From Dr. Gabrielle

I sat down with Dr. Gabrielle several months ago while in Haiti and asked her to write a letter to our supporters talking about why it is important for Fanmi Lasante to open a second day a week...

"Dear Stone By Stone supporters,

Greetings from Fanmi Lasante staff in Haiti! I want to write to all of you and talk about needing a second day at the clinic.

First of all, having one day of the clinic is good, it helps the community, but it is not enough. As a doctor, I want to see patients again and follow up with them about a medicine or a test, and right now I have to wait eight days until I see them again. If I test someone for malaria, I have to wait eight days until I see them again before I can start them on a medicine. That is too long.

Secondly, when you only have one clinic day, it is like having a mobile clinic. There are so many patients to see and you get tired. You feel like you cannot give them the best care. If we have a second day, it will be good for the staff and for the patients. I can give patients an appointment to see me again in two or three days and not have to wait until next week. Sometimes I see patients and they are very sick and I ask them why they waited. They say, “I got sick on Thursday and I waited until today (Wednesday, our current clinic day) to come.” Especially for little children and babies, they could get worse or even die from a fever or diarrhea while they wait to see me next week. If we have a second day, people can come more often to be seen and don’t have to wait as long.

I thank you for your help. Even when you do not see us, we are working for results. Thank you for helping the community and for having faith in the staff. I am very happy for everyone who helped us get the lab in the clinic. This helps me as a doctor very much. We are asking for more help now. Your money helps us reach more people in the community.

Dr. Gabrielle"

As you can see, having the clinic open a second day a week is vital to the work being done in the community. We are so happy that we were finally able to take that step, but we need your help! We need more supporters to help keep this schedule consistent and sustainable in the long term. Would you be able to help us with this goal? Click on the donate button on our website to help support the second day today!

Nicole Pitzer

executive director