By Delia Caufield
Maklin Eugene, M.D.
New Hope operates as a non-profit community hospital and provides care services to adapt to the ever-changing health environment in Haiti.
In 2022, the hospital opened a new treatment center to address an emerging health problem: a deadly cholera outbreak. Cholera, an acute diarrheal infection, spreads primarily through contaminated food or water, making people living in areas with poor sanitation and limited access to clean water more susceptible to illness.
New Hope Hospital representatives lead a health education class for children.
“The needs are so great here in Haiti,” Eugene said. “You know things you take for granted in the U.S. but here, it’s a challenge. For example, we don’t have clean water. We don’t have good hospitals. We don’t have good education, so many problems.”
Eugene knew his staff could not manage the crisis on its own, so he reached out for help from long-standing friends at Rise Against Hunger. The international non-profit, which works to alleviate hunger in communities facing high rates of food insecurity, often partners with large groups and corporations, including Thermo Fisher Scientific, to host events during which volunteers pack meal kits that are distributed to communities in need.
WASH kits, made up of water, sanitation and hygenic products.
The grants funded the water, personal protective equipment, rehydration powder and thermometers that were packed into the WASH kits. CACs from Greenville, N.C., Fremont, Calif., and Fort Collins, Colo. organized packing events at their sites. The kits were then sent to a Rise Against Hunger warehouse in Orlando, Fla., and were shipped to Haiti along with other supplies, such as antibiotics and intravenous rehydration fluid, for New Hope’s patients.
Eugene and Rise Against Hunger used the kits as part of a comprehensive, eight-week community education program during which participants learned how to identify and respond to cholera symptoms, empowering them to take immediate action in their own homes if a member fell ill.
The kit recipients “have never stopped thanking us because we saved their lives with those materials,” Eugene said.
New Hope reported remarkable results from its cholera program. By the end of the year, the hospital had no new cases among those individuals who received care kits and completed the educational program.
“Not only that, but the cases of typhoid have also decreased, which was a very pleasant surprise because that’s not something that we were even anticipating,” said Jennifer Tossie, senior gifts-in-kind manager at Rise Against Hunger.
“It's just an impact that simply wouldn't have happened without Thermo Fisher,” she said.
Ultimately, Thermo Fisher volunteers packed 2,500 WASH kits for families in Haiti.
Women inventory supplies sent to New Hope Hospital
“I think we were drawn to the WASH kits because their mission is really incredible,” said Cassidy Ryan, a Thermo Fisher program manager and Fort Collins CAC leader. “The fact that we were able to help all the way from Colorado was really impactful. It’s part of the core of our culture here and being involved and celebrating each other in the world and helping each other out.”
Thermo Fisher colleagues received a heartfelt thank you video from Dr. Eugene, expressing his gratitude.
“You should know the needs are so great in Haiti and so we really appreciate your support to this vital project to the Haitian people,” Eugene said in the video. “So, thank you for helping us bring a voice to the voiceless.”
On the heels of this success, Thermo Fisher has renewed its collaboration with Rise Against Hunger. Now volunteers will pack children’s wellness kits, which were identified as a specific need by New Hope Hospital. The kits will contain essential medications, including immune support gummies, Tylenol and Benadryl. These kits, like the WASH kits, will be offered with two health educational courses.
The continuing collaboration between Thermo Fisher and Rise Against Hunger provides a platform for action, ensuring that both make an impact.
“The strength, and where I see our partnership going, is in that value of being flexible,” Bull said. “Thermo Fisher being a great partner [able] to adapt to our needs and vice versa."
Eugene also championed the continued collaboration.
“Please don’t leave us behind because we need your support,” Eugene said. “We love what we do here in Haiti because [together] we make a huge difference in the Haitian people’s lives [and] we want to keep making a difference, but we can’t do it ourselves. We need more people to get involved in this so we can keep providing care to those vulnerable patients.”
