Last week I returned from my fifth trip to Northern Haiti. Every October, I lead a group of doctors, nurses and lay volunteers from the US and Canada on a medical mission. This year, our team treated 416 patients including 256 children and 160 adults. We gave community lectures to women’s and youth groups. We […]

by Margaret Keneman At HUFH we know that healthcare is not just about treating medical problems; it is about identifying the source of the problem so that we can teach our patients how to prevent illness in the future. We also know that we have to be mindful, respectful, and culturally sensitive in our teachings. […]

by Margaret Keneman Bonjou! Kommon ou ye? “Bonjou!,” which means “Hello!” in Haitian Creole, and “Kommon ou ye?,” meaning “How are you?,” are just a few of the expressions that our team practiced before meeting the Haitian youth groups that we would be teaching throughout the week. As part of the public health initiative on […]

HUFH wants to congratulate Riley Dejong, a HUFH volunteer, on being awarded the NY State Senate’s Liberty Medal at the Women of Distinction event held earlier this month in Chappaqua, NY. Riley, a Lewisboro Volunteer Ambulance Corps Crew Chief and EMT, nursing student, and volunteer on our June 2014 mission, was on the Metro-North train […]

by Dr. Mary Ann LoFrumento This was my seventh Global Health trip to Haiti, and I felt very confident leading this team of fourteen doctors, nurses and volunteers. We had been planning for months and preparing for weeks. The plan was to arrive in Cap Haitien and then head west to the remote fishing region […]

It seems hard to believe that our trip to Haiti was almost two months ago. We traveled with a team of two ophthalmologists, one optometrist, and four laypersons. Although as laypeople we did not have any medical knowledge, we were each able to find our niche. As I embark on my premedical studies, I was […]

When I first went to Haiti three years ago, I believed it would be a one- time experience. I had never traveled on a medical mission and I had no experience in global health. But I was profoundly changed by that trip and I resolved to return and try to make a difference for the […]

Our day started with a song. Ten matrones, many quite elderly, had traveled a distance to join us at the Sante Pou Yo Clinic in Bas Limbe, for a training seminar called Helping Babies Breathe. The song they sang was joyous, a chorus celebrating life. For these women have collectively delivered life to generations of […]

By: Dr. Jill Ratner, President, Hands Up for Haiti I opened my New York Times recently and my eye immediately went to a front page story entitled “Fighting a Cancer with Vinegar and Ingenuity”. I smiled, knowing what I was about to read.  I had just returned from a medical mission in Haiti doing just […]

Author: Jayant “Jay” Kairam While core medical skills, triaging and differential diagnosis are very translatable to my professional environment, where we must prioritize in service delivery and amongst finite resources. What needs to be addressed now? What can wait? What can subsist with basic service? Assess the problem and identify solutions. The right recommendations must […]