Give Hope Global feels strongly that it is difficult to facilitate development in Haiti until we address the basic needs of the children and staff, including nutrition and health. People who are sick, malnourished, or in pain are at a huge disadvantage until these things are addressed. To that end, we see the medical ministry at Give Hope Global as two-pronged.

• The first is addressing acute-care issues of the children and staff of the orphanages.
• The second is in creating public health policies and programs to help prevent disease and promote lasting improvements in overall community health.

It is imperative that both of these goals be met.

We accompany the patients we treat and colleagues with whom we work in their journey to achieve better health. Our community health center based at the Cambry orphanage serves four orphanages and provides primary-care medicine and public health education to the orphans and staff of those locations. The “mommas” who take care of the children on a day-to-day basis receive education to both recognize and treat acute health issues, as well as promoting more global public health incentives and programs.

Our goal in treating the children of Haiti is to provide them with the same level of care as children here in the United States enjoy. Hence, in addition to community health centers, it is also necessary to develop relationships with hospitals that can provide emergency acute tertiary-care services to the children and staff when needed. We have partnered with the Bonne Fin Hospital near Les Cayes, Haiti, in an effort to do this. We provide specialty medical teams on one-week trips to that hospital, along with capital equipment in exchange for tertiary-care services for the orphans and staff. In doing this, we have created a health care system for orphans in Western Haiti, similar to what my children enjoy here in the United States. Deeply entrenched in our philosophy is the belief that walking alongside our Haitian partners leads to lifelong change. To that end, we have hired a Haitian medical director on the ground and use our specialty medical teams to teach patient physicians at the Bonne Fin Hospital.

The overarching belief is that we at Give Hope Global can enable these young children to move from a state of dependency to one of being able to help their communities and those around them. We see how God has used the least and most unlikely people in societies throughout stories in the Bible to promote lasting and significant change in communities and even nations. We believe God will do just that through the lives of these children for their local communities and Haiti as a whole. This is true lifelong change impacting not only the orphans but the entire communities in which they live.

William M. Caldwell, Jr., MD
Diplomate, American Board of Otolaryngology Head & Neck Surgery
Sub-Specialty Certification in Sleep Medicine
Fellow, American Academy of Otolaryngic Allergy

Give Hope has worked in Haiti, under the leadership of Dr. Dane Kovach to alleviate tooth pain and provide ongoing and sustainable oral maintenance for the orphans and staff of the Cambry orphanage. We also regularly bring the staff and orphans from several other orphanages to the Cambry dental clinic for care. We aspire to extend our reach to provide dental care for surrounding orphanages and residents of Haiti.

Mission: To improve and maintain the dental health of the children, staff, and communities where Give Hope Global is engaged

Vision: To decrease the negative impacts (pain, poor function, poor aesthetics) that poor dental health can have on these children and communities

Objectives:

• Teach proper oral hygiene and supply the necessary tools (toothbrushes, floss, paste)
• Remove painful teeth in the children and staff of the orphanages we support
• Complete fillings in decayed teeth (restorations)
• Perform 6 month checkups and cleanings to maintain good dental health and treat as well as treat new decay

Goals completed:

• Ongoing dental care provided for the orphans and staff at Cambry as several other orphanages
• Much needed cleanings and exams performed on orphans, staff and local residents by dental hygiene teams
• Tooth care kits given to each person receiving a cleaning

Needs:

• Ongoing funding for the following dental supplies needed for each trip:
  • filling materials
  • needles
  • anesthetic
  • gloves, masks and other disposables

Future Goals:

• To routinely provide dental care to the 5 other orphanages under ESMI in SW Haiti
• To reach outside the orphanages and support the surrounding communities of Haiti
• To find and empower dental professionals to provide ongoing care and maintenance

Give Hope Global’s Dental Mission, Led by Dane Kovach.