Annual Report 2014

2014 IMPACT REPORT

Measuring Our Progress

It was a busy year. Watch this short video for highlights:

In 2014, our projects provided a total of 10,414 maternal and infant care visits in the Central Plateau of Haiti, the poorest region in the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Not only are more women giving birth at Hospital Ste. Therese with the help of our staff and students- the percentage of women coming to the hospital since we started working here in 2008 increased from 2% to 28% in 2012- but we’ve also increased the number of women and infants receiving postnatal care at Hospital Ste. Therese from 1% to 87%within six months. With such inspiring progress, there is still much to be done to make pregnancy and birth safer for women in Haiti.

Our 79 graduates have an 85% employment rate. These fine women and men work hard each year providing prenatal, delivery, and postpartum care in hospitals, birth centers, and mobile clinics throughout Haiti. We’ll add another 16 skilled birth attendants (SBAs) to the workforce in March 2015. Once these graduates secure employment with the Ministry of Health and other NGOs, the ripple effect of this training will continue: more women and infants will get the care they need to survive and thrive.

Our Volunteers

157 volunteers came to Hinche to support our programs and the teaching of Class 7 in 2014. These volunteers collectively donated over 6,000 hours to improving maternal and infant health in Haiti.

Our Family

Three of our own staff auxiliary-midwives gave birth this year. Welcome Baby Flecher “DJ”, Jossette, and Micheal.

Our Team

We made four key hires in 2014: Limone Clerveau, ISF, as Lead Teacher, Sci Clements as Administrative Director, Summer Aronson as Communications and Marketing Director, and Leona Garber as In-Country Director. Patti Lee, CNM, oversaw curriculum development for part of the year.

We also hired two more staff auxiliary-midwives: Illa Philogen and Juslène Regulus. Our Haiti staff grew to 40 with the addition of drivers, Jonel Telusma and Davide Ejeune.

Financials

Thank you to all the private donors who generously contributed 1,467 individual donations to support the work of Midwives For Haiti. Very special thanks to the following grantors: Every Mother Counts, Phalen Family Foundation, SG Foundation, Mother’s at Risk, Virginia Women’s Center and Bon Secours Health System.

Our Board of Directors: Stephen Eads, MD, Alice Hirata, MD, Kenneth Heatwole, MD, Jessica Jordan, CNM, Ryan Kenrick, Esq., Jeff Love, CPA, Kate Noon, MSW, Gigi Gore, RN.

What's in store for 2015?

We expect our impact to grow. Another sixteen Haitian nurses will earn their certificate in Advanced Obstetrics in March 2015 and will be ready to be hired as auxiliary-midwives in rural settings across Haiti. We will begin a new class of skilled birth attendants in the summer of 2015. Plans for opening our first ever rural birth center in Cabestor are also underway.

We’ll continue monitoring and evaluating our programs to ensure that each and every effort we are making is culturally appropriate and effective. We believe that training women and men to care for the mothers and infants of their own communities is the enduring difference that Midwives For Haiti can make. Increased access to maternal health is women’s empowerment. Women’s empowerment is community development. And community development means a healthier, safer, and stronger Haiti.

DOWNLOAD 1-PAGE PRINTABLE VERSION OF THIS REPORT HERE.