09099
February 11, 2009
Haiti school graduates first professional nurse leaders
13 young men and women complete PC(USA)-backed education/training
The first graduating class of the Faculté des Sciences Infirmières de l'Université Episcopale d'Haïti (Faculty of Nursing Science of the Episcopal University of Haiti), a new nursing school in Haiti partially funded by the Medical Benevolence Foundation of the PC(USA) in partnership with International Health Ministries of the General Assembly Council. Photo courtesy of the Haiti Nursing Foundation LOUISVILLE ― Graduation ceremonies were held Jan. 10 in Port-au-Prince for the charter class of a new professional nursing program supported in part by the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.).
Thirteen young Haitian men and women are the first four-year baccalaureate graduates of theFaculté des Sciences Infirmières de l'Université Episcopale d'Haïti (Faculty of Nursing Science of the Episcopal University of Haiti, or FSIL).
“This is one of the most hopeful, long-range solutions to devastating problems in Haiti,” said FSIL Dean Hilda Alcindor.
The school was built in 2003-2004 with funding from the Medical Benevolence Foundation (MBF) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) in partnership with the International Health Ministries program of the General Assembly Council’s World Mission, and the American Schools and Hospitals Abroad program of USAID.
FSIL opened in January 2005 with the mission “to prepare its graduates for effective service as clinicians, leaders, and agents of change.” Today 127 young Haitian men and women are enrolled at FSIL.
Three Ph.D. nurse educators in the U.S. developed the school’s curriculum according to international standards. The FSIL Governing Board comprised of fifteen Americans, Haitian-Americans, and Haitian citizens was formed in 2004.
“From the beginning this school has been a partnership empowering Haitians to address a critical need in their own country,” Alcindor said.
Funding obtained to build FSIL did not include operating costs, and few Haitians can afford even the modest tuition at FSIL. Therefore, the Ann Arbor-based Haiti Nursing Foundation (HNF) was formed to raise money for its continued operation.
MBF and other donors continue to support the school.
“Haiti urgently needs qualified nurses. Grim statistics illustrating this abound,” notes the HNF. “Most Haitians will die before reaching their early fifties from such preventable or treatable causes as malaria, dysentery, malnutrition, measles, hypertension, HIV/AIDS, diabetes, and cervical cancer. The unnecessary suffering caused by these diseases and conditions particularly affects women and children.”
Information for this story furnished by Pat Cole, Communications Associate for World Mission and Marcia Lane of the Haiti Nursing Foundation.
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