November Medical Mission To Haiti Highlights

St. Joseph the Worker Parish Medical Mission to Haiti

A thirteen-member medical team traveled to Sts. Simon and Jude Parish, Port-Au-Prince (PaP), Haiti November 12-19, 2011.  The team included four physicians, a nurse practitioner, four nurses and four support staff members.  Seven of the team members had experience on similar missions in PaP.  The clinic provided medical care without regard to religious beliefs.  The clinic was open to all members of the community; many of those served were not members of the parish.

This was the second mission by St. Joseph the Worker parish of Orefield, Pennsylvania, to support Fr. Andrew Labatorio, CICM, as he continues to serve the desperately poor Delmas section of PaP. 

Thanks to the help of so many people from St. Joseph the Worker, Our Lady of Perpetual Help (Bethlehem, Pa.), St. Francis of Assisi (Allentown, Pa.), St. Paul (Allentown, Pa.), St Patrick (Pottsville, Pa.), St. Elizabeth of Hungary (Fullerton, Pa.), and Sacred Heart (Palmerton, Pa.) parishes and St. Ann School (Emmaus, Pa.), we were blessed with another incredibly successful mission.  Some of the accomplishments included:

-    Acquired, pre-packaged, transported and dispensed nearly three quarters of a ton of medicines and supplies representing a retail value of over $75,000.

-    Transformed the St. Jude church into a clinic, operating as many as five exam rooms at a time.

-    Provided primary medical care to an estimated 1,100 patients treating high blood pressure, diabetes, malaria, acute infections, coughs, colds, allergies, eye irritations, asthma, GI and skin conditions, malnutrition and various types of pain.  

-    Over four hundred reading glasses were prescribed and distributed. 

-    All patients were provided a three-month supply of medicines, vitamins, toothpaste and toothbrushes.

-    Administered de-worming medicine to all the eligible patients.  

-    Furthered the relationship between St. Joseph the Worker, Fr. Andrew Labatorio and the parishioners of Sts. Simon and Jude, Port au Prince with a week of service and spiritual growth.

The success of the mission was due to the support of so many individuals and groups within St. Joseph the Worker, the Allentown Diocese, and the Lehigh Valley community.  During the week-long mission, parishioners at home worshiped our Lord in perpetual adoration praying for the team.  People from seven churches contributed supplies during our parish medicine drives.  The St. Joseph the Worker parish youth group IHS, and parishioners at large performed approximately 300 hours of service prepackaging and packing of our medicines and supplies.  The St. Joseph the worker school and PREP students donated toothpaste, toothbrushes and other supplies.  Monetary contributions from hundreds of donors allowed the team to leave surplus funds in excess of $1,000 with Fr. Andrew for his ministry at Sts. Simon and Jude.

While some of the missionaries had experience, nearly half traveled to Haiti for the first time.  Each paid their own expenses.  With the prayerful support of friends and family back home the team remained healthy and returned safely.  The week offered the team a wonderful time for daily prayer and reflection and the opportunity to simply serve others.  The team visited the Blessed Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity orphanage in Port-au-Prince’s slum, where they held babies and prayed the mass with the holy sisters.  Those who served at Sts. Simon and Jude all agreed they received much more back from the people of Haiti than what they were able to leave behind.  They developed a tangible relationship between the parishioners of St. Joseph the Worker and Sts. Simon and Jude.  

We hope to continue to support Fr. Andrew and his vision of providing on-going medical care to his many parishioners who do not have access to doctors or medicines.  St. Joseph the Worker is one of three parishes, partnered with Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Doylestown, Pennsylvania and Our Lady of Mount Carmel, Carmel, Indiana, coordinating medical team visits throughout the year.  Each team attempts to provide enough medication to last each patient until the next clinic operates.  A fourth parish, St. Henry’s in Dayton, Ohio has provided the funds to enable the construction of a permanent clinic building, which is nearly complete, in the vicinity to the Sts. Simon and Jude church.  Someday the parish will rise up physically from the poverty of Haiti for it is already spiritually healthy and growing a solid faith in an engaging community.

The parish neighborhood

Dr. Russ Rentler records a patient’s concern.

    

Ruth Joyce RN, bandages a women’s leg.   The patient is suffering from elephantiasis, a parasitic disease causing disfiguring thickening of the skin and underlying tissue              

  

Patricia Milot RN,  assists a patient selecting reading glasses.   The team dispensed 400 pairs of glasses.

Caroline Clee, a Junior at Central Catholic High School in Allentown, PA,
 dispenses a dose of de-worming medicine to a child

Dr. David Meehan, pediatrician,  gives vitamins to mother and child

. 

Dr. Marc Shalaby, internist, excising a sebaceous cyst

The 2011 St. Joseph the Worker – Sts. Simon & Jude medical team.

(L to R) Jeff Joyce, Patti Milot RN, Karen Badellino CRNP, John Fagan, Nancy Clee RN,

Caroline Clee, Rev. Andrew Labatorio CICM, Sarah Marino-Meehan, Russ Rentler MD,  

Cassie Strohl RN, Dave Meehan MD, Ruth Joyce RN, Marc Shalaby MD

Medicine Collection for August

Our preparations for the parish mission trip in November are coming along very well. We are in the process of procuring prescription meds as well as collecting non-prescription medications from the local parishes.
Here is a link to a flyer that you may download to distribute. It contains a list of still needed medications.
Feel free to contact us at the links on the right to find out how to get the medications to the team. Thanks very much.

BTW, Fr. Andrew is in the states and will be at Our Lady of Mount Carmel next week. You can contact Jeff or myself to find out how to get down to visit with him.  God bless and as always thanks for your generosity and prayers for the people of Haiti.

Father Andrew's Lenten Reflection

We all need some kind of healing. That’s how I celebrated my last birthday. I went to visit for the first time the mass grave of hundreds of thousands of victim last January 12, 2010 earthquake in Haiti. Under the ground were nameless individuals whose life was sacrificed for this country. One of them was a good friend who we used to celebrate birthday together. I went there to pray for them and pray for myself. For about 11 years now in Haiti, I have seen, heard and lived what they had lived, suffered and hoped for. Today, I and the many who survived are still living, enduring the same struggle and hoping for the same promises. While kneeling and touching that holy ground, I was humbled and blessedly lifted. Part of me was buried there and I believed of those who survived today. I constantly hope and pray that we may never forget them as we walk the uncertain future of Haiti.

As I lingered into this memory, I look forward for a hopeful promise. Yesterday’s announcement of the presidential election was greeted with jubilant Haitians. The streets turned into dancing and singing as they welcomed the popular rock-star newly elect president. His election was welcome with great joy and celebration; it could have been a disaster if he was robbed of it. The country might be on fire today. As people put hope on him for change, I only pray he can deliver a minimum promise at the early days of his office. Otherwise history can only tell. The Haitian people are known to have a very short political memory.

The euphoria of the election will be over soon. We will be back to face the old drama of human life in Haiti. As hundreds of thousands still living in tents, waiting for the government to give them some answers if not solutions to their miseries, we still have a long and winding road ahead of us. The recent fuel increase, about 30%, has still to affect us.

The reality maybe so discouraging and frustrating, but we are surviving. Faith is the number reason why in spite of all these, the Haitian people remains hopeful. Our liturgies remain very alive and well attended. At the parish, people attending to our Sunday liturgy are standing even on the streets. We are blessed to not have just a church but a living community of faith. Our women livelihood project that assists the poorest mothers in the parish is growing and helping a lot of families to become more economically independent. The education program keeps on receiving generous responses from individuals across the States. Our health care response is becoming one of the most organize projects in the parish. Soon we hope that a proper clinic structure will be available for the people in the community. Today, we are able to form another pastoral group particularly intended to address health care issues in the parish. They are about 20 or more nurses in the parish who meet regularly and discussed issues on how to address the health care needs of the parishioners. This month, we hope to gather pregnant women in the parish and offer them pre and post natal care. The gift clean water buckets (about 250) were well received by families and school communities. As we try to address the basic needs in the community, people began to see the importance and value of the church. Our church continues to offer a living witness of hope and solidarity to a suffering people.

The parish close collaboration with Catholic Relief Services (CRS) has intensifies our commitments to help the people. Through CRS we were able to provide temporary shelters to about 800families already. Likewise, we already started to provide cleaner and safer latrines to communities and individual families. We also provide basic entrepreneurial skills and financial assistance to about 75 families. CRS has become a parish effective partner in helping this community becomes a better place to live.

Someone once asked me if his small contribution (about 20$) is making a difference in Haiti. It is not the amount that makes a difference in Haiti. This country had seen more than that but to one dismay. What makes a difference here is respect and genuine concern. I could never forget few months ago, a young man about 25 years old, he came to see after a heavy rain, he was still soaked wet. He begged me to give him a small tarp. He and his other 5 siblings were living in a small tent made of plastic and cardboard. Their small house collapsed during the earthquake and killed both their parents. He is the oldest and all the responsibility left by their parents fell on him. I helped him rebuild a small home for them and I asked him what else I can do. He told me just a small amount of money so he can go and sell something so he can feed his younger brothers and sisters. All he wanted was to feed them and keep them dry and warm. Many would ask what sustains me in Haiti. This is one of the reasons why I am happy to be here. Standing above the mass grave yard, I thanked all of them for allowing me to share in their lives and be part of what they hoped for. And I made a promise. I believed they all heard me.

Father Andrew

Port Au Prince, Haiti

Concert for Haiti

On May 14th at 7 PM, I will be performing the second annual Concert for Haiti. The concert will be held in the fellowship/event hall of the parish center and free refreshments will be available. Admission is free and there will be a free will offering as well. I will also have several of my CD's available for purchase. All proceeds of CD sales and the offering will go to St. Joseph's Parish Haiti Mission.

So put the date on your calendar and c'mon out and find out what a "One Man Catholic Folk Festival" sounds like and support your brothers and sisters of Sts. Simon and Jude's Parish in Port-Au-Prince, Haiti.

You can sample my music at itunes and learn more about my performances at www.russrentler.com

Haiti Information Night at St. Joseph the Worker

Plans are now underway for our second parish medical mission to Haiti, this one in the fall of 2011. Everyone in the parish can do some simple tasks to ensure we provide the doctors and nurses with necessary supplies and support. There are several committees forming to help collect medicine, provide transportation, pack supplies, raise funds, etc.

Please join us for an informational session at 7 PM on Sunday, February 27^th, 2011 in Room #3 of the Parish Center at St. Joseph the Worker to learn how you can make a real difference for those who live in one of the poorest slums in Haiti.

For more information, call: Jeff Joyce at 610 391-1362

or email STJW-Parish-Mission@hotmail.com

Thanks so much and please continue to keep our brothers and sisters in Haiti in your prayers.

"We can not do great things, but we can do small things with great love."

Blessed Mother Teresa of Calcutta

Anniversary Of Jan 12th Earthquake

At 4:53 PM EST this Wednesday, it will be one year ago that Haiti suffered one of the most devastating natural disasters ever to befall a country.
After two trips down there since the quake, little has changed and the poverty and devastation just continues. The cholera epidemic only added to the misery.

This Wednesday, I am asking that we all take a moment at 4:53 PM to pray for Haiti.
Pray for the souls of those who died and those who are still living and suffering in a way that no humans should have to.

Our sister team from Our Lady of Mount Carmel will be leaving next weekend to do a 4 day medical clinic at St. Simon and Jude parish in Port-Au-Prince. Please keep them in your prayers as well

Thank you.

More News on the Cholera Outbreak

Here's an article on the outbreak.