CHIDA Turns 2. 2019 Year in Review.

Community health workers meet in CHIDA’s conference room.

In November of 2019, we celebrated the second anniversary of the opening of Centre Hospitalier D’IDADEE (CHIDA). CHIDA is the hospital that the PKF Medical Director, Dr. Wislyn, oversees just down the street from the IDADEE campus. If you’ve had the chance to visit in person, you immediately see the difference that Dr. Wislyn and his staff are making in their patients’ lives. The campus bustles with activity: Pharmacists filling prescriptions, lab technicians running tests, the first cry of a newborn baby, doctors and nurses taking time to sit and pray with their patients. The emergency room is either just below or just above “maximum” capacity. (At CHIDA, there is always room to care for one more patient.) 

We asked Dr. Wislyn to share some statistics, as well as his thoughts and reflections from 2019. In many ways, 2019 had high highs and low lows. You’ll see the steadfast faithfulness of Dr. Wislyn and the staff to their patients in the face of a tumultuous civil and political landscape. Protests and gas shortages effectively shut down much of the country for months (Peyi Locked). 

Highlights of Dr. Wislyn’s report include the delivery of 117 newborn babies, and the continued growth of the Community Health program, which provides preventative and maintenance care for people in the community, significantly reducing the need for emergency care.

CENTRE HOSPITALIER D’IDADEE (CHIDA)

DIRECTION MEDICALE

RAPPORT DE STATISTIQUE 2019

Our desire at CHIDA is to breathe new life into the Haitian health system. We are engaged in the fight for quality health care for the neediest and inspired by the spirit of sharing the love of Christ.

2019 was a challenging year. The protests and the “Peyi Locked” situation created problems such as energy shortages and difficult travel conditions for more than three months. But with the help of God, and the unconditional support of our partners, we were able to continue offering quality medical care to everyone. 

The most common illnesses that our doctors see are intestinal infections (typhoid, worms), hypertension, gastritis, pneumonia, and diabetes. Community health workers provide treatment for issues in the field, such as malnourishment. They also encourage pregnant women to deliver their babies at CHIDA, which decreases the number of women who die while giving birth.

In 2019 we:

• Treated more than 11,000 people this year.

• Treated 908 kids experiencing severe malnutrition

• Delivered 117 babies

• Worked with 724 families in our family program

Staff statistics

• 137 people work at CHIDA

• 47 people work in the community program

• We are serving about 23,000 people in the local community and expanding to other communities as news about our work spreads

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The cost for medical care at CHIDA is just $10 and covers everything from medication to overnight stays. From the start, Dr. Wislyn and his team determined that no one, regardless of whether they can pay or not (87% of patients cannot), would ever be denied medical care. 

Two years later, Dr. Wislyn and his staff remain dedicated to providing quality health care for some of the most vulnerable of Haiti. With your support, we're able to stand with them ensuring that they have the means and resources to continue providing that care.

Surf City Haiti

It has been a difficult few months for our friends in Haiti. In February, details came to light that lead to allegations of embezzlement against the Haitian government, namely president Jovenel Moise. Frustrated, many Haitian citizens protested. Unfortunately, when opposition and gang leaders got involved some of the protests became violent, especially in the capital, Port-au-Prince. In response, the U.S. Department of State issued a level four (the highest) travel advisory: do not travel.

Although most of the civil unrest was focused in Port-au-Prince, Cap-Haitien experienced protest and unrest as well. By God’s grace, all of our friends and families in Haiti remained safe. It is truly a testament to the leadership and the environment of love and safety that they have built.

Since February we have been in very close contact with our friends in Haiti who have consistently advised us on whether or not it is safe for us to travel. By March, Cap had cooled down enough for us to travel. Cap remained calm as we neared June and Surf City Haiti.

Our goal for Surf City Haiti has always been that it would be a Haitian-lead camp and that as the girls and boys in the children’s homes grow up, they would step into leadership positions in camp. Due to the unrest, our team was a lot smaller, and we owe the success of Surf City Haiti to the older Haitian girls and boys in those leadership roles. From worship to programming camp, everyone stepped up in a big way and made this year of camp one of the best yet.

Meet Our Students: Michaelson

We serve some pretty extraordinary kids in Pittsburgh and in Haiti. We’d love to introduce you to all of them, but that would make for a really long blog post! In this post, we’re introducing you to Michaelson!

Michaelson lives and attends school at EBAC, where he is in 10th grade. His favorite thing to do in his free time is drawing, and he’s become quite an incredible artist. He’s working and studying hard to become a doctor in the future. You can meet all of our kids here