Children’s Medical Mission of Haiti
Recent News
The Rev. Canon Bill Squire recently returned from visit to Port-au-Prince and meetings with the Rev. Sadoni Leon, Director of St. Vincent’s, Bishop Duracin, and others. Here are short summaries of the most recent news.
ST. VINCENT’S CENTRE FOR HANDICAPPED CHILDREN
Play time The "temporary" St. Vincent's at the Foyer Dorm room
Enrollment – This past year some 235 children were enrolled at St. Vincent’s. Next year at least 300 are expected to enroll. The school sent 19 children to take the state exam this year.
Teachers – For the first time in many years the teachers at St. Vincent’s received a salary increase. Pere Sadoni’s goal has been to increase the teachers’ salaries to the government’s minimum required salary of $170 U.S. per month. CMMH increased its monthly wire transfer from $8,500 to $10,000 to help cover this increased operating cost.
Brace Shop – The brace shop on the main campus (in the one building that survived the earthquake) is up and running again. St. Vincent’s is collaborating with the brace shop at Albert Schweitzer Hospital in Deschappel, providing a site in Port-au-Prince for patients who received care there but require on-going care and adjustments to their prostheses.
St. Vincent’s is working with the World Rehabilitation Fund to train its technicians and offer better service. It is also working with OK Prosthetics to install a new prosthetic system so that it will be able to make prostheses in either the old or new systems.
The three classrooms on the second floor above the brace shop have been fully restored and are used by the students in the upper grades.
Educational Programs – Save the Children plans to open a vocational program for the children at St. Vincent’s this fall offering music and craft courses after school hours.
Meals for the Children – Currently St. Vincent’s provides two meals a day for the children. Father Sadoni’s goal is to provide three. The cost is $1.50 per child per day. Several organizations have expressed an interest in helping to meet this goal.
Water – At the moment St. Vincent’s buys potable water from the Episcopal Seminary in Port-au-Prince which has a working well and water treatment facility. Detailed plans have been developed and funding obtained to build a water treatment facility on the grounds of St. Vincent’s that will provide potable water for the children as well as water to sell to the public.
Health Care – The community health clinic is functioning again, back to 45% of its pre-earthquake capacity. Dr. Beauvouir Georges, an orthopedic doctor, staffs the clinic as well as other health-care professionals. Orthopedic care, physical therapy, eye care, and a club foot program are all in place and functioning. Also, Healing Hands from Canada has sent a hearing testing device to St. Vincent’s and will begin offering community hearing tests. Also, the pharmacy has been re-established and is open.
Transportation – Pere Sadoni received one of several trucks purchased by Episcopal Relief and Development following the earthquake. He is currently shopping for a handicapped accessible bus to transport the children to sites outside of the school. An organization has agreed to pay for this purchase. 
Model of water treatment plant to come Musical instruments arrive New wall at the old main campus
Development of the Main Campus – At the moment the main campus of St. Vincent’s consists only of the Brace Shop and the three classrooms above. The building that housed the surgical suites and remained standing after the earthquake has been declared unsafe and will have to be demolished. A new, security wall, paid for by CMMH, has been built around the main campus with entrance gates and doors.
For now St. Vincent’s is housed in the courtyard and in buildings of what was formerly the Boy’s Foyer – under tarps, in temporary buildings, or upgraded existing structures.
Future development of the main campus awaits decisions by the Haitian government regarding ownership of adjacent land. It has been difficult to determine who owns the land since so many public records were destroyed in the earthquake.
New Vision for Downtown Port-au-Prince – Though not yet firm, ideas of a large downtown campus for Episcopal institutions have been considered. Holy Trinity Cathedral would receive additional land as would St. Vincent’s and Holy Trinity School. Also, there is talk about building a national concert hall across from the Presidential Palace as home to the Cathedral’s orchestra, Haiti’s only symphony orchestra.
“We are doing our best to maintain the school and achieve our goal of serving the children and people with disabilities.” The Rev. Sadoni Leon, Director of St. Vincent’s
Note that in addition to heading up St. Vincent’s, Pere Sadoni also serves as Priest-in-Charge of the Church of the Epiphany in Port-au-Prince. He holds Sunday services, two 6:30 a.m. services during the week, a Friday afternoon Bible study, and attends to the pastoral need of the congregation.
Dr. Georges with Father Sadoni
“An expression of Christian love for the people of Haiti, especially the children, through the hospitals, schools, and health centers in the Episcopal Diocese of Haiti.”
The Children’s Medical Mission of Haiti is a 501c 3 organization committed to providing support for the delivery of medical and educational services to the people of Haiti through St. Vincent’s Centre for Handicapped Children, Port-au-Prince, and Hopital Ste. Croix, Leogone.
It also serves as an umbrella organization for related missions in Haiti and facilitates and organizes the Haiti Connection Conferences.
Its goal is to strengthen each of the institutions through regular contributions to annual operating budgets as well as to endowment funds for long-term stability.
For more information on helping or donating to CMMH please CLICK HERE.
CMMH collaborates with the Episcopal Diocese of Haiti, which owns and operates St. Vincent’s and Hopital Ste. Croix. It also works closely with The Friends of St. Vincent’s, located in Hartford, CT.
Two organizations that began under the umbrella of CMMH, which are all now separate 501c 3 organizations, are the Children’s Nutrition Program located in Leogone, and the Maison de Naissance, a birthing center in Torback.