March 20, 2024

Dear Lamp supporters,

This is the second in a series of updates on the crisis in Haiti.

Unfortunately, the security situation in Port-au-Prince continues to deteriorate.  Gang activities have greatly increased in the wealthier area of the city, known as Petionville.  There is a strong police presence at the international airport but gangs have not withdrawn and continue to surround the area.  Areas close to Lamp’s service centers are becoming the targets of more activity.  

Unfortunately the rest of the country is also facing a crisis, namely a food security crisis.  All goods coming into the country via the ports, airports, and land routes are now subject to gang control, and many traders are simply waiting for security to return.  In previous times, perhaps 50% of foodstuffs were imported from the Dominican Republic but significant problems at the border have greatly impacted this trade.  In September 2023, the DR government closed the border due to a political dispute (involving use of the river — that comprises the physical border — for irrigation).  Over time, some trade resumed but there are now fears that the border will again be sealed completely.  The DR has greatly increased its military presence at the border crossings due to security concerns.  Even now, the amount of goods coming over the border is a tiny proportion of its previous level. 

At Lamp, we continue to prepare for the day when we can re-open both of our service locations.  We are taking the time to update our electronic medical record system and to review each aspect of our programming.  Dr. Metellus, our In-Country Medical Director, writes: “Despite the security situation we are not idle because we continue to develop our plans in order to provide a high standard of health care to this poor population left to its own devices and facing a disastrous health situation.  Also, we continue to improve our patient registration system to be able to optimize our patient-centered care.  We continue to hope for a rapid resolution of this situation in order to continue serving this population, thirsty for health care.  Haiti will not perish!!”

I will just add, because many have asked, a word about our staff.  As late as two weeks ago, our service location at Haiti Communitere was open and functioning.  Most of our staff were able to leave their homes and travel to work.  But each day, some of them experienced difficulties.  Some of these difficulties were extreme.  Salita, one of our Community Health Workers, had her (tiny) home burned and belongings taken.  Benoit, our Program Manager, was forced to move, as the area he lived in became the center of a gang conflict.  Others have been threatened and robbed.  We are very relieved to say, however, that none has been hurt.  We hope, fervently, that this will remain the case until the end of this crisis.    

In closing, please do consider a donation – either now or when we launch our Spring Appeal in April – because we are determined to mount as vigorous a response as we can to this disaster.  And a crisis like this does not make expenses less.  For example, for more than a year now we have been unable to get donated medicines into the country due to the security situation.  We have, somewhat amazingly, been able to purchase medicines in-country, but those are also much more expensive than in the past.  The need for our services is exponentially bigger than before – we must push forward!

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Haiti Crisis – Update 3-13-2024

Dear Lamp supporters,

It is clear that Haiti is in serious crisis.  Current media reports on Haiti are frightening and bewildering.  Many of you have asked how Lamp is faring in the midst of this upheaval.  As supporters of Lamp’s mission to provide care for the vulnerable, you have shown your concern, in a very concrete way, for those who bear the brunt of each crisis as it arrives.  You have been a positive part of Haiti’s recent history and we want to keep you abreast of Lamp’s efforts.  We would like, therefore, to initiate a weekly “news” post while this crisis persists.  Each Wednesday we will update you on the general situation, the specific issues that Lamp is facing, and the efforts that Lamp is making to counter the deadly effects of the current period. 

We prefer not to show scenes of street violence, but we also do not want to sugarcoat a terrible situation.  We will continue to reduce suffering wherever possible; we will protect our assets and our staff; we will prepare ourselves to be ever more effective when the situation allows.  We know that we are part of the long-term solution and take this responsibility very seriously.

One reason for this weekly update is that things are constantly changing in Port-au-Prince.  Last week, gangs took control of the area surrounding the international airport with the result that the acting Prime Minister, Ariel Henry, was not able to return to Haiti after his visit to Kenya.  The Lamp office/depot and both of our service sites (at Bwa Nef, and Clercine) are close to the airport, so that this gang activity affected us very directly.  At Clercine, we rent space at a partner called Haiti Communitere, which has, very reasonably, decided to close the location until the gang presence in the neighborhood diminishes. 

Ariel Henry has now resigned.  The government of the United States has always had an outsized influence on Haitian politics and when it finally withdrew its support for Henry, the result was immediate.  However, it is not clear who can take up the reins of government.  The US continues to push for a multi-national military intervention, and has provided significant funds for this force.  It is unclear what the effects of such an intervention would be.  A transitional government is needed to allow for elections to take place but the situation in the capital is not conducive to free and fair elections.  The future continues to look very murky.  We will keep you updated!

In friendship,

Jim, Henry, Kelli

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Women’s Day and Update – March 8, 2024

Dear friends-  

You have no doubt heard the news coming out of Haiti in this past week about the greatly heightened level of insecurity especially in and around the capital of Port-au-Prince.  

Airports are closed, the main shipping port is closed, and the country is in a state of emergency for another month. The Haitian Prime Minister, Ariel Henry, is reported to be unable to return safely to the country as local gangs coalesce in calling for his resignation.  

Locally, even very basic movement around the capital is risky. Up until 2 days ago we were able to transport our staff to our second site. Yesterday and today, that has not been possible, due to dangers inherent in just driving on the streets.  

Our staff is safe. Both our main Lamp for Haiti Health Center in Cite Soleil, as well as our ancillary second site, are intact. We are glad to report that news.  

Today we mark the “International Day of Women”. At Lamp, today especially, we stand with our sisters and our brothers in Haiti who are enduring yet another extremely difficult period. We at Lamp remain grateful for your continued friendship and involvement in this important work.  

We will continue to keep you posted as best we can.  

In solidarity,

Jim, Henry, and Kelli

jimWomen’s Day and Update – March 8, 2024
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Partnership

This year, we continue to reflect on the importance of Lamp for Haiti’s tagline: Healthcare, Partnership, Community. Last month we offered a perspective on Lamp’s delivery of Healthcare, viewed through the lens of Martin Luther King’s lasting impact on our world.

One striking lesson the pandemic has taught us is that going it alone leads to more of the same – going it alone. In other words, connections make us stronger. Connections help as confidante and counselor when we come to life’s crossroads. Connections encourage us to model right behavior, and follow the straight path as we watch others who, in turn, are often looking to us for the same.

Bill Withers’ classic song has resonated profoundly for so many not just because of its lyrical melody, but because of the wisdom of its lyrics – “… You just call on me brother when you need a hand, we all need somebody to lean on.”

This truism applies not just to us as individuals navigating our own personal journeys, but to organizations, and to nonprofits in particular. Given our limited resources, and overall emphasis on keeping a low reserve so that funds raised are spent wisely in a mission oriented manner, we cannot afford to make mistakes. Having a brother, as Withers suggests, allows us to share learned experiences, and information, and sometimes resources.

One such brother, or partner, for Lamp has been St. Luke Foundation for Haiti (www.stlukehaiti.org), a great organization that works to provide healthcare and community support in the capital of Port-au-Prince as well as in the South of Haiti.  They save lives not just by providing proper medication and great medical care, but also by providing education, job training, employment, and hands on, roll-up-your-sleeves-and-pantlegs-and-wade-in-the-waters-to-get-the-job-done approach to problem solving.

Partnerships are relationships, and they work best when both parties experience mutual growth. Again, Withers is helpful in singing the truism “I just might have a problem that you’ll understand, we all need somebody to lean on.” For example, recently we spoke to a donor who wanted to provide assistance in the wake of the most recent earthquake in the South of Haiti. We told that donor that while we were not explicitly working in the South, we would help to find a reputable partner in Haiti who was already working there, and we then connected St. Luke Haiti with that U.S. donor. 

In turn, St Luke has been for us like a trusted older sibling, assisting us in concrete ways like the implementation of our digital x-ray system. They trained our radiographer, Denold, a local resident of Cité Soleil; today he is a skilled x-ray technician, still working at Lamp. They have advised us on topics like how best to procure pediatric drugs in Haiti, or manage our medical waste, or grow our solar power system.

Partnering with other like-minded organizations has been a key part of Lamp’s success, just as partnering with others is for most individuals. Partnering requires the right combination of leadership and humility. Illegitimate organizations tend not to partner, because they don’t want others to scrutinize their processes. On the other hand strong organizations actively look for ways to integrate into a shared mission, not duplicating services but instead complementing, filling in gaps and furthering the work.

We are proud of our emphasis on seeking out and working with great partners like St. Luke Haiti, and you, our Lamp for Haiti family. Together we comprise a part of a greater world community. It’s a community that shares an emphasis on working with and for local Haitian residents, understanding that in doing so we also strengthen ourselves. It’s a community that sings out “Lean on me, when you’re not strong, and I’ll be your friend, I’ll help you carry on… For it won’t be long, till I’m gonna need somebody to lean on.”

St. Luke's Hospital
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Reflecting on Martin Luther King Day

Health, Partnership and Community

A Message from Dr. James Morgan

It seems appropriate to send this first message of the year on this January day, a day that we mark the birth of surely one of the world’s most influential figures of the past century, Martin Luther King, Jr.. King didn’t start wars, or invent any new technology. Instead he responded to an age old yet still burning issue of his day, inequality, and that response continues to resonate. King asked difficult questions to colleagues and friends, politicians and ordinary people. He organized, he marched, he stuck to his conscience, he never gave up.

In his speech in Memphis, the day before he was murdered, King spoke movingly about the crucial need to stay together with an organized plan in order to effect change.

Further, in recounting the biblical parable of the “Good Samaritan”, King notes that the Samaritan intentionally left himself vulnerable to attack by robbers, or even worse because of the question that he asked himself. While others posited “what will happen to me if I help this poor man?”, the Samaritan instead asked the inverted question of “If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?” and he then acted on his conclusion.  King next extends that same inverted question to the plight of the sanitation workers of Memphis, on whose behalf he was lobbying. 

Our staff at Lamp ask a similar question when they enter Cité Soleil each day. You see, to many of their friends and colleagues, they themselves are “inverted” or “tet anba”. Others are clearly puzzled when they see our staff willfully going into a potentially dangerous place to care for the sick and the injured. The question “what will happen to this community if we don’t participate?” is answered resoundingly with action itself. It is an action borne out of the tagline of Lamp for Haiti: Healthcare, Partnership, Community.

This year, in our communications with you each month, we’d like to highlight examples of these basic tenets of our work.

In the arena of healthcare, the country has seen a continued “brain drain” of doctors and nurses leaving Haiti, trying to escape unsafe living conditions, especially in and around Port-au-Prince. (The Lamp for Haiti health center is on the margin of the capital.) All health facilities have been impacted, including Lamp.  In the past three weeks we have interviewed three very qualified doctors to fill one of our empty positions, and we continue to work to get us back to full staffing soon.

For now, we continue to provide quality care. We have been able to return to Cité Soleil, and have been seeing patients there.  We will continue to organize, to work , side by side with the marginalized in the direction of, and at times explicitly manifesting King’s notion of, the Beloved Community.

We at Lamp remain grateful for your decision to stay engaged in this work. Both your work and your friendship is life sustaining for so many.

My very best to you and your family in this new year-

JM

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December 20, 2022 — Haiti Update

2022 was a difficult year in Haiti.  The government was unable to restrain the activities and conflicts of various gangs so that security issues became paramount for ordinary citizens, especially in the capital city of Port-au-Prince, where the Lamp Health Center is located.  In September, gang control of the fuel supply, and their decision to cut off access to this fuel, caused a crisis across Haiti.  Transportation of goods ceased, electricity was unavailable, and economic activity of all sorts came to a standstill. 

Happily enough, the situation was partially resolved in November, and fuel became available for general use.  At the same time, due to political interventions, gang conflicts were very much reduced. 

The reduction of gang activity was critical for the Lamp, since our health center is located in an area that was directly affected by those conflicts.  Since the beginning of December, we have been able to provide services at the Health Center without disruption, and the long term prospects are relatively good.  

Our advantage, as an organization, is that we are intimately acquainted with the day-to-day reality of life in Haiti.  It is a very unsettled period in Haitian history, but, because of this knowledge and the trust of the community, we are able to provide desperately needed health services in a timely and straightforward way. 

The constancy of our supporters is, as always, the key.

[The photo shows one of the mobile clinics that the Lamp was able to operate during the lock-down period.]

adminDecember 20, 2022 — Haiti Update
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Reflections from Dr. Morgan at the Clinic

I am happy to be back “home” at Lamp, after we had canceled our three most recent trips due to street protests and insecurity.

Our day started in the usual way, with our driver Anglanes arriving at my apartment with a warm smile, welcoming me back to his country. But that smile faded quickly, as he told me about “blokis” or street barricades that he had to avert to get to work. There is a massive demonstration planned for this Friday, to protest the current president and force him from office, and sometimes things start to heat up a bit in advance of the main event. Vit vit, he said as he hurried me into the van and off we went, doors locked.

On the way I chatted with Dr. Hyppolite and the nurses and our newest lab tech, Miss Blais.  As we approach the outskirts of Cite Soleil, like he does every day, Dr H. hangs his stethoscope around his thick neck, and it makes both ends of the instrument sort of stick out so one has the sense that it will fall off . He wears it this way, I ‘ve come to learn, deliberately. He wants people to know that if they plan to hold up the vehicle,  they may ultimately be harming themselves or people they care about if the doctor can’t get into work. Thus far, it’s been quite effective.

During my morning meeting with Dr. Hyppolite, we talk about the gangs in the area, and how their presence impacts our staff. Then we talk about medications, and he tells me how we need to deepen our reserve as the needs are growing at Lamp. “It’s a great need, Dr. Jim”. Next we discuss how he wants to take the exam for ACLS (Advanced Cardiac Life Support) as he has taken the course online because it’s not available in Haiti. He has studied it over multiple times and is sure that he can pass it, but he cannot find a way to take it, and can I help him? After telling me about his ultrasound skills that are growing, but which are still not good enough because of limited opportunity to get more training, our conversation comes back to the community, and that despite the troubles and the gangs and the ubiquitous trash and lack of electricity  and poor sanitation… despite these things, he is committed to Lamp, and Lamp is committed to the zone.

As I sit down at my desk, readying for the patients, I feel that I’ve just conversed with one of the most committed doctors I’ve ever known, and I feel privileged to call him colleague and friend.

One of my first patients of the day was Lourdy, about 40 years old with a cough for the past month. She had been to see a doctor at the general hospital about one month ago, and they suggested some medication, but she hasn’t the money and could not afford to buy it. She has asthma, and we were able to give her some medication which will control her symptoms.  She thanked me as she left, and   wished me a good day, smiling and coughing as she did.

There were multiple patients like Lourdy, facing challenges like will I be able to eat tomorrow?, and how will I access medication?   Clearly these are problems not unique to the slums of Cite Soleil, but they are indeed acute here.  But what’s even more clear to me is that committed people, like you who would take the time to read this, or Dr. Hyppolite, who is living this, together play a vital role for this place.  We are having a positive impact.

– Jim (via email from Haiti)

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Nine Years Later

Nine years ago today, at 4:53 pm, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck Haiti. With that event, came abrupt devastation and loss of life and suffering.  Accurate counts are hard to come by, but suffice it to say many died, many became amputees, many lost a home.

None of us have given up.

I recall in the aftermath of the tranbleman tè a physical fear that we might not be able to access food or water, and feeling constantly parched. I recall the smells permeating around the city, as bodies began to decay under the rubble. I recall the exhaustion of the seeming never-ending line of patients to be yet seen.  But in particular, I recall one young man whom I was helping to care for. He was about 25, and he had been working in a local business when the building collapsed suddenly. He lay on a thin mattress on the tile floor before me, his left arm crushed. The once sturdy radius and ulna of his forearm were quite literally ground into a sand-like state; the swollen, red soft tissue of the arm belied an insidious growing infection. We gave him fluids and antibiotics and pain medication, and we prepped him for surgery to have an amputation.

And I sat down with him and we talked. “You have to save me”, because, you see, he had a fiancée, and was to be married in a few months. Also, he had a job, and his mother was counting on him to provide for the family. “So you have to save me.” He asked me about my family, and wanted to know what brought me to his country. He had so much pain, he said, but the medicine helped.

I saw many patients that night, stopping to check in on my friend several times before my relief arrived. I tried to reassure him that the surgeons were working as fast as possible. I examined his swollen arm and noted his growing fatigue, and said goodbye one last time.

The next day, I found out my friend died. I wept for him then, knowing that my tears were but a few drops in the sea of tears, and I went back to work.   As we all know now he was one of many who would perish, and yet he left behind people who would not allow their lives to be defined or confined by this tragedy. People like you who would continue to stay engaged in life, and try to make it a little bit brighter.

There exists in certain parlance a simple notion of see, judge, act. We keep our eyes open to the world around us.  Should a certain condition arise, the see-judge-act model suggests we follow observation with deliberation. Is this situation normal? Can I, ought I, involve myself? Finally comes agency. Agency involves risk taking, and engagement.

Today we have an opportunity to recall in solidarity the pain of the 2010 earthquake. But with agency, with organization, with great hope let’s continue to engage the personhood of one another.

Warmly sent, on this cold January day-

Jim

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Accompaniment (Part 2)

This morning, I accompanied our accompagnateurs, or Community Health Workers, Damas and Miss Salita, and together we walked around the Bwa Nef neighborhood. The role of the CHW is essentially twofold – identifying sick patients who have not been evaluated for a medical problem, as well as following up on those who are already receiving treatment.
Today we passed Wobé, a 2 year old boy who had been unable to walk due to generalized weakness. Earlier this year, our CHWs had identified him while making their rounds in the community and suggested to the mother that Lamp’s child nutrition program could help. She took their advice, and came to our health center to enroll.  Today, having completed  treatment in the  “Medika Mamba” program,  Wobé is a happy 2 year old boy, walking independently alongside his mother.  Seeing this little boy improve, and too, bearing witness to his mother’s proud countenance, was a sublime experience I won’t forget.
And while the specifics of our CHW work are clear, the unwritten concepts that they manifest are even more striking.
In our last newsletter, executive director Henry Reimer wrote about the notion of accompaniment.  Henry described not only the importance of physically walking alongside our brothers and sisters (and two-year olds!) in Cite Soleil, to and from Lamp Health Center, but also the fruits of that accompaniment.
When we accompany another person, it’s hard work. (Today, where it’s about 90 degrees in the shade, our women’s health program alone saw 39 pregnant women. The medical team saw about another 40 general medical patients.)
The fuel for such work lies at the nexus of a firmly held belief in the organization’s mission,  a well-honed, specific skill set, and of course, persistence.
Accompaniment requires active recognition that the ego is always waiting to take center stage if we let it, and so we need to consistently keep the mission in our sight.  Genuine accompaniment requires an ability and willingness to collaborate, and to remain open to new ideas.
Accompaniment requires pressing on, when curveballs – or bullets, or lack of food, or hurricanes – come our way.
Finally, accompaniment involves a posture of vulnerability.  When one assumes such a posture, it invites risk, but certainly through risk great advances can come.  Accompaniment is real life.
I think a good example of accompaniment can be found in a  marriage, where two people commit to one another for the duration.  The marriage vows don’t qualify that commitment but instead they essentially say “I will stick with you and I invite to to stick with me. I don’t know how we’ll navigate through the hard times, but if we stay committed to the relationship I think we can make it work.”
All of us who choose to stay committed to Lamp’s mission do so with because of an inherent optimism and desire to accompany one another.  Wobé’s progress is indicative of the fruits of such a commitment. I thank you for accompanying the stranger, and for your continued support of this work.
Jim
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A story of accompaniment

Many stories at the Lamp make reference to dire threats to health and challenging medical treatment.  This one is about something much simpler.  Ms. Plaisirmon had already had two children when she enrolled in the prenatal care program at the Lamp.  She received a battery of tests and then came regularly to the clinic for the next eight months.  Her health was generally good – she was treated for an infection and mild anemia – and so was that of the baby.  Lamp Community Health Workers (CHWs) came to her home several times to check in on her.  She got an ultrasound and took her prenatal vitamins as prescribed.  She received a delivery kit and an infant kit.  When it came time to deliver, one of the CHWs went with her to the hospital to make sure that she had the support she needed.  In the photo, she is back at home with her new baby boy (dressed in clothes from the infant kit).  Her gratitude is boundless; she recalls the struggles — physical, financial and emotional — she had with her first two deliveries; she sends message after message to Lamp staff, thanking them for their accompaniment.

The idea of accompaniment is one that Dr. Paul Farmer made central to all of his medical theory.  (Dr. Farmer is the founder of Haiti’s best large-scale health organization Partners in Health and was a crucial inspiration for the Lamp in its early days.)  Health is best served, he felt, when the medical profession considers the whole complex of factors that cause ill health.  In low income settings this means that one must accompany each patient, continually overcoming those factors that may block the path to good health.  Ms. Plaisirmon’s story is an ordinary one, but it is an important one for the Lamp.  It is a sign that we are on the right path.

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