Radio Show

In rural Haiti, community-based radio broadcasting is very popular.  Not only do people listen to it for music, news and community service announcements, but at times special, live, talk-radio shows are scheduled.  These shows usually provide for listeners to call in and make on-air comments, requests and so forth. 

Last week, the nearby church-based station arranged for a two-evening segment on healthcare needs in the region.  The special guests were Visitation Clinic's medical director (Dr. JF) and administrtor (Killy).

Many people called in to vocalize the need for expanded healthcare programs.   

A little help from our friends

Today's email gives a glimpse into what it takes to keep a clinic running in rural Haiti.  The problem started last Thursday when the microscope broke.  This put the lab out of business for performing some of the most frequent tests.  A serious problem.  Also a real worry because it's not uncommon in Haiti to not have parts for specialized equipment and it can take weeks to ship things in.  Our administrator took the scope to Port-au-Prince knowing he could have trouble finding someone to fix it.  But one reason he is so invaluable is his resourcefulness.  Here is his email.

Last Friday afternoon, I got to the National Lab where they repair microscopes, it was too late to repair it,so they told me to wait until Tuesday as tomorrow is a hero's day(Dessalines) so it's a public day. As I could not wait until Tuesday, I beg the electronic man to do that this week-end. We took an appointment for today this Sunday as he has the key of his office and uses to work on Sunday here.  I'm here with him at Delmas 33, I went to pick him up to come to his office, he's now repairing the microscope as you can see in the attached. I don't know how much they will charge us, but I hope to negotiate a convenient charge."

Happily, the most recent email reported a successful outcome, although it didn't mention the charges.  Of course, we won't be offended if someone wants to cover them by clicking here

Pressure

We were reminded by this week's clinic photo that not only do rural Haitians have to deal with chronic poverty, but many also suffer from chronic diseases.   Hypertension (high blood pressure) is one of them.  In Haiti, men and women are equally burdened by this, and it can be difficult to control.  For instance, last year we were saddened when when one of our own employees, who was under treatment for hypertension, died from a stroke. 

   

Researchers have even studied hypertension in Haiti because the people lack one of the known risk factors -  obesity.  You can read about it here: http://www.longwoods.com/content/18546  This paper ends with the sentance.  "Although age and weight are useful in predicting BP, there are unmeasured factors that account for most of the variation, which require future research."   Unfortunately, such research is unlikely to happen soon.  There doesn't seem to be a great deal of funding for the study of diseases that primarily affect poor Haitians. 

Debilitated by hypertension