A medical team made up of three med students from Wake Forest, plus Dr. Al Halls, Mary Halls, Deb Knight and Gene Summerlin will be headed to Haiti Dec. 11th-18th. Since Grace Chapel has been given administrative oversight of GCA’s medical teams, one of our goals is to make sure that we are providing consistent medical support to the children within GCA’s care. Currently, that includes 23 children attending GCA’s school in Mirebalais, 16 children at the orphanage in Sodo (just west of Mirebalais), and 25 children at Tutu’s orphanage (just east of Mirebalais). During the spring and summer months, medical teams come down on a fairly regular basis. However, from August through March, far fewer teams travel to Haiti, and we want to make a focused effort to ensure that we don’t let our medical care drop off during the winter.
The primary goals of this team are threefold: First, we will be creating initial medical records with pictures, heights, weights, and dates of birth for the kids at all three locations. Second, we will be administering dewormer to all the kids at all three locations in addition to regular medical exams and treatment. In places like Haiti, intestinal worms constitute a long term and chronic risk for children and the poor. These infections can negatively affect all aspects of a child’s development: health, nutrition, cognitive development, learning and educational achievement. Fortunately, the treatment is simple and cost-effective. Finally, we will bring additional medical supplies with us to restock GCA’s medical inventory. If time allows, we will also run a field clinic at a refugee camp where GCA has been providing food and water about halfway between Mirebalais and Cange.
We initially had a medical team scheduled to be on the ground in Mirebalais in late September, but that team had to cancel at the last minute. As a result, this team was assembled very quickly and with very little opportunity to engage in advance fund raising. We really need people to pitch in to help us cover the costs of medical supplies and pharmaceuticals. Craig Moore is currently going through our list of existing inventory and making recommendations for additional drugs to purchase. Given the possibility that the current cholera outbreak could fester for years, we will also be bringing in IV fluids, tubes and needles and Oral Rehydration Solution. Finally, as always, what we need most of all is prayer – for the people of Haiti, for the GCA support staff and for the team members and their families.
If you are interested in helping out financially or otherwise with the team, please contact Gene Summerlin at gene@osolaw.com or send checks to:
Grace Chapel
December Haiti Medical Team
4000 Sheridan Blvd.
Lincoln, NE 68506
402.484.8555
office@gracepca.com
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