Children's Respite Home & Outreach Project, Haiti

Children with disabilities in Haiti are some of the most vulnerable and marginalised people in in the country, facing severe discrimination. Maison de Benediction at HCBH, our partner hospital in North Haiti provides life-transforming care for children with disabilities and their families.

With MdB now open full time again, our rehabilitation co-ordinator, Brooke, has introduced a Vocational Internship programme with some of the children. As the children get older, we want to set them up for success as they grow into adulthood. Each child has been paired with a HCBH employee to learn useful skills on a 1-to-1 basis. 

The programme aims to show them the value of work, allow them to help contribute to their family financially and demonstrates to the hospital staff the importance of workplace inclusion for people with diabilities. 

One of the children taking part in the programme is L, who has cerebral palsy. She has been paired with FiFi, a cleaner in Internal Medicine, Surgery and X-Ray. Over recent weeks, L has learnt how to clean sinks, sweep put new, clean sheets on the beds and prepare gauze for surgeries. She is progressing well and enjoys her time with FiFi who is excited to see everything L can do.

Another child taing part is N, who also has cerebral palsy. N has been paired with HCBH agronomist Marlene and has learnt how to cut the bushes around the hospital, take cuttings for new saplings and plant them.

Both L and N have been coming to the Maison since they were young as we are so very happy to see them progressing well and most importantly, enjoying themselves! 

Thank you for your ongoing support to the children and families of Maison de Benediction. Thanks to your donations, we can continue to provide life transforming care to children with disabilities and challenge preceptions of disabilities in Haiti. 

Children with disabilities in Haiti face severe discrimination, making them some of the most vulnerable and marginalised people in in the country. Maison de Benediction is a leading disability centre at HCBH, our partner hospital in North Haiti. It provides life-transforming care for children with disabilities and their families.

Thanks to a successful fundraising appeal, Maison de Benediction is now back to full time hours and we have been able to resume care for the children we support and their families.

Recently, Robenson, Miss Carline and our Disability co-ordinator Brooke have worked super hard to establish a new therapy documentation system. This involved completing formal physical therapy evaluations and creating therapy goals for each of the children at the Maison. Now, each child has a new goal tracker that can be used to efficiently monitor their progress.

The Maison recently received a number of donations to aid the children in these goals, including toys, physiotherapy equipment, musical instruments and a standing frame for use in physiotherapy. Standing frames are hugely beneficial for patients who are predominantly wheelchair users and can improve posture, blood circulation, digestion, hip stability and cardio fitness. We hope you enjoy these images of the children making use of all these items.

Thank you for your ongoing support to the children and families of Maison de Benediction. Thanks to your donations, we can continue to provide life transforming care to children with disabilities.

Links:

• Standing frame use
• Musical instruments use