Helping Children

Haiti’s children, especially those in rural and remote areas of the country, are especially vulnerable to the lack of accessible medical care. For every 1000 babies born in Haiti, 59 will die before reaching their first birthday and 88 will not live past age 5 years. (Ministry of Health 2012)

KAIRAM CLINICS FOR CHILDREN – PREVENTATIVE CARE

At HUFH we believe that babies deserve good preventative care, much the same as in countries where resources are not limited. By promoting good nutritional and health practices for newborns, we strive to ensure that they will never need to enroll in our malnutrition program and that every child will not just survive, but also thrive.

In our Kairam Clinics for Children operating at St. Charles Hospital in Limonade and Gede all children are seen from birth to age five years.

At Second Mile Haiti’s Maternity Centers,  babies born to mothers enrolled in Second Mile Haiti’s prenatal care programs and delivered in their maternity centers will now be followed by our HUFH staff.

This new initiative of 1000 babies for 1000 days is building a health care bridge for our communities: providing care during pregnancy, right through childbirth into infancy, and then into childhood.

EMERGENCY MEDICAL & SURGICAL FUND

In Haiti, medical care is a privilege, not a right; most cannot afford care and are too poor to be well. Our emergency fund covers the medical and surgical costs for children with life threatening illnesses or in need of surgery referred by our teams to our partner hospitals. $400 pays for the average emergency surgery a child needs. Last year, 29 children needed hospitalization for life threatening conditions and 11 needed surgery, including cardiac surgery and treatment for childhood cancer. This year we expect this fund to help save the lives of dozens of more children.

This emergency fund is crucial to HUFH’s work. Every team is faced with two or three children who come to the pediatric outreach clinics who are in need of advanced care. Several are victims of trauma and require emergency treatment for broken bones or wounds. Others are severely malnourished or very ill and in critical need of emergency treatment.