From HHF...

WATCH HHF ON PBS TOMORROW NIGHT!!!

Dear HHF Supporter,

Amidst the tireless planning and relief work that Haitian Health Foundation employees and volunteers are providing to the thousands of people fleeing Port-au-Prince, we are reminded that we also continue our mission of nearly 30 years to the people who were already living in our area prior to the earthquake. Among HHF's food and nutrition, education, housing, and other programs for the people of Jérémie and its surrounding 100+ villages, HHF provides prenatal programs and emergency evacuations to pregnant mothers in the far reaches of the Grand'Anse.

At the time of the earthquake, we were just a few days into a week-long visit by the award-winning PBS program NOW, led by documentarian Mary Olive Smith and crew. Although the earthquake cut short their shooting schedule, amazingly they have already produced a final piece—called Saving Haiti's Mothers—that will air on PBS's NOW program this Friday, January 29, at 8:30 pm in many markets. (The actual air time varies city by city, so click here to determine the scheduled time in your city.)

I hope you will take the time to view this documentary to observe the work that you are helping to support. Scores of pregnant women have come from Port-au-Prince—and already we've had reports of some of them giving birth in Jérémie upon their arrival! This is just one of the programs that HHF is proudly gearing up in order to assist the thousands of people who are being added to our catchment area for the long term.

Thank you for your support of this vital maternal and infant health program—and all of HHF's programs for the people of the Grand'Anse. And please keep our neighbors in Haiti in your thoughts and prayers.

Jeremiah J. Lowney, Jr., DDS, MPH

Founder and President
Haitian Health Foundation

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From PBS:

Haiti's catastrophic earthquake, in addition to leaving lives and institutions in ruin, also exacerbated a much more common and lethal emergency in Haiti: Dying during childbirth. Challenges in transportation, education, and quality health care contribute to Haiti having the highest maternal mortality rate in the Western Hemisphere, a national crisis even before the earthquake struck.

While great strides are being made with global health issues like HIV/AIDS, maternal mortality figures worldwide have seen virtually no improvement in 20 years. Worldwide, over 500,000 women die each year during pregnancy.

On Friday, January 29 at 8:30 pm (check local listings for your specific area), a NOW team that had been working in Haiti during the earthquake reports on this deadly but correctable trend. They meet members of the Haitian Health Foundation (HHF), which operates a network of health agents in more than 100 villages, engaging in pre-natal visits, education, and emergency ambulance runs for pregnant women.

The United Nations Population Fund, which trains midwives to share life-saving birth techniques, says that with proper funding, public support, and wider application of simple but scarce innovations, such deaths could be reduced by nearly 70%.

As humanitarian attention on Haiti slowly fades, the issue of maternity mortality remains as imperative as ever. But with an estimated 63,000 women in Haiti currently pregnant—and a main midwife training school devastated by the earthquake—the mission of keeping mothers alive has never been more daunting.

NOW co-produced this program with the Bureau for International Reporting.

This is Long Overdue & Everything Has Changed

I've been wanting to write an update for months... but have pushed it back in favor of doing things that involved other people. At this point, though, it feels as if there is no point in recounting anything that happened since my last update.. as though none of it matters anymore. I know deep down that it does, but I can't bring myself to write about it all now... Instead I will give my personal account of the earthquake.

If you have not heard about this earthquake... you are living under a rock. I'm sure at this point everyone at least has some idea what's going on down here. And others can probably give a play-by-play. CNN was on like 24/7 coverage of the aftermath. I am 100 miles from the capital, but we are in no way unaffected...

January 12, 2010 changed a country I have come to know and love.

Thankfully, I was very lucky in that I did not lose anyone in Port-au-Prince. It took a few days to find out... the phone lines were tied up and no one could get a hold of anyone. I was calling Junior, Yvens, Yoldy, Ysnive, over and over again. I found out through the HHF grapevine that Junior was okay, and then found out via facebook that Yoldy and Yvens were okay. When Junior arrived in Jeremie, I found out his family in PAP was okay. I know many other people were not so fortunate to have everyone safe and accounted for, and my heart goes out to them. But at the same time I can't help but be happy all my friends are okay.

Everyone has been telling me they are happy I'm okay and telling me they are proud of me and to keep up the good work. However, I have done nothing. Being out here was a waiting game, and left me feeling useless and helpless. The only thing I could do was stay here to show the people I wasn't going to up and leave as soon as things became more difficult.

It seems many people have come out of the woodwork to help Haiti. I have heard from my 6th grade teacher and another volunteer down here, Devon, has heard from various teachers as well. I summed up the immediate aftermath of the earthquake in some emails that I will put here.. I can't think of any other ways to write it...

As of right now HHF is in conservation mode, but kind of carrying on business as usual. All the Haitian staff takes a half day, and we did not go out to villages last week in order to conserve diesel fuel. In our clinic we take anyone from town, including those who arrive from PAP. There is not much damage here, so there's not a big relief effort, but the long-term effects will be seen throughout the entire country.

We are in contact with a documentary producer (Emmy Award winning Mary Olive Smith) who was actually here when the earthquake hit doing a piece on HHF regarding maternal health in rural villages, and plans on returning very soon. She has a 1 year old at home who she wanted to get back to so she was airlifted out of Jeremie and brought to Santo Domingo in order to fly home. The point is, Mary Olive is returning in order to film what's going on in Jeremie as all these people from PAP come home to their families in the Grand' Anse region.

So far, many trucks and one boat have come in carrying people from PAP. We went to the wharf at 5:00 last Sunday morning in order to film and take pictures of all the people coming in. We were the only foreigners there, save the UN, so the effort was completely community organized. The scouts (like boy scouts), the Haitian Red Cross, and local police organized the disembarkation. It was incredibly well-organized, and great to see the community come together like that. Women living near the wharf brought huge pots of soup and buckets of water for the people, and the UN had those biscuits they were giving out to the kids.

I took a lot of pictures, but having no medical skills I was not as useful as I would have liked. However, I did end up getting right up next to the boat and held babies as they were passed over the side and waited for the parents to come collect them. There was a whole group of little ones just waiting with me, and as parents saw that I was there, they were just throwing their kids at me while they got themselves organized. Except for one little girl who was terrified of me and would not come within 3 feet of me...

We received 2 more boats in last Thursday with a total of around 4,000 people. Again it was well-organized, which is always great to see in a country such as Haiti when things can get so crazy. It's a little strange because the people coming into the region are actually coming HOME. The only universities are in PAP, so families that have enough money send their children there to go to school or to work. Now with everything the way it is in PAP, these people are coming home. The strange part is that once everyone leaves the wharf to go back to houses, you can't see a difference in the city. It's not like there are people living on the street, they all have a home to go to. The differences are seen in the prices at the market, as there are no imports coming out to Jeremie from PAP. The usual boat that brings food is being used to bring the people instead.

The other noticeable difference is all the kids being home from school. The country shut schools down until mid-February so everyone can find their families and figure out how people are going to live with all the extra people at home now. It is sad that they are shutting down schools because so many kids want to be there (if they are lucky enough to be there to begin with... families have to pay to send their kids to school here) and now they are missing out on the opportunity.

In spite of all this, I still see people smiling, and just dealing with the issues at hand in the best ways possible. Everyone has heard of how poor Haiti is, but it is amazing to see the people coming together to take care of each other.

There was another boat due in on Monday morning, but it did not arrive until that evening. We are also waiting for an airplane of food that an HHF donor sent down. In addition, there is a Methodist pilot coming down this Saturday to bring things in.

What is difficult for the people around here is the increased number of people in households and the higher prices of food in the market. All the boats coming from PAP have people and not the usual food supply so everything is a little more expensive. We stocked up in the days immediately following the earthquake, so we are okay, but it is difficult for our neighbors who have extra mouths to feed. It is truly unfortunate for us here because we see so much need but we cannot hand out food or money (personally, as foreigners) because we cannot give to EVERYONE. The most we can really do is have friends over for dinner.

I thank everyone who has begun fundraising for Haiti, and the relief efforts here. Coventry Public Schools and Pension Consultants, Inc. have both pledged to raise funds for HHF and our continuing efforts in the Grand 'Anse region.

Thank you for keeping me and the people of Haiti in your thoughts and prayers... It's too bad it had to take such a disaster for America to REALLY begin caring about their neighbor.