Graduation

The 15 graduates in their opening song.

It’s rainy and cool today. Almost pants weather!

Dr. Stephen Eads, MFH Co-Director, says a few words. 

We had a great weekend with graduation for the Class of 2013. The 15 students had the week off preparing for the event. We had rehearsal Wednesday, Thursday, and then Friday, with decorations on Saturday. Because I was participating in one of the dances, Haiti Cherie, I had to attend all of the practices. The students had prepared at least five songs, a couple of skits, and two dances. They have been practicing for weeks!

The final touches came on Saturday, when we cleaned and set-up a local school’s auditorium for the program and catered dinner. White and gold balloons and ribbons were hung, curtains were put on the stage, and cloths were laid out on the tables, enough for 40-50 people. Graduations in Haiti, just like in the U.S., are a big deal. As they should be, I think, considering all of the time and efforts that students and teachers alike put into the 11-month MFH course - big congratulations to all of them!

Dr. Laguerre, Medical Director of St. Thérèse

I won’t embarrass myself putting up a video of the traditional folk dance we performed, but you can listen to the song at Haiti Cherie.

These past two days haven’t been any less busy than those leading up to graduation. I had six additional Americans in the house last week, along with another group of five staying at the orphanage that arrived just before the graduation. Lots of people coming and going, so it’s part of my job to make sure everyone gets to where they need to be as smoothly as possible.

Steve presenting a gift to some of our preceptors.

One of the students, Flaure, giving a speech.

I have been able, however, to join Jenna Schmitz, the CPM coordinating the matron program for MFH, on a few interviews in the area. She wanted to get feedback from local mothers on their birth experiences at home with matrons. So, we packed the recorder and some sunscreen before heading out to do some home visits. Most women were very open and had lots of interesting things to share. For instance, I learned that though some of the women lived nearby the hospital, they chose to have their baby at home because they knew they had “kout pye,” or “short labor.” The literal meaning of the phrase translates to “short feet.” Not wanting to risk giving birth en route was definitely a good enough reason not to go to the hospital. Another was that the women just felt more comfortable being at home. Besides, most had other children and had to look after them.

Shirley, myself, Jenna, and Mirline

More to share later! 

Class of 2013

I’ve lost track of time! I almost missed last week’s update!

We are currently underway with holding 37 interviews for prospective midwifery students. Last week, we held a 25-question exam covering basic nursing skills and situational awareness for 81 applicants. Though most live in Hinche, we had some applicants that came all the way from Port-au-Prince just to take an hour exam. Because of the lack of internet access in Haiti, we primarily relied on word-of-mouth to announce the Class of 2013 registration. For now at least, it seems to be working.

So, we are in our second day of holding interviews. Just based on scores, we were able to eliminate quite a few people, but not enough to fill only 15 spaces. We have to take into account whether or not the applicants will have a job after our program. Referrals are important, therefore, as we still have graduates that are without work.

Let’s see, what else? We are preparing our 20-week birth assistant program ready for another group of matrons in the community of Rivage. We have already been seeing results from the previous class – matrons are accompanying women to the hospital when complications come up. MFH is so excited to have this new addition.

If anyone is interested in reading about Haiti, its history, and/or culture, I have some great recommendations for you. I just finished Travesty in Haiti by Dr. Tim Schwartz (http://www.travestyinhaiti.com/). It’s an account of the missions in Haiti that contributed to the extreme poverty during the 90’s and early 00’s. Unfortunately, good intentions don’t always lead to good results.

Stay tuned – Graduation for the Class of 2012 is this weekend! Pictures to follow. 

Stop the Jeep!

The Jeep literally was a "mobile clinic" at Los Palais.

After seeing 46 patients at mobile clinic yesterday, we were all ready to head home. We got word though that a woman was having trouble in labor. We drove straight to her home and had her laid out in the Jeep to take her to the hospital. Along the way, we stopped once to do a quick check. No head yet! But a few minutes later, Marie-Ange, one of the midwives, yelled for the Jeep to stop. As we came to a halt, I could already hear the baby crying. He came out all on his own! Luckily, the midwives had everything they needed for the birth beforehand, so everything went smoothly. Pictures to prove it!

I am handing Philemon a clean cloth diaper for the baby.

I had a good last week with another successful group. We all took a trip out to where MFH first started – about a 15 minute drive to a little nunnery. We saw their first classroom, a dirt clearing under a tree, and the house where the volunteers stayed those first months. It’s amazing how far the program has come! All in good time.

Baby en route!

We would not have been able to make that trip if we hadn’t cancelled our meeting in Port-au-Prince. I think I mentioned this before, but MFH is vying for national accreditation and approval from the Haitian Department of Health (MSPP). We found out last minute that the MSPP Director and other administrators all wanted to be present at our meeting, and so we decided to call the whole the whole thing off and reschedule. We are hoping to have a good turnout next time around!

To finish off the week, I went on a bike ride with my friends Brother Michael and Brother Bill, who help run Maison Fortune Orphanage. We rode and we rode looking for a school that Brother Mike wanted to see. Though we never made it there, we biked through beautiful scenery (most of the way was up) and even happened upon a World Vision construction site. What looked like an athletic center with land cleared for fields, we asked the security guards what was planned for the enormous building. They could not give us a definitive answer. It looked so out of place in an extremely rural and poor landscape. Out of all the things that World Vision, or anyone for that matter, could build, how could this make sense when people didn’t have clean water or proper housing? Unfortunately for Haiti, these sites are no surprise.