Rose-Marie Chierici, a native Haitian, and a handful of her colleagues from Rochester, NY, have built a hospital and several connected projects in Borgne, a largely ignored region in Haiti. What impressed me most is her determination to ensure that the affected communities are involved in the daily management of the projects. People need to be invested in order to care. Please take a look at her project, H.O.P.E.
Borgne stretches from the sea, through a valley, up the
mountains. Traditionally the people have lived of
farming and fishing.
As a peasant community, most people are forced to live right at the
edge of subsistence and extreme poverty is visible everywhere.
Basic infrastructure like electricity and running water is non-existent.
H.O.P.E.’s hospital is the only hospital in the region.
Because of the lack of infrastructure, people often have to walk or be carried for hours to reach the hospital.
Before H.O.P.E. people had to walk up to 120 miles, to Cap Haitian, for emergencies and basic medical care.
This boy was brought in after he severed his tendon with his machete while working in the field. His dad, several family members and neighbors brought him down from the mountain, carrying him in a casket.
After the boy's leg was stitched up, the family started the four hour trek back up the mountain.
The hospital is the only building that has electricity in the region.
H.O.P.E. also organizes and runs a mobile clinic, which goes out to a different community every week to provide medical care. Furthermore they support a mobile teacher unit and several water and tree planting projects. All projects are selected, prioritized and managed by the community leaders. The funding for these projects, including the hospital, the largest employer in the region, comes from private donations raised by H.O.P.E., mainly from the States.
Rose-Marie is also one of three moms to Valery, a two year old chubby boy.
Valery was left at the hospital when he was a couple month old. He was so malnourished that everyone thought he'll die. Two women, both hospital staff, refused to give up on him and somehow managed to nurse him back to health.
We got to witness Valery's first day of kindergarten. Both mom's walked him to school; one held his hand for the duration of the walk, while the other took over when he stepped over the threshold of the kindergarten.
For the entire walk we had an audience cheering on Valery.
It does take a village to raise a child! And in this case H.O.P.E.
H.O.P.E.’s hospital is the only hospital in the region.
Because of the lack of infrastructure, people often have to walk or be carried for hours to reach the hospital.
This boy was brought in after he severed his tendon with his machete while working in the field. His dad, several family members and neighbors brought him down from the mountain, carrying him in a casket.
H.O.P.E. also organizes and runs a mobile clinic, which goes out to a different community every week to provide medical care. Furthermore they support a mobile teacher unit and several water and tree planting projects. All projects are selected, prioritized and managed by the community leaders. The funding for these projects, including the hospital, the largest employer in the region, comes from private donations raised by H.O.P.E., mainly from the States.
Rose-Marie is also one of three moms to Valery, a two year old chubby boy.
Valery was left at the hospital when he was a couple month old. He was so malnourished that everyone thought he'll die. Two women, both hospital staff, refused to give up on him and somehow managed to nurse him back to health.
We got to witness Valery's first day of kindergarten. Both mom's walked him to school; one held his hand for the duration of the walk, while the other took over when he stepped over the threshold of the kindergarten.
For the entire walk we had an audience cheering on Valery.
It does take a village to raise a child! And in this case H.O.P.E.
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