Blog

Keeping Track of What We Do

"Benchmarking" is the industry term for keeping track of what you're doing....and HHH is gung ho for benchmarking. The ICRC is supporting the process of having our institution learn how to benchmark. The introductory class for this program was presented to the staff of our HHH clinic, called Kay Kapab Klinik, by consultants in December, 2012. On June 19-20 the consultants will be back to assess our institution. Attendees will include the clinic staff, plus several members of the HHH Board of Directors from the US and Haiti.

The Results Are In!

A new Patient Management System, compliments of the International Committee of the Red Cross Special Fund for the Disabled (ICRC), was put into action in January and some amazing statistics are now available that are invaluable to managing Healing Hands for Haiti (HHH). In the first quarter of 2013, almost 300 patients were treated in Physical & Occupational Therapy. And, more than 175 people were fitted with custom prosthetics/orthotics. We have made a positive impact on many lives in a short period of time!

Distance Learning for SCI Management

Dr. Geraldine Jacqueman presents a distant learning program for team management of spinal cord injury to the Healing Hands Staff. Pictured: Laura, nurse; Clerge, physio tech; Alise, PT.

Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) Southern Haiti Workshops

In February 2012, Healing Hands for Haiti (HHH) and Team Canada Healing Hands (TCHH) pooled resources to develop and deliver three workshops in the south of Haiti. A one day workshop was held in each of 3 locations: Les Cayes, Jacmel, and Leogane.

A total of 50 participants from all over Southern Haiti including nurses, physiotherapists, occupational therapists, rehab technicians, doctors, psychologists and community workers attended the workshop.

HHH Spinal Cord Injured Support Group

Healing Hands Spinal Cord Injured support

HHH SCI Support Group First Anniversary January 2012

January 12, 2012 marks the first anniversary of the HHH SCI Peer Support Group! The group was established one year after the earthquake when a need was identified that the lives of so many had been significantly changed. This group gathers every 2-4 weeks to talk about the past, the present and the future. There are so many topics to discuss and the group learns from and helps each other. Discussions range from adaptation, rehabilitation, employment, advocacy, disability, accessibility, families and more. The opportunity to meet and support each other has helped them all face the future. The group extends their thanks to Healing Hands for Haiti for making this possible.

A Healing Hands Success Story

Meet Jean Wesley Stimphat, one of our patients who broke his spine last year just after the earthquake. Jean Wesley was with us in Cap Haitien at the Haiti Hospital Appeal (HHA) Spinal Cord Injured Unit, where we looked after him and his mother.

Jean Wesley spent 5 months in the hospital with a lot to overcome. He had lost family members and friends, his house was destroyed, his university was destroyed, and he had lost his ability to walk. But Jean Wesley was determined to get his life back.

October and November Employee of the Month

Fiona Stephenson, Dr. Jim Rohde, Michaelle Delva, Antonio Kebrau, Al Ingersoll, Herold Lojuste

Herold Lojuste was nominated for the October Award because, as well as a being one of the HHH interpreters, he assisted in the HHH Transportation Audit beneficiary interviews and data collection. This is a very useful tool in alerting the organisation as well as (potential) donors regarding specific beneficiary needs. The Transportation Audit was written up and accepted as a Poster Presentation at the London School of Tropical Medicine at the Disability Symposium held in conjunction with the WHO on November 8th 2011.

Travelling to Cap Haitien

Haiti Hospital Appeal offered a week long Jewelry and Craft Making course held at L’hopital Convention Baptiste D’Haiti in Cap Haitien during October. Three HHH SCI beneficiaries, Elieze, Linda and Solonge, were excited to be a part of this program.

The organization and execution of transporting our friends involved collaboration between CYAN (a British organization) to cover flight costs, and MAF (Ministries Aviation Flights) a local NGO aviation organization. Healing Hands for Haiti coordinated the efforts of all in order to transport the ladies to the North of Haiti.

At the Paralympics

Jean Wesley Stimphat, Nerlande Jean Baptiste, Nadia Bernavil

Gail Buck and Fiona Stephenson along with three friends travelled to Ganthier, about an hour’s drive from Port au Prince, to the annual Paralympiques/Special Olympics. There were many persons with disabilities in attendance and the air was filled with positive energy and enthusiasm. Organization of the event could have been more streamlined as there were not really any ‘games’ to watch. It did highlight, however, the need for accessibility for spinal cord injured persons in wheelchairs as a simple trip to the washroom contained a variety of barriers such as gravelly paths and two foot high steps. It was an enjoyable outing nonetheless and we were pleased to be a part of it.

Photographer Ross Taylor Visits Clinic

Photo courtesy: Ross Taylor

Ross Taylor is a professional photojournalist and staff photographer for The Virginian-Pilot. He recently visited Healing Hands for Haiti’s Kay Kapab Klinik in Port-au-Prince to help us share with you the essence of the clinic and the people that work there.

Ross has won numerous awards including Photographer of the Year in New England as well as an Associated Press Photo of the Century award. Ross’ keen eye and attention to detail have enabled him to capture moments that define the human experience in the area of rehabilitation medicine. Thank you, Ross, for helping us tell our story.

August Employee of the Month

It is with great pleasure we award Yolie “Employee of the Month”.
Yolie Jean-Pierre has worked with HHH for many years and is a vital cog in the wheel; employed as the HHH Archivist.
Her time management is impeccable.... Usually at work at least an hour before the clinic opens Yolie is always very happy to help and takes her job seriously. She is a very much loved member of the team and the room exploded when she was presented the “Employee of the Month Award”.

Dr. Carla Gallo

	We have been exceptionally lucky to have had Dr Carla Gallo MD PM&R working with us in the Klinik Kay Kapab, volunteering her time to care for our patients, whilst Dr Moise has been on leave. This is the second time this year that we have had the pleasure of working with Dr Gallo and we are extremely grateful to her for helping us continue to provide care for our vulnerable client group.
(l to r) Carla and Fiona

July Employee of the Month

Yasmin Eduoard has supported the work of Healing Hands for Haiti for many years and has been employed on a full time basis since the earthquake.
Yasmin was awarded the employee of the month as an acknowledgement of her commitment and flexibility in working with HHH.
As part of our holistic approach to patient care, HHH aims to ensure that patients are fully informed regarding their medical, nursing and therapy treatment. The role of a medical interpreter is extremely important, and one that many of our HHH volunteers rely heavily on, especially when teaching the staff during education sessions, to ensure that complex medical information is not ‘lost in translation’.
As well as her interpretation and translation skills, Yasmin has helped HHH with her architectural knowledge, computer and data entry skills.
Well done and thank you Yasmin!

Yasmin with Herold and Jimmy

June Employee of the Month

Clerge Dieusilne is a Rehabilitation Technician who has worked for Healing Hands for Haiti since July 2007. Over the past four years, Clerge has shown consideration, kindness and gentleness towards the patients who come to the clinic. He is always punctual for work and willingly carries out anything asked of him. Clerge has extra training in the care of children with clubfoot and adapts wheelchairs for our beneficiaries’ individual needs.

After the earthquake, Clerge also worked with Handicap International to help with the rehabilitation of earthquake victims in Leogane.

Congratulations, Clerge, on being selected June 2011 Employee of the Month in recognition of all your hard work.

Grade Fives Support Healing Hands

Laguna Beach’s grade five class voted to donate their annual fundraising dollars to Healing Hands for Haiti medical clinic in Port au Prince. A check for $1,109 was cut and sent to the clinic, care of its director, Fiona Stephenson. To give them a clear picture of what their act of kindness did for other people, they connected via Skype with "Nurse Fiona," a delightful, energetic young English nurse and educator who has been there for 18 months, since the earthquake. They learned that she absolutely loves her work there and is part of a team that is helping/training her Haitian colleagues to eventually run the clinic themselves, especially to perform the badly needed rehabilitation that can make a physically disabled person's life much, much easier.

Employee du mois de mai

Congratulations to Hercules Pierre, our May Employee of the Month. Always good natured and ready to help whenever needed, Hercules brings a pleasant attitude to the Kay Kapab Klinic work environment. We are very happy to have him on the team!

Our Invaluable Interpreters

Mackenton Gilot (Big Mac) is one of four Healing Hands for Haiti’s full-time interpreters providing language services at our service centers in Port au Prince .

In a country with two languages, French and Creole, it is critical to be able to communicate effectively with the patients we serve. A patient has the right to explain in their own words exactly what their concern is, and to be understood, so that the nurse or doctor can respond with a clear explanation of what treatment is required.

Healing Hands for Haiti International welcomes volunteers from all over North America. In some cases, our volunteers speak either French or Creole or both, but most often volunteers speak only English. We are pleased to offer the service of our valued interpreters who help these volunteers to communicate with staff and patients at our Kay Kapab Klinic and at our Physical Rehabilitation Center.

We feel that the more ways we can make volunteering a positive experience, the more we improve service and care to our patients and their families.

April Employee of the Month

Congratulations to Mis Justine, our April Employee of the Month. The Klinik team gathered to honour Mis Justine whose kindness to her patients, dedication to HHHI, exemplary time management, and openess to learn were some of the key deciding factors in being awarded the honour.

Mis Justine often provides extra input in the hydrocephalus and club foot programmes and she is very keen in educating her patients. We are pleased to have this dedicated and conscientious worker help us provide the very best service to our patients. Well done, Mis Justine!

February Employee of the Month

The employee of the month program was introduced to show recognition to those front-line workers whose ongoing efforts make Healing Hands for Haiti an effective organization. It also serves as an incentive to all employees to strive for excellence in service. We feel this builds a culture of respect between coworkers and managers and stimulates open communication.

Congratulations to JamesLine from the accounting department at the Kay Kapab Klinik who is our employee of the month for February. After the earthquake there was some uncertainty and change creating challenge in the work environment. JamesLine showed great improvement during this tumultuous time bringing a positive attitude to the workplace as well as clearer communication. Well done, JamesLine!

Appreciation and Support from ICRC Chair

Compliments on our facilities and staff by Dr. Claude Lecoutre, Chairwoman of the International Committee of the Red Cross, Special Fund for the Disabled: "You have a great name and a great concept. This is one of the best operations we have seen anywhere. We strongly support your efforts in physical medicine and rehabilitation here."

"Sharing this generous thought with our managers and staff was the highlight of my visit last week to our facilities in Port-au-Prince, Haiti." said Eric Doubt, Executive Director for HHHI.

Both our Physical Rehab Center and new Klinik are operating at capacity, fabricating limbs for amputees and offering physical therapy to persons with disabilities. Very exciting that construction on our new Red Cross sponsored outpatient building starts in just a week or two. Progress is step by step: our Klinik is now equipped with new computer systems, the new pharmacy is set up and we are initiating new programs.

None of this would have been possible without help from other major supporters including Direct Relief International, Newman's Own Foundation, Handicap International, Team Canada Healing Hands, Physician's for Peace, Jain Center for Southern California and many individuals and companies.

January Employee of the Month

Congratulations to Madam Lucianne Jean-Baptiste, our Employee of the Month for January 2011.

Lucianne has been a nurse with Healing Hands since 2006 and her kindness and efficiency are top notch. She is an excellent team player and adapts quickly to change. Always the professional, Lucianne shows initiative in her duties and maintains order with well-honed time management skills.

Thanks for all your hard work, Lucianne!

Westjet and Canadian Football Team visit Kay Kapab Klinic

We extend a heartfelt thank you to our friends at Westjet and the Canadian Football Team for coming to see us all on the 11th of January. It was an amazing opportunity for our patients to meet the Westjet Football Team and it was wonderful to see so many of the patients smiling and laughing with our guests!

When we sent a thank you note to them for the visit, here is how they replied:

"On behalf of the Team I can only say an enormous thank you to all the dedicated and wonderful staff and patients at the Clinic. To have been able to be a part of the happiness of the moment is something that is certainly very clearly imprinted on my memory. Of the many things I have seen in my years this one is at the top of my list. The professional care and love between patients and staff is something that was truly amazing and I thank you on behalf of all of us for the opportunity to visit.

With very best wishes, Mike"

Please donate to support HHH services.

Keeping Track of What We Do

The Results Are In!

Distance Learning for SCI Management

Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) Southern Haiti Workshops

HHH Spinal Cord Injured Support Group

A Healing Hands Success Story

October and November Employee of the Month

Travelling to Cap Haitien

At the Paralympics

Photographer Ross Taylor Visits Clinic

August Employee of the Month

Dr. Carla Gallo

July Employee of the Month

June Employee of the Month

Grade Fives Support Healing Hands

Employee du mois de mai

Our Invaluable Interpreters

April Employee of the Month

February Employee of the Month

Appreciation and Support from ICRC Chair

January Employee of the Month

Westjet and Canadian Football Team visit Kay Kapab Klinic