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The Pignon Prayer
by Guy D. Theodore
Christian Mission of Pignon,
Haiti;
Email: WCRF2001@aol.com
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One Sunday a twelve-year-old boy
and his father visited the household of a very sick friend, but left the
house without leaving any medication. When the boy asked his father why
this was so, his father replied that the friend was so sick that he was
going to die and the precious medicine should not be wasted. The little
boy, riding that day on a donkey with his father, asked why there was no
doctor present in Pignon who could have saved his friend. "Would you like
to become the doctor for Pignon?" the father queried. "If I become a doctor,
I will serve my community!" was the boy's reply. Then, together, father
and son dismounted, knelt, and prayed that it would be possible for little
Guy-Deve to follow his dream.
In pursuit of that dream, I completed
my medical studies in Port-au-Prince, and an internship and surgery residency
in New Jersey. In 1978, I thought about buying a house in the U.S., but
remembered my promise to God, and used the funds instead to begin building
Hôpital Bienfaisance (Hospital of Good Deeds) in Pignon. I spent
the next seven years in the US Air Force, where I became Colonel Theodore
and chief of surgery at the Little Rock Air Force Base. In 1983, I left
the U.S. to return to my homeland, where I founded the Comité de
Bienfaisance de Pignon (CBP).
CBP is an open window for Christianity
to nurture the spiritual growth and to demonstrate the love of Jesus Christ
to our Haitian brothers and sisters. Our Mission assists the surrounding
area with a long-term, self-sustaining program in the areas of preventive
and acute health care; functional literacy and educational opportunities;
clean water and essential sanitation facilities; agricultural development
and training; and community and economic development.
Pignon is a village of 10,000 people,
surrounded by another 23,700 in remote communities, resting high in the
mountains of northeast Haiti. Located 40 miles south of Cap Haitian (where
Columbus' ship, the Santa Maria, sank in 1492), the Pignon area is typical
of most parts of Haiti. Two-thirds of the land is not suitable for farming,
even though over 80% of the people depend on the land for basic survival.
Over two-thirds of the Haitians cannot read or write, and, when city dwellers
are excluded, over one-half of the Haitians earn less than $250 annually.
Infant mortality rates are among the highest in the world, and the average
life expectancy is 55 years. Haiti is the poorest country in the Western
Hemisphere, yet it is only 750 miles from the United States.
Haiti
is the poorest country in the Western
Hemisphere, yet only
750 miles from the U.S.
CBP works in partnership with
two U.S.-based agencies -- the World Christian Relief Fund
(WCRF) and Christian Mission of Pignon. This partnership supports seven
programs -- Preventive Medicine, Hôpital Bienfaisance, Education,
Christian Mission, Community Development, Potable Water and Agriculture.
We also work in collaboration with
the Ministry of Public Health and Population (MPHP). In 1989, CBP signed
an agreement with the MPHP to coordinate an integrated program of community
health in the Health District of Grande Rivière du Nord. This included
rehabilitating health facilities within the area and providing technical
and financial management of activities in conformity with the National
Health Plan. As such, Pignon was one of the first decentralized health
districts in Haiti and one of the country's model hospitals and community
health care systems.
Our health program strives to ensure
a Minimum Package of Services within our catchment area. These services,
as defined by the MPHP, include comprehensive child health, maternal health,
reproductive health, control of transmissible diseases, medical-surgical
emergencies, water and sanitation, essential medicines, health education,
and basic dental care.
The success of this concept has
survived and evolved during the last ten years of political and economic
turmoil in Haiti. The MPHP has recently proposed the creation of Communal
Health Units or UCS (Unité Communale de Santé) like Pignon.
Each UCS is to be co-managed as a three-way, or "trois bancs", partnership
between the community, government, and health providers like CBP. The Pignon
program is a model UCS for the MPHP and at the same time has expanded its
ministry to over 160,000 people in Pignon, surrounding communities and
the North Central Plateau.
Our preventive and acute care medical
facilities include outlying clinics and the hospital compound, consisting
of an outpatient clinic, a 60-bed hospital with major and minor surgery
rooms, eye and dental clinics, a nutrition training center and ancillary
services of radiology, pharmacy and lab. Administrative and logistical
support facilities include offices, a depot, a garage and a dormitory for
short-term volunteers. New staff quarters for both doctors and nurses and
a second floor on the hospital are now being completed. Future plans include
a chapel, an eye and dental surgical suite, a larger outpatient clinic,
maternity and pediatric facilities, and a larger dormitory.
The Education, Christian Mission
and Community Development programs each have a variety of individual and
surrounding community projects to nurture the physical and spiritual growth
of the Haitians and their community efforts, including improvements to
the Pignon Municipal Airport. The Potable Water and Agriculture programs
supported by WCRF provide clean water and sanitation projects as well as
various research, training, and developmental efforts in the agricultural
areas of farming, fruit and vegetable production, reforestation, erosion
and animal husbandry needs.
We know we will not be able to satisfy
all the needs of our people in Pignon, but we intend to be involved in
every way possible to make life and living conditions better. We Christians
are all working toward the same goal. What better way to do Christ's work.
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Editors' Note: For more information
contact Guy Theodore , CMP c/o MFI Box 15665, W. Palm Beach FL 33416 or
Pat Metzelaars, CMP, Inc., 1024 Ridgewood Circle, Minden LA 71055; Tel.
(318) 371- 1698; E-Mail:cmpmetz@aol.com
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