To Haiti with hope, care
Nonprofit organization changes lives of all involved
By Lindsay Sauvageau JOURNAL CORRESPONDENT

Westminster's Michael Dunn joined several others from the area on a trip to Haiti that was organized by the Gardner-based nonprofit organization Forward in Health. COURTESY PHOTO

Some helped with their hands, some with their heads, but all with their hearts.

Four local residents were among a team of volunteers who recently returned from a week-long medical trip to Haiti, helping conduct a series of pediatric clinics, providing free medical treatment to 277 children in the Les Cayes region of Haiti - the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.

Ashburnham's Nancy and Brian Duphily, and

Westminster's Michael Dunn joined several others from surrounding communities on a trip organized by the Gardner-based nonprofit organization Forward in Health.

Nancy Duphily, a nursing professor at Mount Wachusett Community College, was one of six medical professionals on the trip.

Also among the volunteers were 10 students from area high schools and colleges, including Duphily's son, Brian, a student at Oakmont High, and Dunn, who attends Cushing Academy.

Rutland resident Wes Daniels was in charge of the students as their youth coordinator. Having traveled to Haiti twice before with Forward in Health, Daniels says the experience was something none of the volunteers will ever forget.

"I'm always struck by the different living conditions and the poverty, but also by the friendliness, pride and resiliency of the people there. Their lives are different and hard, but they are all hopeful, friendly and generous," said the retired high school teacher.

During the trip, the Forward in Health team conducted pediatric clinics in three different locations in the southern region of Les Cayes. About half of the 277 children seen in the clinics were treated for intestinal parasites and/or upper respiratory infections.

According to Forward in Health president, Dr. John Mulqueen, though they are easily treated, these two illnesses rank among the top three causes of child mortality in Haiti - killing approximately one in every 16 Haitian children before age five - due to an utter lack of even the most basic health services throughout much of the country.

The remainder of the children treated in the clinics were seen for a variety of illnesses, ranging from common childhood ailments like rashes and ear infections, to more serious conditions like heart problems and tuberculosis.

Leominster resident and Mt. Wachusett nursing instructor Jedy Giacoppe said she was just as overwhelmed by the living and health conditions of the people of Haiti as she was with their heartwarming natures.

"We saw a lot of little kids with respiratory symptoms, worms, malnutrition, skin rashes, funguses and a fair amount of scabies and lice," she said. "But it wasn't horribly overwhelming. I don't know if it's just that we were prepared really well or because the people there are just so beautiful, inside and out. They were kind and welcoming and appreciative, no matter what situation they were living in."

All of the medications and supplies used in the clinics were either donated directly or paid for through charitable contributions to Forward in Health.

The 277 patients treated on the clinic trip are among some 3,800 Haitian children who have been served by free clinics organized by Forward in Health co-founders John and Paula Mulqueen, since the Gardner doctor and nurse began taking volunteer medical teams to Haiti in 2001. Mulqueen says the clinics fill an important void in a country.

"The fact is, 1 in every 8 children die before age five, while those who survive have a life expectancy of less than 50 years. Deaths from preventable and easily treated diseases are endemic, and those few health services that do exist are unaffordable to most of the deeply impoverished Haitian population," he said.

Mulqueen also noted that 78 percent of the population lives on less than $2 a day - meaning even a potentially life-saving course of antibiotic treatment costing less than $3 is beyond the means of eight out of every 10 Haitians.

"In Haiti, the level of poverty is not just lacking enough food - it is not having any," Mulqueen explained. "No food, no clean water, no medical care. This is a poverty that causes death. Our hope is to relieve this level of desperation."

To that end, Forward in Health is working to raise the funds and resources needed to construct, furnish, and operate a permanent medical clinic, staffed by Haitian clinicians and community workers, on a plot of land recently purchased by the organization. In addition to providing general pediatric and adult medicine, the permanent clinic will offer prenatal care - a crucial service in a country where one in every 29 women dies in childbirth and one in every 16 infants dies before age one.

Mulqueen says with a permanent presence, the clinic will also be able to provide preventative care, as well as follow-up care - enabling clinicians to treat chronic conditions and prevent relapse of common illnesses like intestinal parasites.

Forward in Health is an almost entirely volunteer organization, and is in need of ongoing financial and other support. For more information, e-mail info@forwardinhealth. org, call (978) 632-7846, or visit www.forwardinhealth.org