At the end of last week, the Medical Director of our partner hospital made the difficult decision to finally open our joint COVID19 Isolation Ward in Northern Haiti. This has been a huge effort and we're incredibly grateful for the many groups/individuals in Haiti and abroad who've pulled together to make this possible.
Over the last few months the team have worked tirelessly, transforming the hospitals sports centre into an excellent COVID19 facility which the World Health Organization formally certified as one of Haiti's national COVID19 centers. HHA have been at the forefront of this effort, project managing its development and funding materials and salary support for the excellent local team. The short film below gives a brief tour of our new ward, thanks to HHA volunteer Rob, who is on the ground helping to coordinate our efforts:
Since opening last Thursday we've provided care to 8 suspected cases, admitting 3 who are all now on oxygen. The family of one patient thanked the team, saying ‘Thanks to God for the work you are doing, we are happy you have the courage and heart to do this work. Thank you Jesus’. Our own Haiti heroes.
Whilst this ward will provide valuable and life-saving support to north Haiti's COVID19 response, we are also conscious that this effort will stretch HHA and the hospital. At a time when the UK charity sector is expecting a 40-50% reduction in charitable income, this COVID19 response will increase our monthly giving to Haiti and require a real push of unity and support from our network. We would kindly ask that people join with us and help support our Haiti heroes, perhaps through your own summer fundraising effort, doing an emergency collection at your church or making an individual donation.
We are also now accepting applications from foreign volunteers who may be willing to assist our emergency efforts in Haiti over the coming months. There are a range of valuable skills we could benefit from at this time, both from a medical and project management perspective. If you would like to find out more about volunteering in Haiti, please contact us today: info@hopehealthaction.org.
If you'd like to be kept up to date with more regular COVID19 updates, please keep an eye on our COVID19 Live Update Page that we try to update weekly.
Thanks for your continued support, generosity and prayers!
