Promise for Haiti

 Bio Medical Equipment Repair and Training Project Sponsored by Rotary Districts 5890 and 7020 (Houston Area and Caribbean Rotary Clubs)

    Haiti’s first biomedical equipment repair training program just concluded its first year of instruction with amazing success. The Rotary sponsored program contemplated four (2-week) sessions comprising Module A, hosted at Hopital Bienfaisance in Pignon.

We began the first classes in October 2011 with 24 students from 13 different institutions throughout Haiti and finished the last set of classes in April 2012 with 100% of the original students in the program. The primary objective of the Haiti Biomedical Equipment Repair Training Program (BMET) was to establish a training center that could draw participants from public and private medical institutions throughout Haiti. As a result, hospitals around the country will be able to maintain and repair existing medical equipment, reducing their dependency upon medical missions from overseas for continual replacements.

 Haitian doctors will be able to offer their patients the proper care without being hampered by malfunctioning equipment and ultimately their patients will benefit from more consistent, reliable and timely treatment. Moreover, the program will ultimately over time create highly skilled jobs for Haitian Nationals. Billy Tenninty, with over 20 years of teaching biomed repair in the developing world, is the program manager and primary instructor. Rotary Leaders Past District Governor Sunny Sharma, Past Club Presidents Vicki Brentin and John Collier from Houston as well as District Governor Dr. Guy Theodore and Past Club President Claude Surena from Haiti provide management oversight.

We just returned from a very rewarding visit to the last session and the District 7020 Conference in Haiti. Our heads were spinning with amazing success stories recounted by the students and doctors as well. We intend to begin Module B for the existing set of students in September 2012 and will again have 4 (2-week) sessions. In addition, we expect to establish a new entering class for up to 25 students that will repeat Module A. Support for the first year of the program came from the Rotary Donor Designated Funds for Haiti as well as from Houston and Haiti Rotary Clubs. For more information about the program or to offer support, please contact: Haiti: Rotahtaskforce@gmail.com U.S.A.: ssharma@sunbeltmedical.com jcollierhouston@comcast.net Vicki@brentin.com