Quake-affected clinic receives solar power

Haiti | 2021 | CERF

Haiti. Natacha Lafontan is 49 years old and one of three nurses living and working in the Centre de Sante de Duchity. For the past 17 years, she has served around 1,200 families living in the commune. Everyone knows Natacha and praises her for her selflessness and desire to support others, despite the many challenges faced at the clinic.

The clinic was one of the health centers most damaged during the 7.2 magnitude earthquake that hit south-western Haiti on the 14th August 2021, rendering one of the two buildings completely unusable. Along with the two other nurses, a social nurse and a guard, Natacha eats and sleeps in the only room where services can be delivered.

The facility does not have a resident doctor. It has been challenging to support the community with so few resources.

On top of those challenges, the facility’s solar electrical system was stolen in February 2021. This forced Natacha to regularly deliver emergency services in the dark, often attending the delivery of babies. Mothers who had not received proper follow ups would arrive in the middle of the night, desperately needing Natacha’s help to deliver safely.

Natacha recalls delivering a baby in front of the hospital gate, using her phone’s light to see through the darkness.

With support from the Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), the International Organization for Migration (IOM) evaluated the damage in some of the clinics and hospitals around the three southern departments of Haiti in order to provide some support with infrastructure repairs of the most affected facilities.

In the Centre de Sante de Duchity, after an assessment, the IOM decided to install a new solar system consisting of 9 solar panels, 12 batteries of 225V, a regulator and an inverter in order to ease the life and work of the medical staff working in the facility.

While this has not solved all clinic’s problems, Natacha says that having power has improved her work, especially in responding to night-time emergencies.

May 2022

Adapted from the original story, published here. (IOM.int)

More information on the CERF Allocation: Haiti Earthquake, 30 Sep 2021 Rapid Response