Skip to main content
TRANSLATE:
From The FieldHealthcare & NutritionNews

Odile and Josué’s Story: How Hope for Haiti Makes Vaccination Accessible

By May 25, 2024November 5th, 2024No Comments

Odile was walking home one day when she saw a young boy wandering down the road unattended. The 8-month-old child had unfortunately been abandoned, and, despite her own economic struggles, Odile took him in as her son.

Odile’s son, Josué, is now two years old. Having been abandoned at such an early age, Josué had not received any vaccinations, leaving him susceptible to easily preventable illnesses. Upon hearing this, Odile’s neighbor, a patient at Hope for Haiti’s Infirmary St. Etienne, recommended that she bring Josué in for a patient consultation and vaccinations.

Josué was vaccinated against rubella and measles, and received his first deworming medication and a dose of vitamin A during his visit to the Infirmary St. Etienne. He will need additional vaccinations to be fully immune and protected, but this is an important first step.

Odile said to the team, “I am so happy about the healthca

re services that you provided and that my son received his first vaccinations. I didn’t think this would be possible.”

Josué and Odile’s story is similar to that of many patients we meet – families who are in need of quality healthcare, but often lack the reso

urces to afford it. At Hope for Haiti, we believe access to quality healthcare is a human right. Your support of our programs enables us to provide care for hundreds of thousands of people like Josué and Odile.


Our Work In Vaccination

Raising awareness about the importance of vaccination, as well as decreasing the negative stigma that some hold against vaccination, are important aspects of this work.

During World Immunization Week 2024, from April 24-30, our team hosted educational discussions about how vaccines work to help the body fight disease and stressed the importance of taking this step to help protect the health of our loved ones. This programming was done alongside our team’s routine vaccination distribution for patients at the Infirmary St. Etienne and mobile clinics.

Our team also works to make vaccination more accessible by traveling outside of Les Cayes to rural communities and conducting mass vaccination events based on the Ministry of Health’s guidelines.

Finally, the Healthcare team calls parents to remind them of their child’s vaccination schedule and follows up on missed appointments.

You can help support this work by making a gift today. Just $17 provides one comprehensive patient consultation.