A team of NYIT doctors from the Center for Global Health visited Haiti in January, including the village of Limbe (above).

Sidebar: A Nation in Crisis

Local physician Richmond Jean-Baptiste of Hospital St. Raphael drives his gold Toyota Tundra through the village of Limbe, Haiti, carrying with him a team of NYIT doctors. He gives them a tour of poverty-stricken neighborhoods while describing his people’s needs for professional medical services as well as his own plans for helping them. 

NYIT’s Center for Global Health sent four osteopathic physicians to Haiti in January 2012 to explore possible learning sites for students and to provide health care and education to local populations. The team also traveled to Port-au-Prince and Jacmel, in southern Haiti, during their eight-day visit. The doctors treated patients with cholera, malaria, typhoid, appendicitis, scabies, syphilis, muscle pain, high blood pressure, and arthritis.

Located in the north, Limbe is 16 miles from the nearest airport in Cap-Haitien, though the drive between the two regions is an hour-long trek through winding, unpaved roads. The village did not suffer the level of devastation Port-au-Prince endured during the massive earthquake in January 2010, but, according to Jean-Baptiste, it is because of the disaster that Limbe and its 40,000 residents suffer more. Much of the international humanitarian aid that once flowed into Limbe is now allocated toward rebuilding the capital.

“Port-au-Prince gets all the attention,” says Jean-Baptiste. “To many, Port-au-Prince is Haiti.”

After landing in Port-au-Prince on Jan. 20, the NYIT doctors met with Sidney Coupet, D.O., of Doctors United for Haiti. Born in Haiti but educated in the United States, Coupet founded the nonprofit in 2005 to help provide international medical support for Haitian families and improve the professional quality of Haiti’s health care practitioners.

“Major hospitals are not the solution,” says Coupet. “Small, community-based medical facilities are more effective.”

One such facility is Jean-Baptiste’s Hospital St. Raphael, which serves many regions near Limbe. The site, however, is limited in what services it can offer with only three physicians, three nurses, two small microscopes, and few medical supplies. If surgery is needed, patients must wait at least two hours for an ambulance to arrive from Cap-Haitien and transport them to a city hospital.

Jean-Baptiste talks about expanding the 8,500-square-foot facility before the central portions have roofs, power, and running water. The services he hopes to provide also include educational outreach about basic health, such as drinking clean water and proper sanitation.

“Education is the way this country will get better,” says Ed Gotfried, D.O., director of the Center for Global Health and the NYIT team leader in Haiti. Accompanying him on the trip were NYIT osteopathic doctors Deb Lardner, Mike Passafaro, and Bill Blazey (D.O. ’05).

The center is not the only NYIT presence in Haiti. Port-au-Prince native and architect Herve Sabin (B.Arch. ’98) is among many alumni making a difference. The Rural Haiti Project he founded in 2006 helps improve Haitian communities through educational programs, energy and sustainable practices, architecture and planning, and humanitarian assistance. One recent program involved building Internet-enabled centers in Jacmel and Camonette to help improve education and offer distance-learning opportunities.

“The goal is to pass on knowledge to local neighbors,” says Sabin. He attributes his ability to analyze problems and find solutions in Haiti to his NYIT education. “It’s the greatest asset I have.”

But improving Haiti’s infrastructure and the health care of its people stays sluggish as corruption in many levels of government diminishes much of the progress that can help the public. 

“The day-to-day poverty of Haiti is not a new story, unfortunately,” says Gary Shaye of the Save the Children Foundation, another Center for Global Health partner. 

Looking at Limbe—and much of Haiti—is like looking at a puzzle and knowing the pieces aren’t going to fit. For many trying to help, it’s all about the small successes, one day at a time. 

“We know Haiti has problems,” says Coupet. “The question is where do we start?”

As Jean-Baptiste grips the steering wheel of his SUV, the NYIT team surveys the decayed buildings of Limbe, the homes never finished, dreams never realized. The tour ends, and their guide drives them away, but not before a small boy chases them, waving his arms and shouting in Creole. 

Jean-Baptiste turns to Gotfried in the passenger seat and translates: “He’s saying, ‘Take me with you. Take me with you.’ ”

Previous | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6

More Features

Vol. 10 No. 2 Table of Contents