Londoners continue Haiti support

By Chris Montanini, Londoner

Wednesday, January 16, 2013 11:55:10 EST AM

Youngsters in the rural Haitian village of L’estere gives a thumbs up to the medical care they are receiving from London-based LifePaths Global Alliance (LGA). (Photo supplied)

• It’s been three years since a devastating earthquake rocked the small Caribbean country of Haiti and in particular, it’s capital city, Port-au-Prince.

The Solemn anniversary of the disaster passed Jan. 12 and although reports on the country’s reconstruction continue to describe a slow, painstaking process, Elaine Knight, founder of the local charity LifePaths Global Alliance, said she is seeing some signs of progress.

“There’s parts of Port-au-Prince that looked like the earthquake happened yesterday,” Knight said over the phone from L’Estere, where LifePaths is set up about two hours north of the Haiti capital. “But I’ve seen incredible changes. A lot of the garbage that was around, a lot of the rubble that was around, a lot of it has been cleaned up.”

Not only that, Knight said some of Haiti’s infrastructure has been repaired, like the highway connecting them to Port-au-Prince. Now only a two-hour drive from the Haiti capital, that journey used to take closer to five hours in the months following the quake.

“Every trip that I make, I’m pleasantly surprised that something else is getting cleaned up and another tent city has been dismantled,” said Knight, who makes the trip with LifePaths three or four times a year.

“It’s taking longer than it should and it’s taking longer than it would if it was say in our country or in another developed country. But keep in mind, (Haiti) was the poorest country in the Western hemisphere and then it got hit by an earthquake. It’s probably going to take 20 years to recuperate.”

LifePaths organized a concert in L’Estere Saturday that included a candlelight vigil for the 300,000 lives that were lost in the 2010 disaster.

“People get very emotional around the 12^th because even though we’re out in the countryside, a lot of family members were injured or killed in the earthquake in Port-au-Prince,” Knight said.

Two-and-a-half years ago, Knight and LifePaths made their first journey to Haiti in order to establish a ground breaking telemedicine clinic in L’Estere, which has a population of around 38,000. Knight said since then, the clinic has seen over 12,000 patients with the help of doctor Joey Prosper. Based in Port-au-Prince, Prosper connects to the clinic in L’Estere via video conferencing and helps prescribe medication and guide the hands of telemedicine assistants trained in basic health care.

“I’m kind of surprised. I know when we started, we had lineups down the street and I thought, how are we going to serve all these people?” Knight said.

The clinic is open two days per week with a max patient capacity of 50 each day. Knight said 20 spots are saved for emergencies.

“Looking back now, I think it’s incredible what we’ve done,” she said.

Knight added that more than half of the clinic’s patients are women and she’s hoping new clinic days can be opened up soon specifically for women, but she’s waiting for funding in order to buy medication.

LifePaths has also branched out with other projects in Haiti too. Along with private donations, the charity has also opened up a clothing boutique and internet café which help fund the clinic. They also have a nine acre rice field that helps provide employment and funds.

Knight said they have also been approached by “several different organizations,” including a group from Rochester University, to help build an emergency response system to improve coverage on one of Haiti’s main highways.

“Right now if there’s any kind of a car accident you’re kind of out there on your own,” Knight said. “The first people that show up throw you in the back of a pickup truck and take you to the closest hospital, but that hospital might not even have a doctor on staff. So we’re trying to get it a little more co-ordinated so they can assess the accident scene (more efficiently).”

Knight is also aware of growing concern at home over the ineffectiveness of NGOs in Haiti over the past three years, but hopes people don’t forget about how devastating the earthquake was for the already underprivileged country.

“(The earthquake) set the place back by years,” Knight said. “To pull out any aid now … I really hope (Canadians) look at it very closely before they make any decisions because (Haiti) still needs this help, there’s no doubt about it.”

Chris.montanini@sunmedia.ca