“That is my dream,” Cedric concludes, leaving us to ponder his words in a powerful silence.  For the past 20 minutes, we’ve been sitting in a small, sweltering church, listening to Cedric, one of HHI’s community health workers, talk about his hopes for his community and for himself.  “I want to help the people here in Pancho Mateo and also serve as an example for my community in Haiti.  I want to show them that while we cannot achieve much as individuals, as a group we can.  Si se puede, si se puede.” Cedric’s words, softly spoken in lilting Haitian accent, come as a font of inspiration for us.

We have been here just over two weeks, and yet it feels like years since we have come to live on this little Caribbean island. It is an island of extremes: cool and refreshing mountain villages just minutes away from hot and dusty city streets, lavish five-star resorts dotting a landscape of extreme poverty, and the coexistence of distinctly unique Dominican and Haitian cultures.

Similarly, the past two weeks of our training has been filled with extremes. There have been lows, to be sure: walking through the barracks constructed by sugar companies for their Haitian migrant workers to see stagnant water, garbage aplenty, and chimney-less homes filled with smoke from cooking fires.  At times, the problems here have seemed overwhelming in their magnitude and scope: one of our first nights, we happened upon a serious motorcycle accident on the highway.  With no helmet laws, no streetlights, and no ambulances, the situation was dire and we felt completely helpless.  It was an immediate and horrifying introduction to one of the many public health issues that abound in this country.

However, there has also been hope.  We spoke with Peralta, a community leader from Saman, about the many initiatives his neighborhood committee has spearheaded, from a public park to a basketball court for children.  We met with Donna, an inspirational and dedicated Canadian who built a clinic up in the mountains in remembrance of a young girl that died of a urinary tract infection — a death entirely preventable by adequate primary care.  We have also partnered with SESPAS, the national Public Health Department, to arrange a class for our community health workers regarding dengue fever prevention.  And, of course, we are continuously grateful for and amazed by Angi and Laura, the outgoing International Program Directors, who have done an incredible job of laying the groundwork for Health Horizons International.

In the end, we’ve realized that Cedric isn’t alone in his dream of promoting community health and neither are we.  Thinking back on the people who have bridged this country’s extremes – rich and poor, Haitians and Dominicans, international NGOs and local leaders – we come to the conclusion of our training with a resounding sense of gratitude and hope.  And with a renewed sense of confidence that “si, se puede.”

Saludos,

Nicole and Meg

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