David Fogarty
Lucy Pierce, RN
Stuart Niel, MD - Anesthesiologist
Claude Roge, M.D. - Pediatric Cardiologist
Sandra Kertz, RN - Recovery Nurse
Shelly Roge - Patient Liason
Maria Kertz - Community Service
Tom McClellan
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
So you want to know more about us and Pignon, Haiti?
So this is going to be my first attempt at Blogging. Despite being pretty fluent in computers I have never had the time or inclination to blog. However after being asked to go on this trip I thought it would be a great way to share the experience and draw attention to the organization (WV Interplast). So in advance I want to apologize to everyone reading this that I am a terrible typist and speller. I will try and remember to use spell check but no promises.
To be honest I don't even know if they have Internet access at the hospital in Pignon but I am taking the chance that they do so in hopes I can continue this blog. I hope to be able to share the journey through words and send photos and possibly video. (no promises) We will just see how it goes.
I have always wanted to go on a trip like this. Dreamed of it. It really isn't the best time in my career (just started a year ago) because I am trying to build a business and wrestle with the growing pains that all businesses go through. However David Fogarty, a local retired Plastic Surgeon, made me an offer I couldn't refuse....literally people, I couldn't refuse it......I tried. He said, "Boy, if you wait for the perfect time to go it will never happen. There is never a perfect time to go." So I signed up. He is right. To make a difference you have to sacrifice and just volunteer. But as the time has gotten closer I have gotten more excited to the point now I cant wait to get started.
So what do I know about Haiti...well nothing really. I know its a Carribean country that shares a border with the Dominican Republic and is considered the poorest country in the western hemisphere. I will try and share some history with you below as I research it further. Most of this information I am going to paraphrase from wikipedia or other Internet resources so I don't pretend its my composition. But hey what can you do...
Got this from the CIA website...no close up spy photos though. See the link for your own reading: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ha.html
The native Taino Amerindians - who inhabited the island of Hispaniola when it was discovered by COLUMBUS in 1492 - were virtually annihilated by Spanish settlers within 25 years. In the early 17th century, the French established a presence on Hispaniola, and in 1697, Spain ceded to the French the western third of the island, which later became Haiti. The French colony, based on forestry and sugar-related industries, became one of the wealthiest in the Caribbean, but only through the heavy importation of African slaves and considerable environmental degradation. In the late 18th century, Haiti's nearly half million slaves revolted under Toussaint L'OUVERTURE. After a prolonged struggle, Haiti became the first black republic to declare its independence in 1804. The poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, Haiti has been plagued by political violence for most of its history. After an armed rebellion led to the forced resignation and exile of President Jean-Bertrand ARISTIDE in February 2004, an interim government took office to organize new elections under the auspices of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH). Continued violence and technical delays prompted repeated postponements, but Haiti finally did inaugurate a democratically elected president and parliament in May of 2006.
Capital - Port-au-prince
Size - Slightly smaller than the state of Maryland.
Highest point -Chaine de la Selle 2,680 m
Population -8,924,553
Life expectancy at birth - 57.56 years (Unbelievable in the 21 century) In the USA its 78.14 years
Economy - Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, with 80% of the population living under the poverty line and 54% in abject poverty. Two-thirds of all Haitians depend on the agricultural sector, mainly small-scale subsistence farming, and remain vulnerable to damage from frequent natural disasters, exacerbated by the country's widespread deforestation.
Pignon, where we are headed is a small town in the north central highlands of Haiti. Its about 30 min flight south of Cap Haitien. A small hospital was founded there in the 80's.
See the hospital website at:
http://www.pignon.org/
To be honest I don't even know if they have Internet access at the hospital in Pignon but I am taking the chance that they do so in hopes I can continue this blog. I hope to be able to share the journey through words and send photos and possibly video. (no promises) We will just see how it goes.
I have always wanted to go on a trip like this. Dreamed of it. It really isn't the best time in my career (just started a year ago) because I am trying to build a business and wrestle with the growing pains that all businesses go through. However David Fogarty, a local retired Plastic Surgeon, made me an offer I couldn't refuse....literally people, I couldn't refuse it......I tried. He said, "Boy, if you wait for the perfect time to go it will never happen. There is never a perfect time to go." So I signed up. He is right. To make a difference you have to sacrifice and just volunteer. But as the time has gotten closer I have gotten more excited to the point now I cant wait to get started.
So what do I know about Haiti...well nothing really. I know its a Carribean country that shares a border with the Dominican Republic and is considered the poorest country in the western hemisphere. I will try and share some history with you below as I research it further. Most of this information I am going to paraphrase from wikipedia or other Internet resources so I don't pretend its my composition. But hey what can you do...
Got this from the CIA website...no close up spy photos though. See the link for your own reading: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ha.html
The native Taino Amerindians - who inhabited the island of Hispaniola when it was discovered by COLUMBUS in 1492 - were virtually annihilated by Spanish settlers within 25 years. In the early 17th century, the French established a presence on Hispaniola, and in 1697, Spain ceded to the French the western third of the island, which later became Haiti. The French colony, based on forestry and sugar-related industries, became one of the wealthiest in the Caribbean, but only through the heavy importation of African slaves and considerable environmental degradation. In the late 18th century, Haiti's nearly half million slaves revolted under Toussaint L'OUVERTURE. After a prolonged struggle, Haiti became the first black republic to declare its independence in 1804. The poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, Haiti has been plagued by political violence for most of its history. After an armed rebellion led to the forced resignation and exile of President Jean-Bertrand ARISTIDE in February 2004, an interim government took office to organize new elections under the auspices of the United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH). Continued violence and technical delays prompted repeated postponements, but Haiti finally did inaugurate a democratically elected president and parliament in May of 2006.
Capital - Port-au-prince
Size - Slightly smaller than the state of Maryland.
Highest point -Chaine de la Selle 2,680 m
Population -8,924,553
Life expectancy at birth - 57.56 years (Unbelievable in the 21 century) In the USA its 78.14 years
Economy - Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, with 80% of the population living under the poverty line and 54% in abject poverty. Two-thirds of all Haitians depend on the agricultural sector, mainly small-scale subsistence farming, and remain vulnerable to damage from frequent natural disasters, exacerbated by the country's widespread deforestation.
Pignon, where we are headed is a small town in the north central highlands of Haiti. Its about 30 min flight south of Cap Haitien. A small hospital was founded there in the 80's.
See the hospital website at:
http://www.pignon.org/
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