Moving Forward!

We are excited to announce plans are moving forward to once again open the doors at Confidence Health Center! Even though we face many challenges, the need for medical aid in the community has only become more evident. We are pleased that Jonathan Kurtz with his wife and children will be traveling to Oriani this week. Jonathan is a trauma nurse from New York and will be our clinic administrator. I’m sure you will be hearing from him in the future. So stay tuned! Keith will be meeting them in Santo Domingo, and together they will travel to Oriani. Keith will be able to introduce them to the community and help them settle in a bit. I plan to arrive a couple weeks later and help with opening the clinic. Carmina, a nurse from Canada, who has worked at the clinic, will also be helping out. She has recently married and is living in Oriani. We hope to be operating by mid April, but plans must be fluid and an exact date has not been set. We are blessed how God has opened so many doors. There are still many unknowns because we face challenges we didn’t have before. Challenges related to insecurity in Port Au Prince. We simply can’t just travel there for supplies and medication like we once did. We will need to arrange for alternate transport methods or source from the Dominican Republic. With the exception of challenges related to poor access to the Capitol and an economy that continues to fail, life up on the mountain remains much the same. Seems like the gangs stay closer to civilization fighting among themselves. We can travel to Oriani through the Dominican Republic and avoid Port entirely. We have received direction from the Haitian mission committee to operate in this way. So what do we need from our supporters? We are so thankful that you are interested in the clinic and the mission there! Please pray for the work and the people that are suffering. Pray that God will continue to lead us and we can safely fulfill His work. We will once again need your donations. If you feel to help out in this way, please go to “Help Us” on this website for more information.

Below is an update directly from Oriani. Written by Carmina.

Hello from sunny Oriani, Haiti!

At face value, that greeting depicts a bright paradise on a Caribbean Island. But, on the ground, things are real. Sunny means no rain… we have had scant precipitation since a week of rains in January. Cisterns are dry. The fields are dust. Stress, anxiety, and, of course, illnesses are mounting in the population as we wait for the rainy season.

The population is also awaiting the opening of the clinic. Hardly a day passes that we don’t get asked for medical help or advice… sometimes I check a blood pressure or temperature at my house, offer advice and ibuprofen. Another nurse in the neighbourhood gives out Depo shots when she has them. The untrained so-called doctors in market sell homemade concoctions and expired medications. Access to better care in bigger towns is hampered by the exorbitant cost of fuel and the constant threat to safety from the gangs, who control the area closer to the city.

What a huge impact the clinic will have when it opens again! It offers hope and health, reassurance and remedies. A day of great rejoicing and answered prayers is coming for this little village. Thank God.

Remembering….

Jay…the place you left is empty still. But your legacy is evident at every turn. Flowers you planted. Friends you made. People you helped. Plans you had. You are not forgotten. Never. We talk about you lots.

Here I stand in the reception area of the clinic. All is quiet and the benches empty. Yet I see patient charts lining the shelves and medications ready to be dispensed. I can't believe it's been a year….it looks like it was open yesterday! Memories come to mind of a vibrant leader who was suddenly called home. His love for the people and the work in the clinic. His family whom he dearly loved, and the sacrifices they made serving this mountain community. Jay isn't forgotten here…the service he gave and the love he showed. When will you open again? Many ask me in the market. Some pointing to an ailment they have or telling of someone…quietly suffering at home. I bow my head and tell them to keep praying…the time may be soon. We speak a little more about the turmoil in Haiti. How difficult doing business has become. Difficulties with travel and finding supplies. Yet they have hope and give words of encouragement. We also feel God is opening doors. The clinic board has sought direction from our Haitian mission committee. They have unanimously given support for us to send medical staff and re-open the clinic. Some adjustments will need to be made related to travel, and we face new challenges with supplies and medicine. We trust God will open those doors too and want to move ahead as He leads. We are happy and blessed to report an ER nurse from New York has inquired about serving in the clinic. He is making plans to move here with his family, taking the lead as clinic administrator. We will keep you posted. Keep praying for Haiti, the people of Oriani, and God's leading.

Broken Silence

It’s been awhile since there’s been an update from Confidence Health Center. We appreciate our supporters and recent inquires about the clinic and Haiti in general. The past few months have been challenging and we’ve faced many difficult situations. So difficult, in fact, that it’s been hard for any of us to write. Most notable was the unexpected passing of our dear friend and clinic administrator, Jay Giesel. After a very short illness, Jay suddenly passed away on January 13 in Port au Prince, Haiti. Even if you had never met him, you learned to know Jay through his descriptive writing and enthusiasm for Haiti. His writing had a way of pulling you in, and you felt like you were there! Seeing the sights and even smelling the smells. His love for the work just radiated! He is greatly missed and we offer our sincere condolences to his wife and family. We want to thank each one that has supported the family during this time. There have been countless people that have reached out and helped in so many ways. Oriani had a special day of honor and remembrance for Jay and his contributions in the community. We would especially like to thank our Haitian church family for their support and prayers. The clinic board has been endeavoring to re-open the clinic and restore services. We trust that God will open that door soon, as we face challenges with supplies and staffing. The political climate in Haiti remains unstable, making it increasingly difficult to operate. One thing that is certain, the need for health care in Oriani has not gone away. We frequently hear about medical conditions left untreated and cries for the clinic to re-open. Let’s not forget the people of Oriani. We will keep you posted and please continue to pray and support the work. Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. Proverbs 3:5

Holding On

We recently enjoyed a short visit to Oriani by one of our board members, Keith Toews and his wife Candace. They flew into the Dominican Republic and I went to the border town of Malpasse to pick them up. They spent a few days here, visiting with many different ones and seeking counsel on the future of the clinic from our local clinic advisory committee, the national Mission Mennonite committee, and the local magistrate. We feel very good about the advice we received.

The situation in Haiti continues to be challenging. While we rejoice together with Christian Aid Ministries that all their hostages were able to escape safely and return to their families, the security situation here in Haiti remains volatile. There are many Haitians still being held hostage, and there is no sign that kidnappings are on the decline overall. For that reason, we are still avoiding traveling through the gang-controlled area of Croix-des-Bouquets. Our last trip into Port-au-Prince was October 12. There has been some question about the feasibility of us staying in Haiti, but the counsel we received while Keith’s were here has helped us to come to a more settled position on this. We feel that the Oriani area continues to be safe for the time being, and we are comfortable staying here, trusting our future into the hands of the almighty God and our local brethren and friends. We have faith that the locals will be honest with us and let us know if they feel our area is no longer safe.

We have found several workarounds to enable us to keep our clinic open and functioning, even if we are unable to travel into Port-au-Prince to buy supplies. We have several contacts from our area that make regular trips into Port with trucks and are able to bring items up for us. We also have resources in the Port area that are able to go from place to place on our behalf, purchasing items and bringing them to a drop-off point for the local trucks to pick up. We are very thankful these routes continue to stay open for us, and we are happy to see how the clinic is still able to function even in these uncertain times.

We continue to be quite busy here in the clinic, seeing anywhere from 50 to 80 patients per day. We seem to be seeing a lot of wound care lately. Several large, infected wounds have come in during the past several weeks, some of which have been treated previously with traditional methods, leading to them becoming very foul-smelling and challenging to deal with.

Our cleft palate baby, Jhonky, was able to go to the hospital last week for his initial assessment by the plastic surgeon that will do the operation. He continues to develop well, growing each time he comes in.

His consulation with the plastic surgeon at Hospital Bernard Mevs went well, and they scheduled a return visit for December 23 to go over lab results and hopefully put him on the schedule for operation. We are all ready to see his cleft palate repaired!

And so, the year draws to a close. We were unable to receive family or other company for Christmas due to the insecurity in the country, so we plan to spend a few days visiting friends in the Dominican Republic while the clinic is closed for the holidays. We hope to stock up on household supplies while we’re there also. We are looking at some staffing changes at the clinic in the new year, so we will need come back from Christmas ready to hit the ground running! It will be challenging to work through these changes while balancing the other needs of the clinic and household, but God will provide a way.

Continue to keep us in your prayers. We feel safe and secure here, and some of the anxiety and questions of the past few months are fading away as we trust the future into God’s hands. We feel like this is the place for us to be at the moment, but at the same time our hearts and minds are open to all possibilities, if the door should close for us to stay and we would need to return to the States. One day at a time!

As always, we thank each one of you who has donated money, supplies, and time to our clinic this past year. Our operation depends on people like you, and we are very grateful for each one. We are still needing to find a couple who would be willing to come serve as administrators of the clinic when our time here is finished later this year. We are looking for a married couple who is able to give several years to the cause, helping run the clinic and household. It would be very beneficial if either the husband or wife has medical training, but not absolutely necessary. Children are welcome. We have a safe and comfortable place to live, and all daily living is provided by the clinic. Oriani is home to a healthy church family, and there is plenty of spiritual food to be found every Sunday. There is not space enough here to list the blessings and benefits of your time here! If anyone is interested in this position, or know of someone who is, contact us via email at admin@confidencehealthcenter.com or via WhatsApp or Telegram at +509-3837-0605. Thanks!