by Clark Seipt, CCH Executive Director

Rumors, myths and lies can be deadly during a pandemic.   We’re experiencing this in Haiti right now. As CCH Clinic staff, health educators and other partners seek to spread the message of Kowonavirus prevention, there are many who thank us for our efforts. There are also many more, however, who aren’t quite ready to hear what we’re saying. We know from other partners across Haiti that they, too, are experiencing the same. Here are some of the common messages our staff and partners are up against as we seek to educate and empower for virus prevention in Haiti:

• “Don’t wear masks! They are infected with COVID-19!” 
• “COVID isn’t real – it’s made up by the politicians!”
• “Don’t go to the doctor. Doctors and nurses spread COVID. Some of them are even testing Kowonavirus vaccines on Haitians.” 
• “COVID is a spiritual problem, not a medical illness. Jesus will save you.” 
• “Natural medicines [e.g., vitamins, juices & teas] are all you need to protect you from COVID.”
• “COVID is a death sentence. Don’t tell anyone if you start to have symptoms. Hide your symptoms and go about your daily tasks like regular.”

We know that prevention is powerful – and may well be Haiti’s most effective tool in navigating this crisis. As CCH continues to expand our health education and COVID prevention efforts, we’re reaching deep into partner communities to dispel myths like these and bring life-saving knowledge to the men, women and children that we serve. We’re training every patient that comes through our clinic doors on how to keep themselves and their loved ones safe. We’re also reaching beyond our clinic walls through the CCH Kowonavirus Prevention Task Force, taking life-saving messages to communities far beyond the Jacmel town limits.  (Click here to see how you can join our Healthcare Heroes!) Here are some recent updates:

• Patients testing positive – Each week CCH’s Primary Care Clinic continues to triage suspected COVID patients. Indeed, our first two COVID patients walked through our gates separately on the very same day, creating quite the stir. Having been tirelessly practicing safety protocols for weeks, our staff knew exactly what to do. Everyone felt safe and prepared. On that day, our staff confronted and then overcame fears that they thought they’d packaged away. As a result, they are even more emboldened and committed to serving their beloved Haiti. We give thanks for their dedication and courage! 
• CCH’s Train the Trainers approach slows the spread – In April, CCH Lead Physician Dr. Francois led a training for 8 local partner school principals. Those principals then turned around and trained teams of teachers in CCH’s approach to Kowona prevention messaging! CCH provided t-shirts, facemasks and posters with easy-to-understand messages about COVID. Teachers are now working in small groups of 2-3 people, visiting about 25 homes in their school communities each day. The students and parents love seeing their teachers, and the messaging has been well-received with many questions! See these teams in action in a recent video posted on YouTube and Facebook. 
• Remember the moto drivers?! – I told you previously about 15 motorcycle taxi drivers who were helping us spread Kowonavirus prevention messages. That effort has now expanded to 7 moto taxi stations, with 20 drivers at each station participating in our Kowonavirus Prevention Task Force. Drivers estimate they’re talking to an average of 20 people per day – that’s more than 19,000 passengers reached, on average, each week!
• Jacmel’s local public hospital is closed – As we celebrate exciting gains, we’re also reminded that this remains an uphill battle in Haiti. One month ago, there were fewer than 100 COVID cases reported in the country; we’ve now surpassed 1,000 cumulative cases. The virus is on the rise. This means more suspected COVID patients have been showing up at Jacmel’s public Hospital St Michel seeking care. Overwhelmed and under-equipped, the hospital staff have stopped coming to work. With little to no Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) on site (even basics like masks, gloves and gowns) and no solid support from the Ministry of Health or other bodies charged with coordinating and preparing facilities for treatment, staff have indicated they don’t feel safe caring for patients. CCH remains hopeful that we can secure PPE to share with partners like Hospital St Michel as seek to walk with them during this time. We also recognize that a closed public hospital means more patients turning to CCH for the care they need. 
• Still no COVID treatment center in Southeast Haiti – We’re doing our best to work with partners throughout Haiti to advocate for the availability of COVID treatment in all departments (regions). A local citizen movement in Jacmel, spearheaded by the Mayor, appears to be making good progress in retrofitting an existing facility to serve as a possible local treatment site. As we stay in close contact with them to better understand how we can help, we’re flashing back to our work with the regional cholera center following Hurricane Matthew. We’ll keep you posted as these efforts progresses. 

Despite all the uncertainty in Haiti right now, month after month, CCH is there on the front lines. As always, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me with questions or ideas. We value your insight and give thanks for your outpouring of prayers and encouragement. Finally, as I close this week’s update, I want to make sure you’re aware of an important way that you can help us right now. 

You’ve likely seen our initial messaging about this year’s CCH Healthcare Heroes campaign.  By signing up now to donate at least $30 per month, you become a Healthcare Hero and show your commitment to standing alongside CCH doctors, nurses and public health educators (including principals, teachers and moto taxi drivers!) in this fight for Haiti. 100% of the funds donated by Healthcare Heroes support CCH’s healthcare mission in Haiti! By giving less than $1/day, you can save lives.Our goal is to secure a total of 100 Healthcare Heroes by midnight on June 30th! 

This is admittedly a BOLD goal for us, but it’s one that we believe to be highly relevant and incredibly important for CCH, especially right now.  If you are able to give, we need your help today. If you’re not in a place to give, you can help by following us on Facebook and spreading the word about the good that we are accomplishing together!