A letter from Dr. Barbara Weis, our executive director.
Dear friends of Sante Total,
Mesi Anpil (thank you so much), for your generous donations of time, energy, and money, and your willingness to help! Sante Total is counting on your participation to continue our projects in Haiti.
Please lend us your support on Giving Tuesday, December 2nd! Together, we can make a difference!
Why? Because Haiti is still the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and the continued political turmoil has caused suffering in Jacsonville. Our friends are struggling with food insecurity, inflation, gang violence, and gas, food and medication shortages.
Gaby sends his greeting to all, saying “Hi guys. I was lost in this crazy world. Haiti is a headache continuously. Consider what the riots did, the actions of the gangsters, Lord have mercy! It is harder to administrate the activities in the community. Anyway, we still have hope, another tomorrow is possible. Thank you for the support Sante Total is giving for the community. It is a bright spot during a very difficult time.”
Thank you so much from the bottom of our hearts!
Invest with us in Haiti. You will not regret it!
What does your donation provide?
If you would like to donate in someone’s honor as a holiday gift, we will send you cards that you can gift to your favorite person!
How to donate: Go to our main page and make an immediate donation or send a check to the address listed there. Or do both!
Here’s to the hope that someday soon, we will work ourselves out of a job!
I wish you all a Happy Holiday Season and safe journeys!
Barbara Weis, MD, MPH&TM
Executive Director, Sante Total
2025 updates: full newsletter coming soon!
– Clinic update: We are still trying to get the clinic open but the political turmoil and economic problems in Haiti combined with the fact that we can’t go there any more due to security issues have made it difficult. We have created an “Open the Clinic” team consisting of Gaby and all of our recent graduates to address barriers that need to be overcome for us to open. Most of the furniture from the grant supported by the Rotary of Ellicott City is finished and the medical equipment is in the Dominican Republic and will be transported as soon as the clinic is ready.
In the meantime, we have continued to support families in Jacsonville through telehealth and by helping them with their medical bills and medications. We recently sent $2500 for a baby who was born with hydrocephalus, a condition where the fluid that bathes your brain is blocked and starts to build up causing the head to become enormous. We located one of the last neurosurgeons in Port au Prince and she had surgery to place a shunt. She is now able to stand and hold her head up!
– Student scholarships: All of the students we supported have finished their studies. Ketteline, the nurse, is working at the school and providing blood pressure screenings for patients. As soon as we have a physician to work in the clinic, she will spend some days helping there. Maisson has completed his degree in administration at the university and is now a member of the “Opening team.” Myrbensly (Ben-Ben) graduated from pharmacy school and is now working as a member of the “Opening Team” to organize the medications, tests and pharmacy supplies we will need to open the clinic pharmacy. Bicovensen completed his final year of med school in the DR and has passed all the exams necessary for him to practice in the DR. He now needs to complete a year of service which he owes the government for his medical school training. He is also completing an Ultrasound course so that he can use this technique in the clinic. He has been invaluable as a leading member of the “Opening Team.”
Ben Ben said: Thank you for all you did, all you are doing for me and all you will do for me. You are in my heart.
– School partnership: We have continued the school lunch program thanks to a grant for the St. Thomas of Villanova Parish and are providing daily lunches to all of the pupils and teachers of St. Rose of Lima School year round. When schools close due to political reasons, Gaby sends the food home monthly to help support the families. This is sadly often the only food the kids receive during the day and the parents are grateful their children receive at least one balanced meal a day. We have solidified our partnership with the team that helps raise funds for the school and will continue to collaborate. The solar panel project for the school has been completed as have the mini libraries for each classroom. Gaby is excited that they will finally have electricity and can use computers!
– Berteau’s Group for the “handicapped and aged”: Berteau continues to hold weekly meetings at CHEAHP, the center for the handicapped and aged. Food is more expensive, so we have increased support to $600 a month. He also supported a huge Christmas party for them which was attended by almost 500 people last year. Per Berteau: ”Here thing still the same. The women are suffering lots of violence. We still working hard to see if we have something change…we live in a dictatorship with no elections for over 10 years…things still not easy and this year our budget is for 500 people again and we need $10 for each one. Foods, drinks and kits to go home included as well as toys for the children. The only once a year those people have chance to taste a good life. Many many kids always be there too. I know life is not easy there but if some things you can do I will be appreciate.”
Donations for this project would help us to increase the amount of food we distribute to the elderly and disabled in the community.
New projects:
– Small Store: Berteau would like to start a small store in Jacsonville to provide easier access to staples like rice, potatoes, flour, pasta, canned mackerel, fruits and vegetables. Right now, many people have to walk an hour each way to the market and shops in Pignon if they run out of food because there is such a shortage of gas and it is so expensive. This is difficult for the older people and takes time away from the time they can spend working in their fields.
– Cholera updates: Cholera is on the rise in Port au Prince again and has affected over 3000 people and caused 53 deaths this year, mostly in Port au Prince. There are no cases in Jacsonville so far. If it begins to spread, we will need to launch another cholera prevention program.
We will need $1000 to provide another cholera prevention program.
Thank you again for all your support in these difficult time!
