How Project HOPE is Reconnecting Haiti’s Communities to Care

With support from the Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance, Project HOPE is helping communities in Haiti recover from last year's devastating earthquake and access essential health care services.
Posted: April 29, 2022

The 7.2-magnitude earthquake that struck southern Haiti in August 2021 brought an immense amount of devastation and need. More than 2,000 people were killed and 12,000 injured, many of whom lived in communities still struggling to recover from the 2010 earthquake and Hurricane Matthew.

But the long-term impacts of a natural disaster can be harder to see: clinics that don’t reopen, roads that remain impassable, and illnesses brought on by a lack of clean water. These impacts are acutely felt in Haiti’s rural communities, where health care can be too expensive or too far away.

Project HOPE, with support from the Bureau for Humanitarian Assistance, is investing in Haiti’s longer-term recovery by connecting these communities to care through support like mobile clinics, clean water filters, and donations of medical supplies to equip doctors and nurses on the ground.

In outlying communities like Boucan and Mouline, it might be the only primary care families receive.

Project HOPE mobile clinic in Boucan
A Project HOPE mobile clinic in Boucan. Before Project HOPE arrived, some families in this remote community had been forced to walk more than an hour to reach the nearest hospital. “This is the reason we drive more than two hours every day: to reach people in the most hard-to-reach areas in southern Haiti,” said Sam Lyronne, Project HOPE’s nurse supervisor at the clinic. “We don’t want to stop, because we are seeing lots of illness.” All Photos by Nadia Todres for Project HOPE, 2022.
Patients receiving care at a Project HOPE mobile clinic in Boucan
Patients line up to receive care at a mobile clinic in Boucan. For many families, this was the first time they had received primary care in months due to the expense and difficulty of traveling to larger cities.
Project HOPE health worker at mobile clinic
Sam Lyronne, Project HOPE’s nurse supervisor, treats a young patient. “I feel good about what I am doing because I love helping people, especially when they are in need,” she said. “Especially the most vulnerable. I want to help people who have no money to buy medication, people who don’t have access to hospitals. My suitcase is always packed for whenever I get called.”
Mom at a mobile clinic in Haiti
Esther is the mother of six children, most recently newborn twins. Together, she and her husband harvest beans, corn, and yams to provide food for the family and to generate income. Thanks to this mobile clinic, she only had to walk a few minutes to seek medical care for her kids.

“We are doing mobile clinics each day. That’s the reason we drive more than two hours: in order to reach people in the most hard-to-reach areas in southern Haiti. The more supplies we can provide, the more people we can help. We don’t want to stop, because we are seeing lots of illness.”

Sam Lyronne, Project HOPE nurse supervisor

Project HOPE health workers meet with patients in Boucan
Project HOPE team members consult with patients at a mobile clinic in Boucan. Much of the sickness in the area has come from contaminated water after the earthquake. “The dirt from the earthquake has affected the water, and people have no water pump, so they are fetching water from the river,” Lyronne said. “Rocks and dirt are feeding into the rivers. People are using this water to bathe, cook and drink. And this water is making them ill, very ill.”
Project HOPE clinician doing blood pressure check
A Project HOPE clinician conducts a blood pressure check at the mobile clinic in Boucan. Though the earthquake caused immediate devastation, the barriers to care that impact Haiti’s rural communities are entrenched due to challenges like access, transportation, and income.
Danielle, 17, receiving care at a mobile clinic
Danielle, 17, visited the mobile clinic with her mother and two siblings. Project HOPE provided five doctors, seven nurses, a pharmacist, and a mental health professional on site to provide care.
Remote community outside Les Cayes
Project HOPE team members on the road from Port Salut to Boucan, a rural community outside Les Cayes. Though many of Haiti’s smaller communities are only separated by a few kilometers, it can take hours to drive due to road conditions and lingering damage from the earthquake.

The challenges are similar in Mouline. The community is located just a few miles from the town of Beaumont, where the nearest hospital is, but the drive can take 45 minutes due to rough roads and rubble. Walking takes much longer.

Some of the biggest problems here are infections due to unclean water. But since October, Project HOPE doctors have also seen an increase in child malnutrition, especially in young children. Haiti’s southern communities depend almost entirely on agriculture. After the earthquake, many families lost all their crops and now do not have enough food.

Project HOPE mobile clinic in Mouline
At a Project HOPE mobile clinic in Mouline. Months after the initial emergency, health needs are still high in Haiti’s rural communities, including dangerous increases in child malnutrition due to the earthquake’s impact on people’s livelihoods.
Doctor using sonograph machine
Doret, a doctor at Beaumont Hospital, uses an ultrasound machine donated by Fujifilm SonoSite at a mobile clinic. Though the hospital is just a few kilometers away, the drive takes nearly an hour and the cost of transportation means many people — including pregnant women and mothers — were going without essential care.
Patients leave Project HOPE mobile clinic in Mouline
Families leave a Project HOPE mobile clinic in Mouline. “We know how difficult it is to find a doctor,” said Dr. Adea Enel, a Project HOPE clinician on site. “There are no physicians in these communities and these mobile clinics are the only opportunity for people in these remote communities to seek much-needed medical help.”

“It’s very important for us to keep helping people in need, in particular the most vulnerable communities. We know how difficult it is to find a doctor. There are no physicians in these communities, and these mobile clinics are the only opportunity for people in these remote communities to seek much needed medical help. The work that Project HOPE is doing in Haiti is very important.”

Dr. Adea Enel, Project HOPE staff doctor

Project HOPE team members shelter patients from the sun
Project HOPE team members shelter patients from the sun on their way to the mobile clinic in Mouline.
Project HOPE clean water filter demonstration
Project HOPE’s Lesly Joseph demonstrates how to use a clean water filter in L’Asile. In addition to mobile clinics, Project HOPE is also distributing more than 2,000 clean water filters across three departments in Haiti, helping thousands of people recovering from the earthquake access clean water for cooking, cleaning, and drinking.
Woman with water filter in Haiti
A woman in L’Asaile returns home with a clean water filter thanks to Project HOPE. “Water is a huge problem in this country,” Joseph said. “Before, people were using unclean water from the river for drinking. That causes clinical problems like diarrhea, thyroid, cholera and vomiting. Now with the buckets and filter systems we are distributing, people can drink clean water.”

How you can help

Make a lifesaving gift to support our work now and for the future at projecthope.org/donate

Are you a health-care or other professional who would like to learn more about volunteering abroad with Project HOPE? Learn more about our volunteer program and join our volunteer roster.

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