days.

And how about that Haitian medical team and those translators?  I took you to new depths of appreciation by adding Elvire and Delamy to the drama … sometimes you Americans need a dose of awe for the others I have placed on this planet. The people I had in place to pray for you and the inexplicable ways I answered each request will remain my delicious little secret.  Your minds boggle with infinitesimal numbers anyway.

Speaking of Haitian patients, I know that most days you were so focused on them you may have forgotten how they came.  I was the One who motivated each of them to walk those miles over boulder strewn paths, to ride out the discomfort on their rickety Honda 50s, to carry their so-very-immobilized elderly and the burden of their malnourished babies.  I motivated them through pain and their need for love.  And I put you there to receive them.

I do want to say that I delighted in how each of you received each of them.  I smiled at the ways you treated your Haitian brothers and sisters both medically and humanly.  I do want to gently remind you, however, that you are a bit limited, humanly speaking (which I usually don’t do), without the divine Love in you.  I like including mystery in My story: Jesus in you.  Don’t try to figure it out; simply enjoy it like Haitian breezes on a balmy February night.”

education

We fund primary school education, supplement staff salaries, subsidize secondary education, and…

Learn More

clinic

We support a permanent medical clinic, collaborate on a clean water project,…

Learn More

community health

We empower the communities we support to increase their education, health, and…

Learn More

economic development

We provide adult education, resources and local employment to support self-sufficiency.

Learn More

teams

Throughout the year we send medical teams to rural Northern Haiti to…

Learn More

The Bride Rode a Donkey

The February medical team had a successful trip to Haiti. Both American and Haitian team members were busy. They hosted a medical conference attended by more than 60 Haitian medical professionals, held a week-long clinic for hundreds of patients, and gave out 106 pairs of reading glasses.

To top it all off, two longtime medical team volunteers from Oregon, Levi Cole and Janan Markee, were married at the church in Terre Blanche. The wedding was a huge celebration for the whole community with more than 800 guests in attendance. The bride and groom rode donkeys from the church to the reception. Janan’s parents, Joe and Linda Markee, both board members for Haiti Foundation of Hope, were also honored during the ceremony as they celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary.

Congratulations to Joe and Linda, and Levi and Janan.

education

We fund primary school education, supplement staff salaries, subsidize secondary education, and…

Learn More

clinic

We support a permanent medical clinic, collaborate on a clean water project,…

Learn More

community health

We empower the communities we support to increase their education, health, and…

Learn More

economic development

We provide adult education, resources and local employment to support self-sufficiency.

Learn More

teams

Throughout the year we send medical teams to rural Northern Haiti to…

Learn More

Sound Bites

LIFE-CHANGING TEN DAYS

Terre Blanche is the most beautiful place I have ever been. Every morning I woke up and drank my cup of coffee on the roof and watched the sun rise up over the mountains and in the background I heard our patients singing Haitian songs while they waited for the clinic to open. It was priceless.

I wish I had the words to describe how amazing this trip was. It was the most amazing/tiring/meaningful/challenging/life-changing ten days of my life. We saw over 1,070 patients in five and half days.

Chryssa Meeker, June 2013 team member

Read more Sound Bites from other past team members working in Haiti.

education

We fund primary school education, supplement staff salaries, subsidize secondary education, and…

Learn More

clinic

We support a permanent medical clinic, collaborate on a clean water project,…

Learn More

community health

We empower the communities we support to increase their education, health, and…

Learn More

economic development

We provide adult education, resources and local employment to support self-sufficiency.

Learn More

teams

Throughout the year we send medical teams to rural Northern Haiti to…

Learn More

Providing Hope and Life

The Haiti Foundation of Hope summer team is now back in the United States after preparing medications for over 1,100 patients, many of whom were extremely ill. The team members came from across the country.

Life, even in the face of death

Anelson, a 17-month-old weighing only 10 pounds, was brought in to the clinic by his distraught mother. He was close to death, unresponsive, dehydrated, and very limp. Thanks to the skills of a team doctor and nurses and other diligent team members, he slowly but definitely improved. They literally brought him back from the brink of certain death – but not without a huge amount of effort.

Anelson, his mother, and Nurse Sarah.

After several intensive days of treatment in our clinic observation room, we all experienced one of our week’s amazing moments. While we were assisting a clinic doctor with the delivery of a stillborn infant, we suddenly heard a loud cry near Anelson. It was the first time he was strong enough to cry! As we were delivering the stillborn infant, we took this cry as encouragement that Anelson would survive. This was truly life in the face of death. Such is the story of Haiti.

Blessings

At our final team sharing, one of the doctors shared a wonderful moment that was almost missed. When he had finished examining and writing prescriptions for a patient, he said, “Bon Dye bené ou” (may the Lord bless you). The patient turned to the translator and solemnly said, “The doctor’s blessing he just gave me is more important than the medicines.”

We did not cure everyone we saw, but this team excelled in providing a very important part of health care to the patients that were seen. They gave HOPE.

Outside of clinic

Fortunately this team saw lush green fields with healthy crops. This is particularly a joy since it follows a year of drought and loss of crops. Please pray the rain continues and these crops grow to maturity and produce the greatly needed food for these villages.

Written by team leaders, Dr. Joe and Linda Markee.

education

We fund primary school education, supplement staff salaries, subsidize secondary education, and…

Learn More

clinic

We support a permanent medical clinic, collaborate on a clean water project,…

Learn More

community health

We empower the communities we support to increase their education, health, and…

Learn More

economic development

We provide adult education, resources and local employment to support self-sufficiency.

Learn More

teams

Throughout the year we send medical teams to rural Northern Haiti to…

Learn More

Sound Bites from the Team

What’s it like traveling to Haiti with a volunteer medical team? Here’s how one team member described her trip in “sound bites.”

1. It was so good and so much harder than I thought it would be.

2. I felt a deep sense of purpose and autonomy.

3. My biggest fear going into the trip was connecting with the team, and my biggest joy in coming out of the trip was connecting with the team.

4. We were so well loved by the Haitians who cared for us in the clinic.

– Anna Balcom, February 2013 team member

Instagram Feed
More Photos