En route to Kansas City we talked and distilled our collective experiences and observations, as we continue to do back in K.C., slowly easing back into our daily chores, deadlines, and a different timetable. Admittedly, it has not been an easy transition, and we know that it takes time. Meanwhile, this period after a very intense trip is allowing us to reflect on things objectively, which is important.
Our last thoughts and conversations before we boarded the flight to Miami (from PaP) were about the synergy that exists between our two organizations-–the Kansas City Foundation and our Birthing Home in Haiti. As we discussed and reminisced about our colleagues, their passion for serving women and children in their community, and their quiet determination and strength, we realized that the recurring theme throughout our stay and during conversations with our colleagues was about the importance of education and communication, not only between our two entities but also for the people we serve, especially women.
Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen has argued in his book “Development as Freedom,” that the single most important investment a nation can make in its future economic development and the well-being of its citizens is the education of women. Sen demonstrates that “women’s access to education enhances their ability to exercise decision-making power in the home and enhance their control of the quality of their lives and those of their children.”
In the micro-credit sector in India, in impoverished places in Sub-Saharan Africa, and in my nonprofit work stateside, I have learned about the importance of education in empowering women to take charge of their health, finances, and education. Our lives are governed by universal needs that demand equal access to basic human rights, and being able to enjoy good health is one of those rights. And MN, along with countless other NGOs in Haiti, is working tirelessly to organize and provide “conditions” necessary for good health-–through medical, social, cultural, political, and infrastructural means.
MN’s work in Haiti is testament to the power of women’s education and the attendant raising of their awareness. Time and again, we heard from women themselves, and the staff, how education (in the context of health) is changing mindsets and lives. Even men are becoming interested in learning more about vaccinations for their children and the importance of family planning. There is also a growing awareness about the importance of attended deliveries for women, not only within their own families but among other women in their community-–that it saves lives and improves quality of life.
Betsy frequently says that we are not giving Haitians a hand-out but rather a ‘hand up’! This distinction is important, and applies not only to the work we do for mothers and babies but also to our colleagues in Haiti. We provided some tools-–a location, infrastructure, the equipment and supplies, basic methodologies and universally accepted guidelines for healthy mothers and babies, and most importantly, our trust and confidence. They took those tools and with determination applied them to their community! We did not do anything ‘for’ them, but empowered and respectfully allowed them to do for themselves.
It is admirable and gratifying to see our colleagues take these tools and enhance them with education, training, initiative, and desire to learn more–for improving the maternal and child health in their community. They continue to desire to make and are making a profound difference in the quality of life of women and children, which directly impacts maternal and neonatal mortality outcomes.
Our staff not only perform lifesaving health procedures, they educate women during all phases of patient interaction at MN. There are handouts and presentations in Creole that demonstrate techniques, teach good health, offer common and shared experiences, and provide cultural anecdotes and stories - all in order to spread education and awareness about maternal and child health.
As a result, the community is craving more and demanding more. We witnessed this first hand when we visited some mothers at their homes, and when we participated in a community health committee meeting. We face the joyful burden of the community demanding more as awareness spreads about our work in the community, and through “word of mouth” of mothers who experience the quality, compassionate and effective care at MN. We need more space as our patient volumes increase, as women keep coming from not only our zone of service but beyond, from nearby townships, and further away.
We will tackle it all, slowly and with the help and commitment of our staff, for not only do they execute a superb model of care, they continue to make it better! We are proud to work alongside them, even if from quite a distance. And, we have so many people to thank for making this hard and life-changing work possible! I don’t think we have the words to express our gratitude and appreciation to our staff in Haiti, our board of directors in the U.S., our founders Betsy and Stan, and all of YOU – our volunteers, donors, friends and advocates. YOU make this possible. Without YOU, we cannot continue to do this work of giving Health and Hope to the beautiful people of Haiti. Thank You!
Thank you also for your encouragement, love and support. Thank you for accompanying us on this journey!
MN has more than 40 Haitian staff at our Birthing Home and we are open 24/7. With everyone attending to patients, it is hard to gather for a staff photo. The picture below features some of our colleagues who had a moment to spare.
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