Over the past 20 years, physicians, scientists and students at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine have embarked upon medical missions to Haiti to provide medical assistance. Led by dedicated physicians like Dr. Barth Green, Dr. Arthur Fournier, and Dr. Michel Dodard, the Miller School has had a profound and lasting impact in Haiti. In 1994, these efforts culminated in the founding of Project Medishare for Haiti, a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, whose purpose is to extend medical missions to ongoing integrated community health and development programs.
Project Medishare has joined forces with the Haitian Government (Ministry of Health, Agriculture, and Education) and local organizations such as Partners in Health/Zanmi Lasante and World Vision to coordinate activities and to provide the most cost effective and sustainable programs to the communities served. Today, over 110,000 Haitians in the poorest rural region of Haiti, the Central Plateau, benefit from an Integrated Community Development Program including access to health, agriculture, education, and water & sanitation services.
In 2003, Project Medishare started a process to implement a community health program in Thomonde. This program was financed through a three-year grant from the Green Family Foundation. Today, Project Medishare has over 95 local staff of Haitian doctors, nurses, LPN’s, health agents, and administrative staff to provide this care. It includes managing the Ministry of Health clinic in Casse (Lahoye) and conducting a community health program with rally posts, mobile clinics, home visits, community meetings, vaccinations, nutritional monitoring, and providing oral rehydration solution, vitamin A, iron tablets, and anti-worm medication.
In 2009, our community health agents provided over 10,000 home visits and held over 430 “rally posts” where children were monitored for signs of malnutrition and received vaccinations.Our immunization rates in infants increased from 10% to 86%, and the number of pre-natal visits for pregnant women increased from no pre-natal visits to an average of three visits for each woman. Equally important, the mortality rate decreased among the population we serve from 698 deaths in the first year of the GFFI program to 483 in the third year.
In 2008, Project Medishare began collaborating with the Government of Haiti, The University of Florida Institute for Food & Agriculture Sciences (IFAS) and the community of Marmont to undertake an integrated community-driven development program. The activities focus on achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDG’s), which are aligned with the government of Haiti’s Poverty Reduction Strategy Plan, and promoting human security in impoverished rural areas through community based investment and community based capacity building. The program is in the pre-implementation, scoping stages and activities have focused on health, agriculture and education.
At the onset, Project Medishare collected baseline data on health, agriculture and education in Marmont. Our organization developed a community health program based on the current program in Thomonde and manages the government clinic to provide preventive and curative care focusing on women and children. Additionally, we have built a Maternal Health Center and staff residence focusing on high-risk pregnancies. The center provides a full package of services of women’s health – reproductive health education & services, family planning, HIV/AIDS counselling and testing, and prevention of mother to child transmission (PTME). With technical assistance from University of Florida IFAS, Project Medishare agronomist and agriculture extension agents provide agriculture training at our demonstration farm and at local farms, seeds and tools to the community farmers of Marmont. All program interventions are integrated and activities are cross-sectoral and in partnership with several organizations/ agencies working in the region (World Vision, FAO, PIH/Zanmi Lasante).
About the Project Medishare Blog
The Project Medishare Blog is here to keep donors, volunteers and participants informed about the work we do in Haiti by posting updates on current programs and new initiatives as well as featuring current events as they occur. The blog also features the many medical and surgical trips in Haiti which are hosted by our partnering universities such as the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, and the Mayo Clinic School of Medicine to name a few. In order to gain a different perspective, Project Medishare offers the opportunity for doctor and student participants to contribute their photographs and words regarding their medical trip experiences in order to give a broader voice to the blog.
Should you have questions about the blog, blog posts or have any other questions regarding Project Medishare’s programs or initiatives please send an email to info@projectmedishare.org.
I am interested in volunteering for amedical mission in Haiti. I am a RN Nurse practitioner in Women’s health care. I worked in a Hospital last April in limbe annd want again to serve in Haiti
thank you
lynne hudson
Hi Lynne–
If you want to join Medishare on a volunteer medical trip you can contact the organization at info@projectmedishare.org.
Thanks and hope to see you in Haiti one day.
Jennifer
i am an RN with experience in adult medical surgical/telemetry units. i am interested too in attending a trip to Haiti…I am a native and what a way to be giving back this would be…looking foward to hearing from project medishare!
Do you need anymore docotrs to assist in Haiti?
Hi Jennifer,
Thank you for maintaining this blog and for providing updated information about the relief efforts in Haiti.
Can you please let us know where Project Medishare is on Twitter?
Thanks,
Val
Currently we are not on Twitter but making updates on Facebook as well as the blog.
Project Medishare Executive Director Ellen Powers is currently coordinating Project Medishare /UM Global Institute efforts on ground in Haiti. She has asked for doctors wishing to come help the Project Medishare team, to not arrive today.
” We have 87 medical professionals on ground,” Powers said. “But there is no place to sleep, nor is there food or water so wait until we send the green light to send more doctors down. There will be need for long time to come, but we are not able to take more doctors today.”
I recently spoke to someone from medishare… I gave my info. I’m an RN with PICU and trauma experience. I’m just waiting for the opportunity to go and help like so many others. I know help will be needed for a long time, so I’ll be patient. I just don’t want to slip through the cracks. These people need help now!
I understand that there is an urgent need for baby formula, as per personal communication with Jenna Green and Leyna Nguyen (of CBS)
I’m trying to knock on many doors.
I have asked Jenna to ask PIH or Medishare to issue a quick PR on that subject. I lie to use the PR to pass on the call for help. I have already contacted many baby formula manufactirers lie Abbott, Nestle, J&J etc…
Can you write up something that I can use to issue an advisory.
Hope you don’t mind my using of some of your photos in the advisory .
I’m Sam from Ottawa. I run a virtual medical miracle network, helping poor Vietnamese children afflicted with weird disease.
Thank you so much for being on site to help.
Sam-Ottawa
I am interested in volunteering in the Project Medishare effort to provide psychological services in Haiti. Can you please provide information on who I should contact?
Thank you.
Chris
Project Medishare has partnered with the University of Miami to assist in the recruitment of medical volunteers, as well as the logistics of getting volunteers, and supplies to Haiti. Please sign up at the following link and make sure to fill out the entire form. https://secure.med.miami.edu/volunteer_for_Haiti/. You may put other in the section of expertise, however, the relief work we are doing in Port au Prince is medical.
We have received an outpouring of support and thousands of volunteers have signed up to help. We are currently focusing on individuals with a medical background and requiring at least a 7 day commitment and based on the needs coming from the hospital in Haiti. When/if the time comes, someone will contact you. Please be patient because as we have been working in Haiti for 15 years prior to the earthquake, we will be there for as long as we need to be after.
Thank you for your support and willingness to help the people of Haiti.
It’s sooo nice to be able to read about everything that is going on down there!! Thanks so much Jennifer!! And keep up the GREAT work!!
– Nik
Thanks Nik! Good to hear from you and hope you are well. Thank you for dedicating your skills for an extended period of time at the Project Medishare hospital! Take care!.
-Jennifer
Don’t forget that volunteers can also go to J/P HRO and contact Beth at medical@jphro.org for more information. Medishare was SO kind to share their doctors with us at J/P. Thanks again for all the hard work you’re doing in Haiti.
Hello
I’ve worked with PET MO-Columbia for 12 years as they started PET. Michael Kelley from the medical school sent us a link to your latest blog about Julandia receiving one of our child size PETs. It seems we gave PETs to Alfalit in Miami and at least one got to your project for distribution. Before the blog was written, Michael had emailed about getting more of these devices. So we are working on that. We want to work with reliable groups to distribute the PETs free of charge to those most in need. Many more PETs have gone to Haiti since the earthquake through various NGOs. We appreciate the great report and picture. We will share it with our volunteers and donors.
Thank you, Kathy Maynard
Kathy,
Thank you so much for sharing with PET International! We have since updated the story with links to the organization. Thank you for working on getting additional bikes donated to Project Medishare, we are very much in need of more and very appreciative of your efforts.
You can definitely see your enthusiasm in the work you write. The world hopes for more passionate writers like you who aren’t afraid to say how they believe. Always follow your heart.