December 2003
Mombin Crochu, Haiti

Dear Friends in Christ,

As 2003 draws to a close, our host country is again plagued by political strife and civil uprisings that thrust it into the daily papers and news broadcasts as a nation in disorder and distress. We’ve recently heard that Haiti has been disparaged by some as a “Fourth World” country, with particularly severe economic and societal deprivation. But we are able to tell a story full of hope today—of a Haitian government health program that seems to be working, one that is providing some solutions to the health care plight of this nation’s poor.

MSPP Social Service

Although Covenant Hospital is operated by a mission partnership between the Episcopal Diocese of Haiti and the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), it is a public hospital owned by the government of Haiti. As such, it falls under the direction and programs of the MSPP, the Haitian Ministry of Public Health. This bureau has broad oversight and authority of Haiti’s medical practice and health-care activities.

Our relationship to MSPP allows Covenant Hospital to benefit the people of Mombin Crochu Commune with the Social Service Program, and so we have enriched our professional staff by four persons in the last two months—two physicians, one nurse, and one lab technician.

Sandra Martin, M.D., is 27 years old. She was born and raised in Port-au-Prince, where her mother, widowed and retired, was a teacher. Sandra was able to finish university and medical school because her mother had always wanted her only child to be a doctor and had saved money especially for that purpose. Following graduation from a private medical school in Port-au-Prince, she served a rotating internship at several hospitals in Haiti. She says she chose Covenant Hospital for her Social Service assignment because she had learned that we had a good reputation for care, that we served many poor people, and that we had a good supply of medications that allowed doctors to give needed treatments. “Dr. Sandra” believes that community health is what the people of Haiti need most, and she will probably specialize either in that field after her assignment here.

Covenant Hospital is the first rural hospital experience for Kens St. Louis, M.D., who served his internship at the big general hospital in Port-au-Prince following graduation from the state medical school. His father is a construction worker, and his mother a busy homemaker with Kens’s four little siblings.

Kens has developed an interest in applied psychology. Medicine seemed like a good place to pursue that, and so he became a physician. He says that Mombin Crochu is just a little too far from his fiancee to suit him, but he’s happy to be here nonetheless. Twenty-seven years old, Kens plans a residency in Ob-Gyn following his Social Service.

Danie Derisier, graduate nurse, is 29. Her assignment with us in the wilds of Mombin Crochu is her first-ever venture outside of her home in the big city. Danie lived at home during studies at the national nursing school. She says she chose Covenant Hospital as a leap of faith both in professional and personal life. She knew there was much need for service here, and decided that if she was finally going to leave home, it might as well be far away. She does miss her family, but is settling comfortably into the nursing and teaching routine of the hospital.

Ilna Thelus is our Social Service lab technician. Twenty-four years old, Ilna grew up in nearby Pignon, and then moved to Cap Haitien for her studies at the national school. She is happy to be here, as proximity to her family was one of the reasons Ilna chose to do her Social Service assignment in Mombin Crochu.

The MSPP Social Service Program is beneficial in several respects. Foremost, it is putting providers into health manpower shortage areas to serve needy Haitian people. Second, it is reinforcing the role and programs of Covenant Hospital, an MSPP hospital, which promote systems of high-quality prevention and treatment as the solution to the region’s health needs. The program strengthens Covenant Hospital’s role as a teaching institution, now instructing this country’s future health professionals as well as providing care for the sick. MSPP Social Service is blessing us personally with the opportunity to know and work with four more fine young people who are moving out in faith, dedicating their lives to the service of their country and its people’s needs.

Please join us in giving thanks to God for a ray of hope in Haiti—a system that seems to be working. Our prayers and greetings to each of you as we all enter the New Year in His care and Grace.

Paul and Joan McLain

The 2004 Mission Yearbook for Prayer & Study, p. 136