Special clinic reaches 1,400 people
May 24, 2023
Nearly 1,400 residents of Baradères, Haiti, received medical help at a recent special clinic funded by UPLIFT Haiti.
Held February 27 to March 3, it was by far the largest of the several clinics we have funded in Haiti since 2011.
Sr. Judith Prophète, administrator of the Baradères Health Center, hired 12 doctors and 10 nurses to staff the clinic. The doctors included four general physicians, an internist, a pediatrician, a gynecologist, an ophthalmologist and four dentists.
We are grateful to our donors for supplying the funds. But we are especially indebted to the Baradères Health Center for courageously carrying out this clinic at a time of extreme hardship and danger throughout Haiti. The clinic was originally planned for last October, but the threat of gang violence on the roadways forced multiple delays.
Originally the clinic was to run only four days. But thanks to funding from Blessed Trinity Parish in Cleveland, Sr. Judith was able to add the fifth day and so include residents of one of the Baradères area’s more remote villages, Rivière Salée.
The health center's volunteer community health workers were also critical to the clinic’s success. In February, they fanned across the Baradères municipality to schedule people for appointments.
The most common ailments reported during the clinic were gastritis (184 people), respiratory infections (145), anemia (130), hypertension (111), urinary tract infections (80), cataracts (72) and glaucoma (48). It can be argued that poverty is the root cause of most disease in Haiti.
Sr. Judith sets up the pharmacy area for the clinic in February 27.
Young girl at--probably--her first visit to a dentist.
At check-in table, a nurse checks a patient's blood pressure.
© UPLIFT Haiti