Mobile Clinics in Petit-Goave: A First-Person Account

[Written by Melissa McSwegin, GHA Program Manager, 2007-2009]

It was May 2008, just past 7 a.m., and I was in a truck with Global Health Action's Child Survival project team, headed up and over the mountains in the Petit Goave District of Haiti. It was my third time in Haiti as GHA's country program manager and headquarters representative, but my first time out with one of the project's mobile clinics. Our trip took two hours, driving way too fast over bumpy, curving roads, hugging the cliff face and looking out over close-your-eyes sheer drops.

We arrived to find a crowd of almost 200 people already gathered, men, women, and children of all ages, many of whom had walked from miles away. It was dusty - definitely still Haiti's dry season - and getting hot, but the mood was festive and excited. This was a special event. There was even a band. As always in Haiti, the day started with a prayer and a hymn; then Dr. Schamma Salomon, GHA's on-the-ground Project Manager, spoke to the crowd for about half an hour on a variety of health topics - HIV prevention, danger signs for pregnancy and childbirth, basic nutrition, the importance of immunizations, etc. Dr. Salomon was in his element, joking with the crowd, using a prop to demonstrate condom usage, and mixing just the right amount of information and entertainment.

The staff of the mobile clinic was well-practiced and well-organized. While Dr. Salomon talked, they set up the different stations - registration table, basic triage table with two nurses, three doctors in private rooms in the school compound, a lab tech doing VCT (voluntary counseling and testing) for HIV, and a vaccination post - and got ready for a long day. The people were very patient, lining up for hours in many cases to see the doctor. Everyone paid 10 gourdes, about 35 cents, which covered all services. The final stop for many was the pharmacy table, with Dr. Salomon himself dispensing basic medicines and carefully explaining dosage and usage.



This is a USAID (United States Agency for International Development)-funded project and I sometimes wake up in the middle of the night thinking about the need for a follow-up KPC (Knowledge, Practice & Coverage) Survey, about collecting reports and mediating disputes, and about all my vital administrative responsibilities. Being "on the ground" with the mobile clinic team, it was refreshing and inspiring to see firsthand how well the project is running and the impact it has - education, testing and counseling, vaccinations, clinic visits, prescriptions, and so much more. Our vision at Global Health Action is: Healthy People, Healthy Communities, and A Healthy World. Sometimes that sounds too lofty, so it's important to see and share that vision in action.

Almost 12 hours after we'd arrived, well after dark, with the last patient seen and the last medicine dispensed, the truck finally departed. Me, I'd already started walking back with part of the team, wanting to avoid as much of that cliff-hugging, after-dark drive as I could.