Cherlie and I had a short break at the beginning of April when we went up to Milwaukee for our 6^th annual Hope for Haiti fund-raising banquet. It was a wonderful event and we were able to see a lot of former acquaintances, medical colleagues, Haiti visitors and meet some wonderful new friends. Now, we’re back at work again in the clinic and we certainly are enjoying being in the new clinic building. Our patients really enjoy it too and every day we hear expressions of their appreciation for providing them with such a beautiful place in which to receive care.

As we all know, it’s not the beauty of the surroundings that determines whether someone will get better or not when they’re ill, it’s the quality of care they receive. But, the cleanliness, organization and physical appeal are a reflection of the respect we have for our patients, and that is also reflected in the care we give them. We feel that as followers of Jesus Christ we are called to a higher level of excellence in all that we do in life and our careers and professions are certainly the most obvious places to witness that excellence.

CONSTRUCTION UPDATE

The workmen have been hard at work the past month doing the final stucco work inside and outside the second floor residence quarters that is on top of the pharmacy and lab building. They have made very rapid progress and the building feels like it is in the final stages of construction. We are extremely grateful for all of the financial donations that have made this construction possible. Thank you!

ANOTHER VISIT FROM JOHNS HOPKINS NURSING STUDENTS AND FACULTY

We were happy to host another group of nursing students and faculty member Grace Murphy this past week from Johns Hopkins School of Nursing (JHSON). We are involved in an ongoing water and sanitation community development project with them and we made good progress during the week. Three of the days were spent holding community education sessions in communities near our clinic that are not directly involved in the water and sanitation project.

While part of the group of students was out in the local communities, the rest were assisting Cherlie and myself in our clinic. One of the highlights for our patients was that they received education from the students while waiting for their consultations.

Two days were spent holding a continuing education session for the 12 promoters who were trained in September 2013 to do community education. These promoters have been very active in their communities teaching people about how diseases can be spread by contaminated water, the importance of treating drinking water, personal hygiene and hand-washing and proper storage of treated water.

Of course, teaching wouldn’t be complete without having the promoters teach new material to one another. This helps reinforce the teaching points and allows them to give feedback to one another regarding the effectiveness of their teaching.

A new twist to the educational sessions was having the promoters participate in playing “comparison” games with pictures demonstrating good and bad hygiene practices. They loved the games and feel that they will help them in their community education activities.

At the end of the week, promoters and students posed in front of the clinic, giving the “clean hands” sign.

When visitors stay with us at our home in Jérémie, we like to show them the town and have them experience some of the activities. This group of students was able to participate in Haitian Flag Day celebrations in Jérémie on May 18^th.

Another highlight of the students’ visit was that they brought several duffel bags full of used tennis shoes to us. We’ve had a wonderful time distributing them to needy patients in the clinic. They are thrilled with the gifts and we feel blessed by the givers! Thanks to all who contributed to this effort!