Winter 2004 VIP Trip Review

From January 8th to February 2nd VIP was busy in Haiti. Twenty people represented the organization in three different work groups at three different times. Among them were: 1 Pediatrician, 1 Dentist, 1 Dental Assistant, 1 Lab Tech, 3 Nurses, 2 Veterinarians, 1 Office Manager, 1 Teacher, 1 Environmental Services, 4 Retirees with diverse backgrounds, 1 High School Student and 3 College Students. 15 are trip veterans, 8 of them VIP board members. Whereas many things were accomplished we usually feel "a few more days" would have been a big help. That was verified by the Haitians we worked with who said "you really should spend more time with us."

4-H News

We were able to visit 8 of 9 4H Clubs. The one being in a village we weren't able to travel to because of bad roads (that's an understatement!) 4H Clubs were taught a variety of subjects suitable to their needs such as fire safety, tooth brushing and flossing, how to make hot pads, God's eyes for decoration, and cheese making from goat's milk. They were even given lots of gifts which had been donated to VIP by many of you - toothbrushes and floss, hot pad materials, yarn, garden seeds, yard goods, sewing kits, and health kits to name a few. We thank all of you who support our projects with "donations in kind". They play a big part in keeping our projects going!

Mother's Clubs

The mother's clubs were the first "reach out" program VIP became involved in. Looking back to the days when Jacqueline first introduced mother's clubs, it's hard to believe all that has been accomplished - teaching knitting, crocheting, sewing, (providing some sewing machines and supplies) making necklaces, providing Sun Ovens and teaching their use. The basic home making programs have expanded to Haitian nurses and doctors teaching child care, parenting, breast feeding, HIV prevention, just to name a few. We learned through a program we taught to nurses and doctors at the hospital that most mothers do not have the basic clothing for their newborn babies. We provided yarn for the Mother's Clubs to knit caps. We're hoping that you, our readers will continue to donate shirts, diapers and receiving blankets.

Pediatrics

Dr. Jan kept busy for 1 1/2 days doing physicals on some 30 children in a local orphanage in Mirebalais. It's a very nice, well run facility with a daughter (an RN) and mother running it. They have 2 incubators (both were occupied).
Dr. Jan taught a seminar for nurses and doctors on "Care of the Newborn Infant" and provided a procedure for use in the delivery room and nursery. It was very well recife and greatly appreciated (and incidentally, fun to do). She worked with the Haitian physicians and also injected patients for the dentists to facilitate the flow of work. Needless to say - she kept busy.

Child Care Centers

We spent an hour at each of several child care centers and found they are fulfilling their purpose very well. There are 30 centers with 10 to 20 children per center - children 6 months to 3 years. Each center has a trained leader and two assistants (mothers of children). We recognized some of the toys donated by some of you readers and found the workers to be genuinely involved with the children. Mothers are able to work in community gardens, sell wares at market, as servants to business people, as teacher's aids, doing laundry for others, etc. to provide a living for their families. One center was providing a bath for each child - others don't yet have bath tubs (large round plastic child-size tubs). A challenge for VIP - raise $5 per tub.

The Goat Project

For about four weeks in January groups of veterinarians (8) taught 2 day classes and 3 day clinics on the care and feeding of goats. Vets came from Wisconsin, Washington, Iowa and Canada. Approximately 60 students were taught - each receiving a pregnant female goat. One condition of the program is that the student must return the first female kid to the program in order to perpetuate it at the lowest possible cost. The students came from 7 villages within the Mirebalais area and the clinics were held in the villages.