Family Health Ministries

My brother is on the board of a non-profit organization out of Chapel Hill, North Carolina, called Family Health Ministries, and I thought I'd share a bit of information about them.

Durham, Raleigh, and Chapel Hill (collectively known as the Research Triangle), have a high density of folks in the medical profession. (In fact, Durham is known as the "City of Medicine".) A man named David Walmer, an Ob/Gyn in the area, started this ministry by taking groups of doctors, nurses, (as well as non-medical people) down to Haiti to staff several clinics in the country. (My brother has gone 6 or 7 times, and I had the opportunity to go on one of the trips myself in 2002.)

They've expanded the ministry beyond just the trips, including a program where you can sponsor a child's education for $25/month, or sponspor a teacher, for that matter. They also support an orphanage, conduct medical research, and work for the spiritual health of the people of Haiti, by financially supporting local pastors, their churches, and helping send Haitians to seminary.

They're now planning their most ambitious project yet: the construction of an entire hospital in Leogane, Haiti. (You can read about the plan in this PDF.) The hope is that doctors from hospitals in the States can actually do rotations down in Haiti, providing a steady flow of highly educated and trained doctors to the people in the area.

The need is great. When I was there in 2002, we held a clinic for three days in Cite Soleil. Folks would walk for miles and miles, and arrive at 5 p.m., just to get in line. Some of them would wait all the way until 5 p.m. when we would end the day, without having been seen, only to have to come back the next day. (And I get impatient when the doctor makes me wait for 30 minutes in the lounge!) There are many folks suffering from easily-treatable illnesses, but they simply don't have the doctors, medicine, or money, to get the help they need. Furthermore, there are conditions that can be treated with advanced medical equipment which they just don't have in many hospitals in Haiti. This facility is going to bring phsyical relief to many, as well as provide an opportunity to support their spiritual needs as well.

In my opinion, the strength of this ministry (besides being grounded in the Lord Jesus Christ!) is that it has developed strong partnerships with local Haitians. Unfortunately, all too many organizations come into Haiti from the outside, with a colonial mentality of "fixing" the problem. FHM takes the approach of working with local leaders in Haiti who take personal responsibility and ownership over the programs, avoiding a "welfare mentality", of Haitians relying solely on support from outsiders.

If you are interested in going to Haiti, they have some upcoming trips scheduled. Even if you're not in the health care profession, there's always somewhere to help. Some people teach Vacation Bible School to the local children. When I was there, I helped an optometrist give people eye exams... (rocket science it was not), and my brother worked in the pharmcy. (While I know becoming a pharmacist requires a lot of education, in Haiti, being a pharmacist mainly requires the ability to read and count!)