Solar-powered laboratory at our partner clinic in Fiervil

Local and global Rotary partnerships to equip our partner clinic with solar power to improve health outcomes in L’Acul region

Poughkeepsie surgeon and VHP Medical Advisory Board member Dan Katz, MD (middle), pictured with Gueslin Joassainvil, MD (left) and Nurse Rosenerline Marc (right) who run the Chermaitre-Fiervil clinic.

The evolving Covid-19 pandemic has served as a magnifying glass on the gross injustices present within both developed and developing countries, illustrating how, among other issues, class, race, history, geography, and other intersecting factors critically shape access to healthcare. The small Haitian medical team based at our partner clinic in Fiervil, Haiti, knows this reality well, as they have committed themselves to providing free, quality health services to villagers in a region where even basic medical care remains sparse and inaccessible to the majority.

Since 2014, Dr. Gueslin Joassainvil, a Haitian midwife and two nurses have staffed this clinic which was built with financial support from our organization and our Medical Advisory Board (MAB), comprised of doctors and medical professionals from Poughkeepsie and the Hudson Valley area who provide guidance in clinic operations. In 2017 alone, this three-room clinic treated over 1400 patients from 45 surrounding villages, and now serves up to 3000 patients annually. Throughout the years, this source of professional medical attention has significantly promoted both individual and community health, providing medications to patients, and reducing the spread of preventable diseases by encouraging villagers to pursue medical consultations, and implementing a health education campaign in the area.

Yet while these efforts have advanced great strides for the region’s health, technical resource constraints, notably an absence of electricity, have in ways hindered the scope and human impact of the clinic’s medical care. Alice Fan, a current junior at Vassar College and the VHP’s Student Health Initiative Director, recalls a particular moment: “In my freshman year when I just joined VHP, I remember seeing a picture of Dr. Gueslin holding an X-ray image facing the sun to see clearly because there is no light in the clinic.” Fan’s memory speaks to the strains on clinic staff caused by a lack of electricity and light, and suggests more far-reaching consequences for patients. Currently, without electrical power, “lab work can only be obtained by having the patient walk several hours away and waiting days or more for the results,” notes Dr. Dan Katz, a member of the VHP’s Board of Directors and Medical Advisory Board. As he also points out, no refrigeration also rules out the possibility for a child vaccination program.

Consequently, the combined reflections and imaginations of clinic staff, students and Board members created the vision of a solar-powered laboratory, a way to offset this dimming of physical light, and of possibilities for the region’s overall health. Dr. Gueslin himself acknowledges the logical ingenuity of harnessing a reliable, abundant, and environmentally friendly power source like the sun: “a solar-powered lab is critical for the clinic in this environment because we have no electricity, but we have sun almost everyday.” He also appreciates its prospects for helping close the gap between the medical staff’s goals and actual capacities; with a solar powered laboratory comes the possibility for diagnostic equipment to provide prescribed exams for patients and augment diagnostic accuracy and efficiency, as well as refrigeration to store vaccines that could reduce cases of malaria, typhoid, measles, and cholera in the region. 

This ambitious idea became a financially feasible reality thanks to the VHP’s proven track record in Haiti, and to the broader ecosystem of relations it has cultivated in the Poughkeepsie area with the Rotarian community. Over the years, local Rotary clubs and the nonprofit have forged strong connections built on trust and collaboration thanks to what Poughkeepsie-Arlington Rotary Club Vice President Irene Monck recognizes as the core values that they both share: notably the diffusion of global responsibility and peace through the avenues of health improvement, education support, and poverty alleviation. It was thanks to these identified causes that the Memorial des Gonaives Rotary Club was founded in Haiti by the VHP’s partner Père André Wildaine in 2016, in conjunction with the procurement of a Rotary International grant to fund a now completed water purification project in Chermaitre, the main mountain village with which we partners. For Monck, Wildaine has been an ideal partner for Rotary, as he exemplifies the values and ethics of a true Rotarian, and in turn inspires the foundation to continue its work in this region of Haiti.

Indeed this collaboration between the VHP and local Rotary Clubs laid important groundwork for the solar-powered lab: these and other clubs became eager to continue supporting lasting change in northwest Haiti by deferring to VHP as its operating partner, who provides the local knowledge and rapport necessary for Rotary to fulfill its commitment to effecting sustainable, welcomed change in communities. Researched in student-led Health Initiative meetings, discussed with the Medical Advisory Board doctors, and strategized with the VHP’s partners and medical team in Haiti, the initial idea for a solar powered lab became a compelling project articulated by student Rotaract members at Vassar in a grant proposal submitted by the Poughkeepsie-Arlington and Gonaives Rotary Clubs. The grant was ultimately approved by Rotary International (RI) last month in an amount of $126,000. We acknowledge the local Walden Rotary Club as well for taking the lead as the major funder of this grant, and also for their efforts in putting together a container of the most needed medical and school supplies for the clinic and school in Haiti with whom we partner sent in September of 2020.

This joyous news in such globally bleak times brought with it a refreshing sense of elation for Rotarians in Poughkeepsie and Haiti, their partner, the Vassar Haiti Project, and also important lessons that contributed to VHP Student Leaders’ hands-on training in real-life communicative and collaborative skills. Neal Marsh, Executive Director of the Arlington-Poughkeepsie Rotary Club, believes that “the Vassar Rotaract/VHP students saw first hand just how powerful Rotary can be. Through their efforts, with help from Rotarians, much was accomplished.” By working closely with local community members both in Poughkeepsie and on-the-ground in Haiti, and observing the fruits of the relationships between the VHP and local and district Rotary clubs, students experientially learned how foundational trust, partnership and collaboration are in the field of international development work. When asked about the new Rotary grant, Annika Rowland, a recent Vassar alumnae and previous Director of the Health Initiative Committee, affirmed: “I think this is a prime example of the tenacity of the project and power of our ties.”  

The VHP and the dedicated medical team in Haiti express their sincere gratitude to the Rotary Foundation, as they celebrate this triumph by acknowledging its long-term implications for the many communities they serve in Haiti, their health, and in turn their self-empowerment. As Vassar alumnae and past VHP Student Co-President Alex Ng ‘19 shares: “This Rotary International grant is an incredible milestone for the Vassar Haiti Project and truly elevates the quality of healthcare accessible to the people of Chermaitre and surrounding villages.” And Alex should know as she’s been to visit the clinic in Haiti twice over her tenure at Vassar College. The lab, upon construction, will render possible immunizations for children to help eradicate diseases common in the region in the generations to come, blood tests, and better targeted diagnoses and treatments to improve the health of thousands of families in the region. As Dr. Gueslin states, “Even when there is a hurricane, [solar power] will be the best for us in this area.” Solar power will thus have tangible effects while serving a symbolic role: this natural energy supply will endure adverse weather conditions and any uncertainty the future holds, embodying a resilience and strength that parallels that of the Haitian people Rotary and the VHP serve. The VHP looks forward to overseeing this Rotary-funded project through its entrusted partner André Wildaine as it comes to fruition in the coming years, as well as to seeing what additional projects emerge from its flourishing relationships with the Rotary Foundation.

Our main operating partner Père André Wildaine (right), discussing clinic updates with our Board Member and Medical Advisory Board member Dan Katz, MD (left)