Friends of the Children of Haiti - FOTCOH (Haiti Clinic)

FROM THE SITE:

The Haitian government frowns on foreign ownership of property and makes development of land there next to impossible. Yet in 1999, after several years of red-tape wrangling, FOTCOH purchased 16 rocky, wooded acres in Cyvadier, a ramshackle town far-flung and desperate for medical care.

To boost the local economy, FOTCOH employed local laborers to clear the dense overgrowth with machetes and pulverize the ragged rock with sledgehammers. Haitians crafted concrete blocks by hand, stacking them into a three-story structure while other workers constructed a cement-and-stone wall around the property with discarded rock.

Inside the 6,000-square-foot building, the main floor consists of 11 rooms, including exam and surgical areas, plus a pharmacy. The second story offers a kitchen and dining room, plus two bathrooms, four open sleeping rooms and access to a deck overlooking the sea. The top floor includes an open sleeping area, a bathroom and access to the roof which supports solar panels and a windmill that collect power.

Clinic In Spring 2000, the Haitians splashed the exterior with paint of gleaming white, the finishing touch to a project that has given the entire community a sense of achievement and enhanced self-worth.

FOTCOH now hopes to staff the clinic year-round, to provide continuous medical care to rural Haitians.

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Our Blog Live from Haiti -
http://haiti.pnn.com/

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Key Team Members on the Ground:
Posted on: 01/19/10

Key team members on the ground
Team leaders and providers have made it safely to our clinic in Cyvadier on the southern coast of Haiti and just outside Jacmel, only 25 miles from Port-au-Prince and the epicenter of the earthquake.

Following Dr. Bill Edwards and Sue Behrens, APN, Beth Kramer arrived aboard a small cargo charter plane that first made a refueling stop in Turks & Caicos and delivered Kramer, a physician, along with vital treatment supplies.

Disaster relief specialist Troy Erbentraut, pharmacist Jess Streif, surgeon Garon Lukas and nurse Kay Shank also made it to the clinic and are collaborating on setting up clinic operations to best serve those most in need.

The rest of us? We're hopeful we'll snag charter spot spots out of Ft. Lauderdale and into Jacmel early Tuesday and join our colleagues.

Read more: http://haiti.pnn.com/10724-the-front-page#ixzz0gWFwTOtY

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Our medical team is safe following the catastrophic earthquake, and our clinic is damaged but still standing.

But we need your help to provide treatment to the injured survivors.

Any amount you can give will go directly to supporting efforts RIGHT NOW to save the suffering and bring in more personnel, supplies and relief.

Mesi Anpil – Thank you so much for your support.

DONATIONS MATCHED -
https://www.justgive.org/nonprofits/donate.jsp?ein=37-1274477

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ARTICLE Posted -
http://haiti.pnn.com/articles/show/56844-out-of-the-rubble-and-into-a-new-life
http://haiti.pnn.com/10724-the-front-page
http://www.pjstar.com/news/x1920334654/Behrens-in-Haiti-A-Journal-Star-Blog