It is still not safe for the people of Duval to return to their homes and fields…

Gangs in Haiti have caused havoc throughout the country…

As some of you may be aware, Haiti is experiencing a humanitarian crisis of unprecedented proportions…

Since it remains too unsafe for me to travel to Haiti, I am sending medication, and also a new donated EKG machine…

It has been a long time since the last newsletter, so here is the update. There has been a serious deterioration in Haiti over the past year. The news is full of kidnappings, and more and more poverty and misery for Haitians.

We really appreciate your support for Emmaus Clinic. As you may be aware, the government in Haiti has become completely nonfunctional, and gangs have filled the power void. Two weeks ago, Pastor Guito was kidnapped, and released after 3 days. He was forewarned that it was going to happen, but he did not want to leave his home, because if the kidnappers came for him, and he was not there, it would have placed everyone else at risk.

Thank God, everything went well during this trip, despite Covid!

We had a primary care physician Dr. Pierre, our dentist Dr. Nixon, and an ophthalmologist Dr. Salomon. And our nurses Louna, Kattia, Marie Milca, and Miss Antoine.

Here’s a brief summary of our time in Haiti. We saw 350 patients in the medical clinic, and Dr. Nixon saw at least 120 dental patients. A woman with the very large thyroid mass is going for surgery next week. Two men with hernias want to get surgery, and there are others with similar needs.

Hassan, a Haitian third year medical student, was with us again. He translated for Dr. Alex while gaining practical clinical experience. I was finally able to visit his home, where I met his mother and siblings. Sadly, his father passed away very unexpectedly last month, leaving him with the responsibility of taking care of his family, while at the same time having to keep up with his studies.

Duval is a small town just south of Port au Prince, Haiti, in a region known as Bellevue Mountain. The people live from subsistence agriculture, on small plots of land which they cultivate by hand.

I am a Family Medicine Physician, working in Philadelphia. I have been making short-term medical mission trips to Haiti since 2010. My first 2 trips to Haiti were with Samaritan’s Purse, to work in their clinic and cholera hospital.