Haiti Village Health (HVH) is a volunteer based, non-profit, non-governmental registered charity providing sustainable primary health care and training to the people of the under-serviced rural region of Bas Limbe in northern Haiti. Their mission is to provide sustainable health care for the Bas Limbe region in Haiti by employing local medical and support staff and providing them with the training, tools and support to allow them to be self-sufficient by 2015.

The clinic offers medical care and public health initiatives to more than 25,000 people in five rural villages. This clinic is vital to the community as the nearest hospital is one hour away. People in this region have minimal access to clean drinking water and little or no organized sanitation programs. HVH is aiming to change that. Access to sanitation facilities has a direct impact on water quality and the potential for the spreading of disease; something demonstrated in the cholera epidemic in November 2010.

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Representatives from Haiti Village Health joined Jam Cruise 10 participants during the Positive Legacy day of service in Labadee, Haiti, educating and inspiring us to be part of this amazing project. Due to our strong support from music fans and their generous donations, Positive Legacy was able to present Haiti Village Health with a $10,000 grant to apply towards making improvements on an existing clinic and to help with the completion of a new clinical facility as well. We were able to finance the construction of a well, water reservoir and pump, plumbing for the new facility, staff and public toilets, and a new roof for the existing clinic in Bas Limbe. Now each room in the new facility has a sink to allow for sanitary conditions. The new facility consists of a doctor’s consulting room, a nurse’s consulting room, a birthing room, and an emergency/short term stay room. This is the first time that the facility has had access to running water since it first opened it’s doors in 2008. The new facility was completed and opened in June of 2013. Thank you to all of you who have continued to support Positive Legacy as we do indeed leave a positive legacy while we travel to and visit other countries.

Please take a moment to watch the video from Dr. Tiffany Keenan founder of Haiti Village Health.

In 2015 Positive Legacy provided a $18,350 grant to improve the electric system. 

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This grant has allowed for Hands Up For Haiti to renovate the existing solar electric system at the Haiti Village Health guesthouse and install a system in the clinic, all to provide sufficient power to run the clinic safely, provide necessary electricity to the guesthouse, and provide access to electricity to surrounding communities.

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Electricity in the compound was minimal. Initially a generator was used; three years ago, HVH hired a local contractor to install a solar electric system on the guesthouse. That system faltered due to poor materials and incorrect installation.

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Electricity for the clinic was dependent on the capability and reliability of the guesthouse system; an extension cord was run from the weak solar system to the clinic. The clinic had minimal light and power, hampering night deliveries and posing storage hazards to medications and equipment.

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The guesthouse needed electricity as that is where the resident employees live and where the visiting teams stay and prepare for their work, oftentimes holding evening sessions with the Haitian medical community and community workshops.

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Most homes are without electricity. The rooms are dark by late afternoon; children have no light to study. The community needs access to charging stations to charge phones, lights, and other small electrical appliances. With an adequate solar system installed at HVH, there will be sufficient excess power for community use.

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As of mid October, 2015, the solar electric system has been installed and is functioning properly. One local resident that helped in the installation was also trained during and after the installation, and he and others will be given additional training so that he can handle daily maintenance and repair issues. He will also run the community charging program. Community members will deliver their devices to him; he will charge them and return them to their owners fully charged.