Post for Friday, June 10, written by Graham Barbour ’17 and Ingrid Benkovitz ’19:

Departure day at Norfolk International Airport. Next stop: Haiti!

As we disembarked the plane in Port Au Prince Thursday evening, we were bombarded by the scents of diesel fumes, unwashed bodies, and wood smoke. And we loved it. Stepping out of the airport, we boarded a van and made our way through the bustling night life of the capital.  After a short ride we arrived at Operation Blessing, International, an international humanitarian NGO working on improving the lives of those affected by the 2010 earthquake that rattled the nation. Tired and hungry after a full day of travel, Ryan and Andrew devoured a dish (or two) of lasagna, and then we settled in to play upwards of three hours of cards.

After a long day of travel, unwinding at the OBI Relax Guest House.

Today (Friday), we rose to pancakes and fresh fruit at the popular hour of 6 am. Then we proceeded to wait for the ride to Hinche, the town which we would be staying in, for two hours. Piling into two cars, we made our way up Route 3 into the Central Plateau. After an hour’s ride, Ray unfolded himself to get out of the back seat and we proceeded to tour the Partners in Health/Zanmi Lasante/Haitian Government Teaching Hospital in Mirebalais, the largest and best health center in the Caribbean. It was the ’19’s first time seeing the facilities, and as Kara Kaufman so eloquently stated, “It was cool.” She later remarked that she was “surprised by the beauty and openness of the hospital.”

The incredible HUM Facility in Mirebalais, which is entirely run by solar energy.

Ray folded himself up again and we took a brief ride up the mountain to tour the Nourimamba facility, where fortified peanut butter is produced. As we toured the factory, the ’19’s were intrigued by the detailed process, while enjoying the respite from the heat. We learned that, unlike normal peanut butter, this peanut butter is filled with additional vitamins and is actually given as a prescription to malnourished patients.

The original PIH/ZL hospital in Cange.

James at Tito at the PIH/ZL Hospital in Cange

From there, we drove to the PIH/ZL hospital in Cange, a picturesque institution sprawling over a forested hill. Trees enveloped the winding trail and a light breeze revived an expired Mrs. Hopkins. Unfortunately, most of the hospital was closed due to the weekend, but Helen and Ryan still managed to capitalize on the situation as they befriended Tito, a young boy who enjoyed selfies and big hugs, even from James with his two broken wrists.

For the final time, we loaded the van and everyone promptly passed out, exhausted from the day’s experiences. 45 minutes later we pulled into the Midwives for Haiti house in Hinche and started to prepare for the next day. Tomorrow we plan to head to the nearby rural community of Clory to monitor and evaluate the efficacy of the biosand water filters and Luci Lights that were distributed by GHFs last summer.

Reuniting with Ina May, the Midwives for Haiti feline, in Hinche.

The following article was written by Director of Communications at Norfolk Academy, Esther Diskin, to recount the first-ever Global Goals Day at NA:

Global Goals Day:

“No Poverty” Is Goal #1 For A Day Of Envisioning And Exploring

4/5/2016

Norfolk Academy’s 9th-12th graders started the week with Global Goals Day, an action-packed educational exercise about envisioning strategies to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure prosperity for people around the world.

Classes were suspended for the day as students dove into hands-on workshops, discussions, lectures, and debates about the problems that arise from shortages of food, shelter, money, and opportunity. They considered the roots of these seemingly intractable problems and then explored possible solutions.

The entire day was organized and led by students in the Global Health Fellows program of Norfolk Academy’s Center for Civic and Global Leadership. The fellows have been planning the day’s activities for months, and they chose to focus it on the 17 Global Goals for Sustainable Development established by the United Nations. Goal #1 is “no poverty,” and the array of goals arising from that clear, ambitious gambit include ending hunger, ensuring clean water, providing quality education, and developing responsible consumption and production.

While the 23 Global Health Fellows spent months planning the event and sweated every detail, they received energetic support from other student groups, including Girl Up Club and Feed A Friend Club, as well as other students in Fellows programs, particularly International Relations and Literacy Fellows. “From the beginning, it was important to the Global Health Fellows to include other student groups in the design and facilitation of the day,” said Price Hall, Director of the Global Health Fellows Program and Norfolk Academy’s International Programs.“They wanted to embrace the passion and commitment to action exhibited by so many of their peers around campus and to set the tone for a day that was truly student-run.”

Global Health Fellows kicked off the day with a short assembly to introduce the agenda and frame the day. Students played two United Nations’ videos, including a humorous one featuring the world’s fastest man, Usain Bolt, quitting in the middle of a race, and Apollo astronauts reversing course midway to the moon; the video outlined progress on world problems to pose the question: “So why would we stop halfway?”  A slide presentation followed, with fellows explaining each Global Goal, and students in the audience were challenged to use their mobile phones for a speedy Kahoot quiz about world poverty and health issues.

All students participated in three 45-minute workshops along four learning tracks: Good Health and Well-being; Climate and Energy; Economy and Infrastructure; and Education, Peace, and Equality. While fellows designed each of the workshops, faculty members helped lead some of them, particularly in areas where the faculty members had specific experience.

Scott Fowler and Elizabeth Glassman, Middle School science teachers, led a workshop about creating usable, practical water filters. Fowler opened by showing students pictures from his trip to build wells in Togo, in West Africa. Before getting the new wells, villagers drank rainwater that collected in open concrete cisterns with insects, animal waste, and algae floating in them. “You wouldn’t let your dog drink out of it,” Fowler noted.

In that workshop, students used simple supplies—plastic bottles, cheesecloth, cotton balls, coffee filters, baking soda, sand, and soil—to try to build a filter to clean water collected from a drainage ditch behind the school, and they quickly understood the immense challenge of purifying water to a potable level.

Paul Feakins and Jay Leach, who teach history and government in the Upper School and have EMT certification, held workshops on medical assessment, treatment for traumas like gunshots, and gave a tour of an ambulance. “I have always believed that the more we teach students about how to care for one another, the more empathetic they will become,” Feakins said. “I am a huge fan of CPR training for all high school students.”

Other workshops covered issues from feeding a family on food stamps to ecological relationships. “I really liked how quickly the students were able to think about how to implement small changes to make a difference around N.A.,” said Sarah Goodson, who teaches math and biology in the Upper School and led a workshop about composting.  “They also realized how difficult it can be to change the culture.”

The afternoon session began with a performance by Dance Director Elbert Watson, who choreographed three dances on themes of the day. For his final dance, Watson used a backdrop of photos of Norfolk Academy students doing service projects around the world and in Tidewater.

Afterward, students tackled a case study about the Syrian refugee crisis in Lebanon, where more than 880,000 refugees have flooded over the board due to the Syrian Civil War.  Students competed in teams to find solutions for devising improvements to care in refugee camps. They wrestled with how to budget for shelter, food, clean water, medical care, and education to a traumatized population. Each team submitted a video outlining their ideas with a Chick-Fil-A lunch offered as the tantalizing prize for the best proposal.

During the closing assembly, students heard a videotaped message from Dr. Paul Farmer who, as the co-founder of Partners in Health, is a revered figure in the global health movement. Farmer, who had taped the message specifically for Norfolk Academy, encouraged students to persevere. “I would cheer you on in thinking about the big picture as well as the small, humble steps you can take,” he said.

Senior Elizabeth Lilly, one of the six students in the first cohort of Global Health Fellows, closed the day by calling on everyone to take seriously the role of global citizen and the opportunity to change the world.  “Global citizenship transcends barriers of race, gender, and religion,” she observed. “It ties the whole world up into one beating heart—one thick, hardy muscle of principled agitation and progress.”

The MFH Mobile Clinic in La Jeune.

Four of the 2018 Fellows were able to travel with Midwives for Haiti on their mobile clinic to the local village, La Jeune, to provide a routine check-up for women by checking vital signs, conducting pelvic examinations, and listening to the heartbeat of unborn babies. We learned about the educational component of the process, in which one of the midwives explains to the patients the importance of nutrition, worrying symptoms, and what to expect before, during, and after birth. The mobile clinic helps women all over Haiti, and it is a wonderful asset to the central plateau of Haiti. While Claire, Olivia, Hunt and Elizabeth were at the mobile clinic, the rest of the group was off to an early start, leaving the MFH house at 7:30 to finish mapping the biosand water filters in Clory, Pandiassou, and Hinche. The group mapped the last 12 filters, making several stops along the way to Clory as most of the houses that were receiving filters were located just off of the road. While the group did not have to do much hiking today, it was clear when they returned that there was no lack of mud to dredge through to reach the houses. After a fun game of soccer right outside of the school in Clory, they headed back to the MFH house. Brian got to meet with one of the head farmers in Clory to discuss future plans for the Chicken Farm project.

Elizabeth and the recipient of the NA French Club’s first scholarship.

Elizabeth also had the opportunity to meet the young girl for whom the French Club will be providing a scholarship. She is 13 years old, has two brothers and six sisters, lives in Rivage and loves French. I (Stuart) spent the morning preparing to teach the first lesson of my Women’s Empowerment Curriculum in Rivage. I first became interested in Women’s Health and Education three summers ago when the 16’s took our first trip to Haiti. After learning more about the work of Midwives for Haiti, I returned to the States eager to research women’s health and the impact education has on a woman’s life. I watched two documentaries, Girl Rising and Half the Sky, which details the effect of education on a woman’s life. I was inspired to join this campaign of people around the world fighting to empower women through education. The question became, then, how would I affect such change? Quite honestly, I do not know the finite answer to this question, but my curriculum is at least a first step. I began working on the curriculum three years ago, proposing my ideas at the first annual Fellows Symposium. My second summer I went to Haiti I had two lessons designed, one on goal setting and one on decision making and consequences. I spent the week interviewing women in various communities to determine if they had any knowledge gaps pertaining to women’s health. That week, I piloted the first lesson in the school in Clory where the 16’s and 18’s have been working this past week. From that point forward, students training to become Midwives at MFH taught the curriculum every other Friday to girls in Clory ranging in age from 10 to 35. I would create lessons at home and email them to MFH where they would translate them and then teach them. The lessons ran from June to November. When the curriculum finished, I had the girls complete a questionnaire to determine whether they had retained the knowledge or not. To my disappointment, the results were worse than I expected. There are a wide variety of factors that could have affected the results, but after receiving such poor results I knew that I needed to reassess the curriculum and develop a new plan going forward. Brittany, then the In-Country coordinator for MFH, suggested that I return to Haiti and train one woman to teach the curriculum every week to the same group of girls aged 12-16. I took her advice and headed back down to Haiti this past November. In only three days I intended to train a Haitian woman, Oxanne, to teach the curriculum, translate the curriculum into Creole, and

Oxanne, Stuart Luter ’16, Isabelle, and Gampson

make sure it was culturally appropriate. I quickly learned that there was no way I was going to accomplish so much in merely three days. Instead, I spent my time making sure the curriculum was appropriate for Haitian culture. Based on Oxanne’s feedback, I returned to the States and made a lot of changes to the curriculum. I also had Mrs. Hall and Mr. Wetmore read the curriculum and give me feedback that greatly strengthened the quality of the curriculum. All that work could not be for nothing, so I had to determine what my next steps were. Throughout this process, sustainability and effectiveness have always been in the back of my head. I do not want the curriculum to run once and never again. I envision it continuing for several years, and evolving as I receive more feedback. After spending a week in Haiti in November, it was obvious that I needed to spend an extended amount of time in Haiti teaching the curriculum. So, here I am, spending 5 weeks in Hinche co-teaching the curriculum with Oxanne.

Stuart speaking with the girls and their mothers about the four-week Women’s Empowerment curriculum.

Today I met with the girls’ parents in Rivage, got their approval to teach all of the various topics in the lessons, explained more about the curriculum, met some of the girls whom I will be working with the next four weeks, and played a lot of fun games (in Creole!) with them. After several months of build up, it was amazing to finally meet the girls and really start my work for the next four weeks. I expected the girls’ mothers to be more skeptical of the curriculum, but they were very receptive to all of the lessons and excited that their daughters were going to be participating in the curriculum. One mother mentioned how thankful she was that I was going to teach her daughter such important information. She said that the lessons I am teaching should be taught in school but are not, yet the information is so crucial especially for girls just hitting puberty. In the U.S. we all have sex-ed classes, but that information we learn in 6^th grade is something we take for granted as some kids around the world never learn about puberty or pregnancy or STIs. Hearing the mother’s remarks reassured me that what I am teaching is knowledge that is both needed and wanted. Her comments motivated me further to work very hard these next four weeks.

Meeting the girls and playing some icebreaker games.

Furthermore, as Mrs. Hall has said several times, Oxanne is one of the most sincere women I’ve ever met. Watching her interact with the girls when we were singing and playing fun games was one of the happiest moments I’ve experienced. She was in her element and did not care that she was by far the oldest woman playing childish games. She is dedicated to helping these girls and is a true inspiration for me to be more selfless on a day-to-day basis. When the girls first arrived, they were all very shy. The second we started to play games, however, their personalities came out. I loved watching them open up and become more comfortable with one another. I can’t wait to get to know them and hopefully impact each one of their lives and I know they will impact mine. On Thursday, once the girls finish exams, we will be teaching the first two lessons. Going forward, I will teach three lessons per week on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. I will also be teaching the curriculum at the girl’s branch of the Maison Fortune orphanage here in Hinche.

Some of the “Women for Haiti’s Future” club

My hope is that through the curriculum we will create a safe environment where girls can learn about their health, learn how to make healthy decisions, and support one another through any obstacles they face. I will be making more changes to the curriculum based on feedback and observations from this summer. So, what happens after these 5 weeks? The plan is that Oxanne, having seen how the curriculum should be taught, will continue teaching the curriculum to different groups of girls in Rivage and Hinche. When she is too old, she will train a younger girl to take her place, and the cycle will continue. Ultimately, if all goes as planned (which I have found is rarely the case in Haiti), I will not need to be a part of the curriculum, and it will be managed and taught solely by Haitian women. I am very excited for the next four weeks and know that I will learn a lot and greatly strengthen the quality of my curriculum.

– Written by Stuart Luter (GHF ’16) with additions by Liz Heckard and Claire Cunningham (GHFs ’18)

“Frog killer” our final night in Haiti for 2015

Highlights from the day:

Olivia: mobile clinic

Hunt: playing soccer with boys at orphanage

Wyatt: playing soccer with the boys

Aneesh: being able to sit by himself and reflect on trips to Haiti and whole program

Brian: giving soccer ball to kids in Clory and playing with them one last time (their faces)

Lawson: playing soccer in Clory and orphanage

Stuart: finally meeting girls and parents after so much work and starting the curriculum (one of the mothers thanked her)

Gabi: playing soccer at orphanage and seeing Manno’s nice house

Elizabeth L.: whole experience in Rivage, meeting scholarship recipient and talking to her in French, being able to see Stuart do what she loves, and seeing Oxanne

Bridget: going to Rivage and seeing Stuart conduct her curriculum and seeing the girls

Claire: watching the mobile clinic

Liz H.: mobile clinic and experiencing a new part of Haiti

Today we truly upheld the time-honored tradition of Sunday as the day of rest, enjoying the luxury of a slow morning until finally leaving at 10:00. The ‘16s headed to the boys’ division of the Maison Fortune orphanage; the ‘18s returned to the Azil feeding center. The ‘16s, including famed Olympian Elizabeth, enjoyed a fierce game of soccer and a slightly more comedic game of basketball with the boys at the orphanage.

Hanging out at Maison Fortune Orphanage.

We returned for a filling lunch of beans and rice before setting out to the waterfall at Bassim Zim, which had hitherto been shrouded in an air of fantastic mystery. It had proved a polarizing idea within our group; some delighted at the prospect of seeing Haiti in a semi-touristy view, while others balked at warnings of muddied water and trash.

When we finally reached the waterfall after a long and sweaty Jeep ride, we were met with an awful sight, in all senses of the word. Its sheer grandeur and magnitude stole our breath; at the same time, we were slightly disappointed to see the dull brown filth of the water and the cesspool of trash that spun upon itself constantly, propelled in a circular motion by the flow of the water.

Bassim Zim

But the waterfall itself was not the only attraction. From the base we hiked, accompanied by an ever-increasing gaggle of money-seeking local children, up to several caves, adorned with stalagmites and stalactites and various carvings from voodoo rituals. It evoked from many a Global Health Fellow comparisons to cave-diving in other exotic Caribbean locales. Strangely, we often forget that Haiti is a Caribbean island, as alike in geography to St. Thomas and St. Lucia as it is in society and economy to sub-Saharan Africa.

It was an interesting day, full of wonders both simple and grand, where we both deeply connected with locals (in speaking the common language of sport at the orphanage) and were forced to see would-be relationships dissolve (as our child guides left us quickly at the waterfall when they realized we wouldn’t pay them for their “tours”).

In a sense, the day itself was an honest portrait of Haiti – of the quiet and manifold moments of beauty, reflection, and disappointment that every traveler experiences here.

– Written by Elizabeth Lilly, GHF ’16

Highlights of the day:

Hunt: Playing with a baby at the Azil for an hour

Aneesh: Playing soccer and basketball with the kids at the orphanage

Stuart: Visiting the waterfall at Bassim Zim since it was better than I expected

Gabi: Seeing the colorful, organized rooms at the Azil and how much care they put into making that place special

Claire: Playing with all the kids at the Azil

Olivia: Playing with the kids at the Azil

Liz: Hanging out at the Azil

Bridget: Playing basketball at the orphanage

Elizabeth: Seeing the newborn puppies at the orphanage; remembering the beauty of Haiti when we visited the waterfall

Lawson: Playing peek-a-boo with the older kids at the Azil

Brian: Playing soccer and basketball at the orphanage

Wyatt: Playing soccer and basketball at the orphanage

Today we woke up bright and early just to gain a new appreciation for “Haitian time.” We planned to depart for Clory at 8:00, but we were finally under way about 45 minutes later. When we arrived we separated into our respective project groups. Aneesh and Hunt went on a long hike around Clory with one of our translators to finish distributing Luci Lights and map out the homes of those recipients. Lawson and Olivia did the same with their translator. They later shared that they enjoyed seeing parts of Clory that they had never seen before. Liz, Bridget, Claire, and Mrs. Hall continued to educate the locals about the biosand filters and their functions as well as map out the locations of their homes.

Trekking from house to house in Clory to map the biosand filter locations.

The biosand mapping group.

Meanwhile Wyatt, Brian, and Gabi sat down with a few of the teachers of the school in Clory to talk about their handwashing curriculum. They generously came to the school on a Saturday to discuss our plans for the upcoming school year. We had planned for the Tippy Tap handwashing stations to be a big part of our project, but the school had more access to running water than we realized. We did build a Tippy Tap for Theard, a community leader, yesterday so that he could learn the model, and he plans on building a more permanent handwashing station for the upcoming school year. Since the school has pretty good access to a running water source from their well, the curriculum has become the main focus of our project.

Conversation with teachers at Flower of Hope School about handwashing.

In our discussion with the teachers, we explained that our focus was to educate the students about the importance of handwashing and proper technique. The teachers said that they already try to promote handwashing, but they are still interested in our curriculum since it was adapted from the previously successful curriculum created by the ‘16s for Operation Blessing International’s Peru division. The curriculum includes interactive teaching with giving and taking between the students and teachers as well as supervised handwashing. The teachers were especially interested in our posters, which explain in detail the process of handwashing. They even asked for more when we return next year. One of our focuses in the future will be to provide soap because the teachers said that the cost is the limiting factor in educating the children about handwashing.

In the afternoon we split into two groups. The ‘18s went to the Maison Fortune girls’ orphanage to enjoy interacting with the kids. The ‘16s went to the Azil, a recovery facility for undernourished infants and children. We took great pleasure in helping feed the malnourished infants baby formula. As we settled down for the night, our translator Kelby led us in a very helpful Creole lesson, while Aneesh, Bridget, and Mrs. Hall mapped the biosand filters being installed in Hinche.

-Wyatt Miller and Brian Peecie, GHFs ‘16

Highlights from the Day:

Gabi: Brainstorming with the teachers at the Clory school about future projects

Elizabeth: Hanging out with the kids at the Azil

Claire: Giving a biosand filter to a kind, old man in Clory who took time to pose for his picture

Lawson: Singing in the car on the way back from the orphanage

Hunt: When a man climbed up a tree to cut down a coconut for us

Aneesh: Coming across a beautiful view while walking in Clory and being reminded how gorgeous this country is

Wyatt: The productive discussion we had with the teachers in Clory

Brian: Hanging out with the kids at the Azil; one of the kids called him “Dada”

Stuart: The Azil

Bridget: The Azil and seeing Hinche in a whole different way tonight mapping the biosand fliters

Liz: Walking around with Claire and Bridget today in Clory

Olivia: Getting to see my friend, Sophia, again at the orphanage

The biosand filters arrived yesterday and the majority of them were stored at the Flower of Hope School in Clory. The community members who receive the filters are tasked with figuring out how to transport them back to their houses. The filter as a whole weighs 200 pounds. One method of transportation that struck us as particularly ingenious was laying the (heavy, concrete) filter laterally across two thick sticks. The more families take part in the transport and maintenance of the filters, the stronger the sense of ownership they will feel over them. Each filter takes around 30 minutes to install, and about 20 minutes of education usually follow. The education aspect has five points: how to pour the water in the filter, where you stand when you pour it, the priming of the filtration system, clean water storage, and how to protect the tube where the water comes out. We have chosen a community member to attend the biosand workshop in Jacmel, Haiti, in two weeks. He will learn how to properly monitor and evaluate the filters in the community and how to repair/take care of them, should future maintenance issues arise.

One of the technicians said, “This community has a large water issue and needs help.” After one filter had been installed, the head of the home that received it said, “Thank you. Water is life; it is the most important thing.” It warmed us, more than words can say, to see so vividly the tangible impact we are having on people’s lives. And what’s more, this project stems directly from the community’s own wishes. This approach – basing projects on evident need — renders a sense of just propriety and meaning unto our work here, and we are already beginning to see the results.

While installing the filters, we also mapped the houses in order to more easily and efficiently follow up on the next trip. In between installations, we chatted to the gaggle of girls who were following us closely. Wadley, a girl whom we met in November, joined us again throughout the day. We loved the opportunity to see familiar faces again! Claire and Elizabeth developed an especially keen bond with two fifteen-year-old girls at our third house. Once again, we were humbled by the stark contrast between these girls’ lives and ours. They are charged with taking care of the family in addition to enduring the heavy workload familiar to any serious student.

Wyatt, Brian, and Gabi worked to build a “tippy-tap” hand washing station at the school and will work with some teachers tomorrow to implement hand washing as a habit at the school. Lawson, Aneesh, Olivia, and Hunt trekked from house to house to continue to distribute Luci lights to provide much-needed light in the village.

Although the day did not go exactly as planned due to an extremely late lunch, we had a great afternoon. The 18’s and 16’s bonded by grabbing Cokes across the street and playing some raucously competitive games of hearts.

– Liz Heckard ’18, Claire Cunningham ’18, Bridget Dickinson ’16, and Elizabeth Lilly ‘16

Highlights from the Day:

Liz: Installing the biosand filters in the community

Hunt: Handing out Luci lights

Wyatt: Watching the biosand filter technicians installing the filters, how meticulous they were and how they valued their job. Haitians helping Haitians

Aneesh: Distributing the Luci lights

Lawson: Seeing how the Luci lights are impacting the community and seeing their reactions when receiving and learning about them

Olivia: Seeing more of Clory today than I have before

Gabi: Watching the installation of the biosand filters

Brian: Hearing one of the biosand filter recipients tell us thank you and how “water is life”

Elizabeth: Amazing to help the community in ways that they had explicitly expressed need

Bridget: Watching the community members innovate to carry the heavy biosand filters to their homes

Stuart: Continuing to work with Oxanne on the women’s empowerment curriculum and having it go much more smoothly and quickly than last time

Claire: Bonding with some girls our own age in Clory

Today the Global Health Fellows went to Clory to educate and distribute Luci Lights to the kids attending the Flower of Hope School. Using the information we collected from the needs assessment in November we decided that the community of Clory, especially the students, could benefit greatly from the solar powered Luci lights. This trip, we are distributing 500 lanterns to the residents of Clory, and we will bring more lanterns on our next trip.

We reached the school in the morning while the students were finishing their final exams. The students entered a classroom grade by grade where we taught them the proper way to use the Luci lights as well as the importance of renewable and safe light. These lights will help the students study once the sun sets each day and will hopefully be a factor in increasing academic performance as a result. When we asked the students how many of them had been burned by kerosene lanterns or candles, we were shocked at how many of them raised their hands. At quick glance, probably 95% of each class of students had experienced burns. At the conclusion of the educational session, we distributed a Luci light to every single student and teacher at the school.

Meanwhile other fellows were working on the implementation of the hand washing stations and biosand filters. A huge tap-tap from Jacmel, the home base of Hands Helping Haiti, arrived mid-morning to deliver the 30 biosand water filters.

Two technicians from the organization accompanied the delivery and will spend the next week or so installing the filters and educating the local community on how to use and maintain the filters. During our visit to the school 3 biosand filters were installed at the school and the location of the handwashing station was decided. After an eventful morning we headed back to Midwives for Haiti for lunch.

Following lunch we went to the local market in Hinche to buy PVC pipes and soap for the hand washing stations. We headed back home to enjoy a great meal and sat on the balcony taking in the beautiful, Caribbean sunset, preparing for a busy day tomorrow building the hand washing stations and continuing the installation of the biosand filters.

– Lawson Montgomery GHF ’18, Olivia Newsome GHF ’18, and Aneesh Dhawan GHF ‘16

Highlights from the Day:

Lawson: Distributing the Luci lights at the school

Elizabeth: Playing with the young girls upon arrival at the school

Gabi: Passing out the Luci lights to the children at the school

Hunt: Feeling the gratitude from the students at the school upon receiving the Luci lights

Claire: Reconnecting with a young girl in Clory that I met in November; visiting the market in Hinche

Liz: When the biosand filters arrived in Clory

Olivia: Getting to see the biosand filters in person

Stuart: Seeing Oxanne again and meeting Isabelle, the woman who will be helping me with translation this summer

Bridget: Seeing the biosand filters and watching everyone pitch in to unload them

Brian: Buying the PVC pipes at the hardware store and visiting some local stores

Aneesh: Getting to know the GHF ’18s better; seeing the Luci light distribution come together

Wyatt: Getting to know the GHF ’18s better

After an early arrival to the Norfolk Airport at 6:15, the Global Health Fellow classes of 2016 and 2018 began their excursion to the rural village of Hinche, in the Central Plateau of Haiti. We had a slightly delayed departure from Norfolk, but landed in Atlanta just in time to grab lunch and catch our flight to Haiti. The group passed through customs surprisingly quickly, and we were finally able to enter the scorching, humid air, which we had all craved since we last left it.

Once we departed the Port-au-Prince airport, all 14 of us loaded our luggage onto the top of a van, and squeezed in, to begin the 3 hour drive to Hinche. We drove through the mountains, and those of us who weren’t asleep enjoyed a very scenic, nostalgic route where we were reminded of some of our past experiences, but were also greeted with the prospects of making new memories.

We arrived at the Midwives for Haiti house and were immediately greeted by our friends who, (to our surprise), remembered us from previous years. After putting on tons of bug spray, we were re-oriented to the house and learned about some of the new Midwives for Haiti projects including the construction a new midwifery house and neonatal unit. A dinner of pasta was ready for us when we arrived and we were all very hungry, since we had such a short time for lunch in the airport.

Following dinner one member from each project group (Luci Lights, Biosand Filters, handwashing, and scholarships) had a meeting with Manno and Theard, two community leaders in Clory, to map out the plan for the upcoming days.

They have been incredibly supportive of our projects, and they have served as strong liaisons to the community in which we are working. Then we all convened to go over the details for the next day. As a group, we shared our “roses” and “thorns” of the day and began to organize ourselves for the day ahead of us.

– Claire Cunningham, Gabi Diskin, and Hunt Stockwell, GHFs Class of 2018

This spring semester, all the Global Health Fellows, Classes of 2016, 2017, and 2018, have worked to analyze the data collected during the needs assessment survey they conducted in rural Haiti in November 2014. After identifying the critical needs expressed by the community, the fellows have broken into smaller vertical groups to explore the following topics: Water treatment (biosand filters); Shoe distribution; Scholarships for secondary school (potentially partnering with the Upper School French Club to do this); Human waste management (latrines); Handwashing; Nutrition; School garden; Energy poverty (distributing the Luci lights sold during the December fundraiser); Clean cook stoves. The GHFs will present on these topics at the Spring Symposium on Wednesday, May 20. The Classes of 2016 and 2018 will travel to Haiti for a week in June to implement some of the projects stemming from this research.

Please come out and hear what the Fellows have been up to!