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HAITIAN DOCTOR VISITS ORCAS

August 19, 2011 in Events by Nathan

Public health specialist, Dr. Richemond Jean-Baptiste visited Orcas August 7th as a guest of Helping Hands Noramise. Dr. Richemond practices in Limbe’, Haiti and collaborated with HHN on educational outreach at the height of the cholera epidemic in 2010. He was in the U.S. to attend a medical conference in New York and to raise funds for equipment and continued work on the clinic he is building in Limbe’ which will serve all residents regardless of their ability to pay.

Dr. Richemond is shown talking about public health challenges in Limbe’ at a library gathering of Orcas supporters.

Initial thoughts upon return to USA by Volunteer, Nicole Vulcan

August 1, 2011 in Education, Projects, Volunteer by Nathan

I don’t have much time to write today as I’m still in transit. I’ve now left Ayiti and am on my way back home, having left Dave and Jen behind for more days teaching. But these two quotes leapt out at me when I arrived on American soil today:

The guiding of thought and the deft coordination of deed is at once the path of honor and humanity.
-W.E.B. DuBois, ‘The Souls of Black Folk,’ 1903. (Found in the classics section of a Miami airport bookstore)

In this life we cannot always do great things. But we can do small things with great love.
-Mother Teresa (Seen on the back of an aid worker’s shirt in Miami)

So much more to tell later…

First children’s ESL class graduates

July 29, 2011 in Education, Projects by Nathan

The graduates of the kids class, "Timoun Klas Angle, Kay Noramise", July 2011

Almost end of first week of ESL class

July 28, 2011 in Education, Projects by Nathan

Following post is from Dave Parrish:

We’re almost at the end of the first week. I’m getting to know my students whom I like a lot. One thing I’ve noticed is that they aren’t used to group work. Today I was having them write a dialog in pairs where one person would write one line and the next person would write the next. That was a totally foreign concept. Even after my instructions they persisted in writing their own. Finally they relented and tried my way.

I’m guarding in my memory an image of Irose as an image of Haiti. She was sitting at her treadle sewing machine looking at her cell phone.

The heat is unbelievable. I’m thankful for this house and the shade in the back yard.

Two of my favorite parts are the beginnings and endings of class. Singing. They harmonize right away. Full voices.
All for now. Dave

Images from ESL Class

July 27, 2011 in Education, Projects by Nathan

Kids hard at work!

Students tell us about their families with basic drawings

Girls cutting out pictures to describe people’s features

English-Kreyol Hour

Realization: Creative Play

July 26, 2011 in Education, Projects by Nathan

Blog post by Nicole Vulcan:

Just finished the second day of teaching English at the Noramise house, and it’s been so much more revealing into the culture than the cordialities can ever be.

Jen and I are teaching the kids class, a sweet group of about 20. In Haiti, 7 year olds are the size of American four year olds, so I look with wonder at the little nymph who is the same age as my own child. With their diminutive frames, ten of them fit on one bench of the Noramise outdoor classroom – which measures about seven feet long. But the differences are more than physical. First off, it’s obvious the kids have very little exposure to visual arts. They can sing in harmony from a very young age, but visually, they know so little.

This morning Jen and I did a unit on families, showing them crude drawings of our own families that we’d colored by candlelight the night before. Then we brought out a box of crayons (lifted from my daughter’s ample art supply shelf) and asked the kids to draw their own families. Never have I seen a group so unwilling or unable to engage with their own creativity. The kids wanted to copy my paper, yellow-colored, blue-eyed figures of my own family; several kids used yellow crayon to draw their figures, wanted to look at my drawing for help knowing how to make a person. Only one boy, the oldest in the class at 14, displayed any sense of creativity on his paper, drawing a Caribbean sunset and palm trees in lieu of the evergreens I’d put on my drawing. The seven year old’s figures were mere blobs of color with no head, arms, legs or other distinguishing features.

It is clear from this group (which I know to be an unrepresentative sample that errs on the more affluent side among denizens of Limbe) that kids here are lacking in creative play. It was also evidenced by the unenthusiastic way they engaged in hopscotch to practice numbers; kids I’ve taught in other countries like this exercise because they get to see their classmates look silly…but in this group half the kids took to sitting down or listlessly looking on. Perhaps the most interesting exercise was watching them play Letter Bingo. Three girls won the first three rounds, making the boys sound off that the “garcons” were losing out in this game of chance. Some of the boys ended up getting the gimmies and expected to be given winner’s prizes, simply because they demanded it be so. When I told them no, they mumbled in Kreyol that they didn’t like the game, though fortunate for me my Kreyol is steadily improving!

I know I should not be upset over the way those boys demanded things… “Nicole give me a chocolate,” since this a symptom of limited English and not necessarily rudeness. Still, I take issue with this child’s sense of entitlement, as if he is somehow exempt from the rules of the game. I naturally extrapolate this into an overall view of the Haitian economy — the majority of its citizens playing by the rules while a few think they deserve more without merit.

Thus the missive of all missives, which comes into play whether it’s in Bingo or world economics: to foster the idea of earning bread through hard work, while all around them men languish with astronomical unemployment, women toil in charcoal-fired kitchens and raise babies, and the country crumbles under officials who seize power and hold on to it absolutely…

I humble myself and admit I don’t know where to begin or even if I’m helping; not the first in a line of blans informing Haitians how to live and be.

Taking a break during English class…

July 25, 2011 in Education, Projects by Nathan


Taking a break for ball during the kids’ English class. See the Team Noramise “jardin” in the foreground, new outdoor classroom to the left!

Permaculture project moving forward

July 25, 2011 in Permaculture, Projects by Nathan

Here are Lunise Joseph and Merlin St. Fleur with the seed packets donated by Sow True Seed of Asheville NC.  Lunise and Merlin attended the permaculture design course in PaP in May.

Limbe then and now…

July 24, 2011 in Volunteer by Nathan

Blog post by Nicole Vulcan…

“I feel like I keep saying O my god,” David says as we round another bend in the Limbe marketplace. True, there is lots to lament upon in this place where soiled discarded shoes mix with old animal horns and a gooey black muck, all very near thin mats where young and old sell beans, rice, used clothing and little bags of Dominican chips.

We’ve been in Limbe now a few days, and have rarely left the Noramise compound. Inside its gates lies a mini Haitian paradise, in the form of clean, dirt free floors (thanks to Rosedanie’s no shoes policy), a tidy yard with fruit trees, shady places for sitting and Lunise’s vegetable beds (one of the caretakers of the house, who recently attended the first-ever Haitian permaculture training in Port-au-Prince), as well as good fresh food and comfortable beds. Yes, showers are by and large taken with a bowl of water flung over the body, and the toilet flushed with buckets, but there ARE toilets and a clean bathroom, which is a far cry from the amenities available in the huts we passed on the road to Limbe.

And, a far cry from the church where we stayed on the team’s first trip, which lacked the basic amenities named above and stood just outside the marketplace. Back then heaps of trash, worse than now, burned in fetid piles. That’s why I had to smile a little when David made his comment, since now, thanks in part to the efforts of Team Noramise, there are no longer piles of burning trash, but instead only smears of trash here and there. Overall, I see improvements in the situation here — in the marketplace, in the accommodations for Noramise volunteers, in the general feeling of hope that pervades the house and the people who are part of the organization. I am heartened by progress as the journey continues, though we all know there is so far to go…

Making the first batch of chlorine, for practice!

July 23, 2011 in Clean Water/Sanitation, Projects by Nathan

The journey from the US to Okap

July 23, 2011 in Volunteer by Nathan

The following post is from Nicole Vulcan, (Vulcan Media Inc.) who is a member of the volunteer team now on the ground in Limbe:

In the film world, one way to move from one distinct scene to another is with a cross dissolve, where one scene slowly blends in to the next. Traveling from the U.S to the Dominican Republic and then on to Haiti is like a cross dissolve. We leave our pretty paved comforts and travel to a place where cracks start to show; things are not as organized or “straight” here, but there is still beauty and order among the raw life of the DR. We stayed in Santo Domingo’s colonial zone, where old meets new, and we were afforded comforts like aircon, cold beer and water flowing freely from the taps.

Then it was on to the other side of the cross dissolve, in the cool cocoon of a Caribe Tours bus, taking us in insulated comfort into Haiti’s northern region. We know this from history books to be the first place colonized in the Americas, once the Pearl of the Caribbean, and upon my third entry into this country I’m still intrigued, shocked and hopeful enough to keep believing the pearl is here…somewhere…

As we pass into Cap Haitien, I see the awe in my companions faces, the same I had, that this city, with its brownblack bay choked with garbage and the carcasses of boats, its streets teeming with sooty burning trashpiles and lotto stands, could possibly ever have been “The Paris of the Antilles.” My own pained awe is lessened somewhat from the last two times, but it’s still there…

As we make our way off the cool bus and into the wash of humid heat, the reality of our arrival hits. This is the part of the film where the dissolve has stopped, and the new scene begins in full; in this case, it begins with the mad thump of four drummers, greeting the arrivals at the bus station.

to be continued….

Support a volunteer traveling to Haiti

January 2, 2011 in Volunteer by Nathan

A past volunteer with Helping Hands Noramise is returning to Haiti early  in 2011.  Her name is Bonita Ford, and you can contribute to her volunteer mission by visiting her website @:  http://www.eco-logicalsolutions.com/haiti-support

Dec. 18 — Update from Rosedanie recapping current activities in Haiti

December 18, 2010 in Uncategorized by Nathan

Fabricating chlorine in order to purify water to prevent further spreading of Cholera, with help from Haiti Village Health organization in Bas Limbé.

The following post is a detailed summary just received from Rosedanie regarding her activities since arriving in Limbé on November 2nd, focused on Cholera-prevention, including outreach, education and other related topics.

PLEASE DONATE IN SUPPORT OF THESE ACTIVITIES AND BE PART OF THIS SUCCESSFUL EFFORT TO STEM THE TIDE OF CHOLERA IN THE LIMBE’ AREA OF HAITI. THANK YOU!

====

Hello everyone,
Following is a brief summary of my time in Limbé:
Arrived here on the evening of November 2nd, following a day in Santo Domingo, at Sister Island’s representative Nina Hernandez’ home.
Had hoped to spend a week or so getting reacquainted with the committee and family members in Limbe’. Unfortunately, the cholera epidemic made it necessary to put those plans aside.

With the help of several Tambour Creole members, I scheduled our first cholera prevention education outreach for the Camp Coq area, not far from where the Masabiel farmers cooperative wants to build its Tilapia ponds. We were able to mobilize some 60 residents, Inform them on the cause and main transmission source of cholera, methods of proper hygiene practices, water purification and food preparation to help with prevention. Gave out fliers which included the formula for the vital re hydration fluid needed to keep one with cholera alive on the long journey to the nearest medical center. Distributed soap, bleach and some re hydration packets provided by Danise Abel, president of the HHN Haiti committee. Since then we have given 15 such presentations in at least 10 areas in and outside of Limbé proper. Visited a hundred homes or so, 5 schools, distributing the same fliers and were invited to speak on 2 radio stations to give out the information.

I have connected with another organization, Haiti Village Health, which has a small clinic in Bas Limbé. Dr Tiffany Keenan, its founder and director invited us to the clinic three weeks ago and had her volunteers teach ours to make a low grade chlorine using salt, water and a very simple device. Robin has all the specs on this machine for those who want to know more. She then donated 3 of them to us as well as $500 with which to pay our volunteers who are now distributing this chlorine door to door throughout Limbé.. A cap full of this chlorine can be used to treat a five gallon bucket of water. Met another volunteer from England through the same organization, who came to Haiti with a water purification system(www.cleanwaterkits.com) using a ceramic filter and 2- 5 gallon buckets. This means of water purification is the easiest and safest to use we’ve seen to date. It requires no power source, delivers treated water at a rate of 5 liters per hour and removes 99.99% of bacteria and cysts. I traveled to St. Michel village with some Haiti Village volunteers and set up four purification centers there. This is an area where cholera victims were being transported via rowboat to Bas Limbé for medical care. Several of them never made it to the clinic alive. We hope to obtain more of these filters for distribution.

Our volunteer base is all Haitian, and as each member learns a new technique, they then have to teach it to the next person, ensuring that each member of the team really understands the new process and empowering them. This approach has been working very well and frees me to focus on other aspects of my time here.

The other item that has been taking up a good chunk of time is trying to get our committee moving forward with the charter so we can be recognized as a legal NGO in Haiti. We have had several meetings to review the charter and hope to have the final version completed at out next meeting on the 28th. In the interest of building better relation between the committee members and Tambour Creole, I hosted our first potluck last night, which was a huge success. At the end of the evening Daniel Desronvil our secretary, suggested we make this a regular practice and we will have another potluck next week, which will also have a secret santa component.

Charlot Kily the coordinator of Tambour Creole and I had discussed holding an all day celebration event for Independence day on January 1st. This idea was also well received by both committee members. The young artists and writers that Tambour Creole have been working with, will be asked to create some works to commemorate our independence, and I’m hoping HHN will be able to finance the purchase of some small prizes for the participants.

I have started a pilot ESL program at the Bethesda school, which will provide employment for a local man living across from the HHN center. Have also been teaching nutrition education to Lunise our cook/housekeeper and invite several local children here for an after school meal daily.

On a personal note, I have started coaching rugby to some of the kids on Saturday afternoons. Look out All Blacks, here comes the Haitian national rugby team. Haven’t been able to get any female players yet.
Well, I must get to bed now. Will send a more detailed year end report next week.

Go Team GO!!!
Coach Cadet

Nov. 24, 2010 — Update from Rosedanie: Focus on Cholera epidemic

November 25, 2010 in Uncategorized by Nathan

Hello everyone,

Update on the cholera situation in Limbe’:  According to the head of Doctors Without Borders (MSF), we haven’t seen the ‘tsunami’ of cholera that will hit Haiti.

http://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-1733-haiti-cholera-epidemic-an-apocalypse-scenario.html

This prediction, which seems a rather dark view of the situation to me, makes the work of prevention, outreach, and education even more important than any other projects HHN has on the table.  If we can get to areas that have not yet been affected, I believe there is a good chance the predicted ‘tsunami’ will not arrive.

I have connected with a group called Clean the World (www.cleantheworld.org) who are working in a seaside region called Bas Limbe’.  They have a simple chlorine water purification unit which they will teach us to make and use. We’ll then place volunteers at the water sources — streams, wells, etc. and train others.

THE DOCTOR IN CHARGE HAS A CONTACT WITH ROYAL CARIBBEAN CRUISE LINES IN MIAMI WHO WILL SHIP SUPPLIES TO US.  WE’RE LOOKING FOR FRIENDS IN MIAMI WHO CAN PICK UP THE 5 GAL. BUCKETS, WHICH ARE THE BASIS FOR THE SYSTEM, AND DELIVER THEM TO THE CRUISE LINE OFFICE.  Details to follow.

Let’s prevent this tsunami.

In unity,

Rosedanie

Update of Rosedanie’s activities since arriving in Haiti on Nov 2nd

November 18, 2010 in Uncategorized by Nathan

Following are excerpts from messages sent by Rosedanie since arriving in Haiti November 2, 2010.  They closely follow the horrific trajectory of the cholera epidemic in the region of Limbé.  The good news is that door-door outreach efforts have most recently been happening and have been well received (noted in the most recent posting at the very bottom).

We are desperately in need of funds to support Rosedanie and the HHN Committee in their efforts to provide supplies and prevention information to the people in the area.  Please make a contribution now by clicking on the DONATE link on the left.  We greatly thank you.

04 November 2010:  Hi there.  Am still trying to resolve network issues.  In need of emergency supplies.  30+ cases cholera at Good Samaritan Hospital.  Need ivs, more rehydrating salts, headlamps.  Patients housed in yard away from others.  Please send call out for help.  Trying to find economical way to receive supplies.  Thanks, Danie.

05 November 2010:  Good morning.  On my way to Cap Haitien for $ and supplies.

07 November 2010:  PC-Relief-Haiti ALERT:  Blue Plastic Water Bags – infected – Water distributed in Haiti as purified.  Director General of Haiti’s Health Department, Mr. Gabriel Thimote, warms that blue plastic bags of water labeled “purified” should not be trusted because they are filled with untreated Artibonite River water.

08 November 2010:  Good Morning.  Have images from yesterday’s cholera prevention gathering.  Will send soon as am able.  Thank you.  In unity, Rosedanie.

10 November 2010:  Good morning everyone,  Hope you are all well.  I got the modem yesterday and now have internet at the house.  It’s a little slow but it works.  Life here in Limbe’ is so so.  We had no electricity for 3 days, and it’s been raining heavily on and off for the past week.  The roof leaks and our kitchen draining system is plugged.  There are now 5 people other than myself living at the house putting a strain on the food budget.  As for the cholera outbreak, cases are increasing.  I am going to visit the Good Samaritan Hospital later and see how the additional patients are being housed.  I spoke with the Director of Public Health in Cap Haitien yesterday.  He informed me he had run out of ORS (oral rehydrating salts) and ivs and was trying to procure more.  When asked what we could do to help besides community outreach, he expressed the need for surgical gowns, gloves, and face masks.  Many people have died because their families and hospital staff are afraid to touch them fearing they might contract cholera, even though they’ve been told it is not transmitted through touch.  I’ve yet to see any MSF (Doctors Without Borders) staff working in this area.  I suspect that much of the supplies they are bringing will not get to those in need but will be sold by the people responsible for distribution.  This was the case with the many food supplies sent after the earthquake.

I’ve called a meeting of the HHN Limbe’ Committee on Saturday in order for us to decide how we will get information to people in the rural areas.  On Monday I hope to meet the Chief of Staff at the General Hospital in Okap who will be able to introduce me to a representative of MSF in order to obtain more supplies.  In the meantime I am continuing with the purchase of soap and bleach to distribute, as well as making copies of prevention materials.

The bottom line is that this crisis is not yet under control, and I’m not sure what more we can do other than what is being done.  Please do what you can to get the word out regarding what is going on and to obtain funds and/or the above mentioned supplies.

I am off to the Bethesda School in a while where I will be substituting for Sister Irose on Thursdays so she can have a day off.

Well, that’s all for now.  Thank you all again for your work.

In Unity, Rosedanie.

10 November 2010:  I am also in need of some food supplies.  Prices have gone up for everything and with the additional mouths to feed, what I had budgeted for food will not be sufficient.  Once we are able to establish an economical shipping route, we could use some cereal, bags of tuna fish, and other sources of protein.  Still trying to get hold of the shipping company to see about getting a discounted rate.  Must now dash and get trained as a substitute teacher.  Thank you, Rosedanie.  P.S.  Still trying to attach photos to send.

“10 November 2010:  Hello, I visited the hospital and spoke with the administrator.  Besides the supplies mentioned earlier there is a great need for medical personnel.  There are 12-15 new cases admitted daily, and they are short on staff.  Please update the website and add this to the volunteer page.  Anyone available can of course be housed here.  Have arranged to return in a few days and do some outreach with the patients and their families.  Also made contact with a UNICEF worker who came to find out what the hospital needed.  He and a colleague will be here Saturday, and we are planning to meet.  The boys came home from school today with a water purifying straw from waterislife.com.  Can someone check to see who they are and if we can somehow connect with them.  As electricity supply is short at the moment, I can’t spend any time searching online.

That’s all for today.  Must get ready for my first day of school.

In unity, Rosedanie.

15 November 2010:  Update from Haiti: According to Bureau of Public Health, Limbé is 2nd in area most affected by cholera. Team Noramise visited the town of Bas-Limbé & held 2 community outreach gatherings, giving info on symptoms and means of prevention for cholera, plus instruction on how to prepare an electrolyte fluid to give to those affected to drink while they are being rushed to health care. Photos to follow.

16 November 2010:  Hi there,  Had a meeting last night to plan our door-to-door cholera prevention outreach.  Due to unrest yesterday, most schools are closed today and people are still apprehensive about leaving their homes.  We are starting the visits in our neighborhood and working our way outward in the direction of areas we’ve already covered.  Several community members have been invited to join us.  We’ll have to wait and see who actually shows up.

In unity, Rosedanie

17 November 2010:  continuing our door to door outreach on cholera prevention. it’s going well, as each day a few more LOCAL RESIDENTS join our team in the work. Hoping to see a decrease in the # of people needing medical care soon. the hospitals are once again running out of supplies. the road to Cap-Haitien has been blocked for several days due to the riots.  things were slightly calmer in Limbé today.