March 26, 2020

We hope each and every one of you is staying safe and dealing with this changing landscape as best you can. Please know that we’re praying for everyone in the Coalition. And remember — as CCH In-Country Director, Rubinste St Louis, recently said, “God will always make a way for us.”

US staff continue to be in close communication with our Haitian staff about corona virus threats and precautions. As of this week, the US State Department has suspended travel abroad and is assisting US citizens in Haiti to arrange flights back home. There are COVID-19 cases in every single US state and Virginia schools are closed for the remainder of the school year. Other states have similar “shelter in place” mandates.

In Haiti, there are now a handful of confirmed cases, and the president was swift to respond last Thursday (3/19/20). The Haitian government has declared a state of emergency, closing Haiti’s borders along with schools and places of worship. Our staff report that last Thursday Jacmel was busy with people buying needed items. But by Friday it was a ghost town.

Healthcare

Our clinic staff were being cautious about corona for the past several weeks, but they have implemented even more stringent measures this week. Without getting too “in the weeds” some of these new COVID-19 protocols are:

• All staff are wearing personal protective equipment (PPE) – see video clip below of staff being briefed on proper PPE procedures
• Changing our clinic hours to open and close earlier to avoid excessive heat for waiting patients
• Manning our clinic gate with a security guard wearing PPE to ensure that patients maintain appropriate social distance and do not enter the clinic without being screened.
• Screening patients for COVID-19 symptoms prior to entering the clinic building (“at risk” patients will be provided PPE and referred to a government-run isolation center)
• Limiting the overall number of patients in the clinic to a maximum of 5

The National Association of Physical Therapists put out a request that all outpatient rehab clinics close; CCH has complied. Our PT staff called patients over the weekend to let them know about appointment cancellations and phone consultations going forward. PT staff are now helping with primary care patient triage. They are remaining in touch with PT patients by phone, and they are planning for how they might provide PT care for patients long-distance via video chats for patient assessments and training videos for rehab exercises.

Our clinic staff have been disheartened by the global news of COVID-19 but they understand the profession they are in and how it’s impacting all healthcare workers around the world. As CCH Clinic Coordinator, Melissa Jean-Bart, said recently, “We are healthcare workers. We are going to do our best to keep the clinic open.” CCH leadership is working hard to protect staff, patients, and the communities we serve.

COVID-19 is not the only health need right now. People are still getting sick with other illnesses, giving birth, having strokes, and they all still need care. While CCH is not equipped to care for corona patients, we can help reduce the overall burden on Haiti’s’ healthcare system by remaining open and caring for other patients.

Education

CCH Education Liaison, Dave Pierre reported that no students showed up to school on Friday. Schools are officially closed and everyone is staying home.  Fortunately, or unfortunately, we’ve dealt with school closures before in Haiti. Dave has been successful in the past keeping in touch with our partner school principals and teachers through phone calls and video conferencing. He will maintain virtual contact with educators to buoy their spirits and identify tools for families and students who are quarantined at home.

Community Development

CCH leadership has been working closing with Haitian authorities, organizations, community leaders to create massive education trainings for the population. We are trying to protect the Southeast Department (Haiti’s version of the “state” where CCH operates) by creating a citizens’ movement against COVID-19.

We are brainstorming how else we might use our resources to serve Haiti right now. We will likely set up community hand-washing stations with clean water, soap, and bleach disinfectant. Our Community Development & Partnerships Liaisons, Nazaire Leveille and Junior St Louis, are keeping in touch with community leaders by phone. They are sharing advice, news, and explaining how people can protect themselves with social distancing and hand washing.

They’ve halted a data gathering project for CCH’s animal distribution programs until it’s safe to resume face-to-face visits and data collection.

One big way you can help us right now is to buy a raffle ticket today and tune in to the live raffle drawing on March 28th.