Conejo Valley group helping Haitians with healthcare

TEAM SPIRIT—Several members of the Haiti Healthcare Partners gather during a recent visit to the island. Back row, from left, Bob Cotton; Harry Theodore; The Rev. Richard Thompson, pastor of Westminster Presbyterian Church in Westlake Village; Ben Small and Nick Valestrino. Front, from left: Dr. Marie Carmelle Michel, a local physician, and Martha and Don Miller. The group raises funds for medications and staff at the Grande Colline clinic, which serves about 2,000 women and children each year. Inhabitants of the remote mountainous region of Grande Colline in Haiti are severely lacking in healthcare, but a small group of Conejo Valley residents is trying to fill the need.

The nonprofit Haiti Healthcare Partners, based in Westlake Village, formed in 2005 to help fund the creation of a medical clinic in Grande Colline, where there is no hospital, according to Partners President Bob Sears. The facility opened in 2006 and treats about 2,000 people each year. Most of the patients are children or pregnant women. The clinic provides basic first aid, antibiotics, deworming, prenatal care, vitamins and pain reliever.

"We are the only healthcare option there. People walk as much as three hours each way to visit this clinic," said Sears, a resident of Westlake Village.

Haiti Healthcare raises about $35,000 a year for medications and the clinic's staff of seven. Of the funds raised, 95 percent goes directly to the clinic and 5 percent for other costs, such as brochures to promote the cause.

"Haiti is every bit as Third World as Africa. The Haitian people are very poor. The average wage is about $300 per year. They don't have money for even basic medical care," Sears said. "It is estimated that only 5 percent of the population ever sees a doctor in Haiti."

Sears and the other Partners board members visit the Caribbean nation annually to learn what other health issues need to be addressed. Last year the group discovered that there were many malnourished children, so a nutrition program was established. The group would like to offer treatment for HIV. Under discussion is how to provide mobile care to those who cannot travel to the clinic—possibilities include purchasing a motorcycle and hiring a doctor or nurse to travel to the isolated villages.

"What we're finding out is that so many of the patients are coming from so far away they either don't come or don't come on a regular basis because it's so hard to get there," Sears said.

The group wants to expand its medical services to reach more Haitian people in need.

"Haiti is a pariah country that has none of the cachet that Africa has and yet has every single problem that Africa has," Sears said. "It's a cause that we feel is great, and we're doing all we can do now, but to do all we really want to do we need help."

The group especially needs help from volunteers with fundraising skills, strong marketing backgrounds, and pharmacy or medical training.

With the exception of a medical adviser from Fort Smith, Ark., the other volunteers are from the Conejo Valley and are members of Westminster Presbyterian church in Westlake Village. They include board members Don Miller, Ben Small and Sears; and members at large Dr. Richard Thompson, Martha Miller, Ralph Wuerker, Dave Dobrowski, Bob Cotton, Nick Valestrino and Noelle MacDonald.

The men and women formed the organization after several visits to Haiti to learn about the country's needs. All happen to be members of Westminster Presybterian Church in Westlake Village, which supports many causes worldwide.

"We went down twice on our own to help. We installed solar panels, got involved with water purification but realized that medical care was missing," Sears said. "We felt that we had a calling that someone needed to address."

In July, two Haitians involved with the clinic visited Westlake Village to discuss the clinic's future—Marie Carmelle Michel, a physician, and Harry Theodore, a board member of a Haitian charity that helps guide the long-term economic and social development of the Grande Colline area and oversees the clinic's operation.

The group meets at 7 p.m. the second Monday of the month at Westminster Presbyterian.

For information, e-mail sears.fab4@aol.com or visit www.haitihealthcare.org.