Dear Ones,
Happy New Year from everyone here at Midwives for Haiti! We trust you had a beautiful holiday season.
Our new year is made especially delightful by the results of our Holiday Campaign. There is no way we can thank you enough for your contributions. We are overwhelmed with gratitude. With your generous support, we exceeded our goal of $140,000 by over $15,000! This has been such a difficult year for Haiti and the organizations who work here, but it has taught us that our supporters are amazing and always ready to step up to help the women of the central plateau. Mesi anpil for everything!
In other news, I am back in Haiti. It is wonderful to be back onsite. Our staff are back from their holidays rested and renewed and ready to get back to work. The new year is always a combination of looking back and looking forward; we are excited to embrace the challenges and joys of a new season.
The political situation seems to have calmed down for the time being, although of course that can change quickly. After very careful evaluation by our experts on the ground, we have determined that it is safe for volunteers. We are requiring that folks go through Cap Hatien rather than Port Au Prince, and that everyone have active travel insurance. So please, rebook your tickets, make your plans, and come on down! We are delighted to welcome you, whether it is your first trip, or your twenty first!
More information is available from our amazing volunteer coordinator at volunteer@midwivesforhaiti.org. See you soon!
We are also thrilled to share our latest maternal and infant mortality rates from Ste Therese Hospital, here in Hinche. As you know, the maternity and postnatal wards at Ste Therese are staffed by MFH graduates, and it serves as the primary training site for our students. We are delighted to report that in the past two years, the maternal mortality rate has dropped from 1 in 168 women to 1 in 200 women! The neonatal mortality rate has gone from 64 per 1000 infants to 61 in 1000. This is a huge drop and such a testament to the efficacy of our educational program. Thank you, Diane Rousseau and Daisy Grochowski, Education Directors, Perrine Stock, Clinical Director, and all our graduates at Ste Therese!
Again, happy new year and see you in 2020!
Love always,
Jane
