The lead-up to this trip has been rough. Haiti has been experiencing escalating conflict for many months, and the decision to proceed with our trip was constantly in question. Many members of our team decided to stay home out of legitimate concerns for safety. Flights were delayed. Bull was hacking up a lung…then Crystal, then […]
Author Archives: NAVMC
Day 5 in Haiti
The NAVMC team landed in Port-au-Prince 5 days ago, and it has been non-stop since. From day one, this trip has been different. In recent weeks, President Jovenal Moïse has been implicated in two government audits on the misuse of billions of dollars in Venezuelan aid meant to help the country’s poor. Thousands of […]
December 2018 – Trip Summary
Molhenne was supposed to die. When our medical team left Haiti in December 2017, her blood count was insufficient to sustain life especially in someone who had just lost both of her legs. She has been HIV positive since birth and medications had kept the virus at bay. At 17 years old she presented to […]
Happy Holidays from Haiti
NAVMC has just returned from its 3rd trip to Haiti this year. Attached is a trip summary. We wanted to share with you our successes from Haiti understanding that this is only one part of the work that we are doing locally and globally. If you have already given to help support this work, we […]
2018 Bolivia trip
NAVMC took 18 medical professionals to Bolivia the first week of November. The team saw almost 50 people in clinic and booked 36 patients. We performed 40 procedures including many gallbladder removals, hysterectomies, uterine and bladder prolapse repairs, lipoma removals, and hernia repairs. Dr. Andy Aldridge and Dr. Carolina Martinez repaired an inguinal hernia on […]
Coming Home
There are 10 of us crammed into the “ambulance” as we speed through Port-au-Prince this morning dodging the fires that still burn in the streets. We are one of the few vehicles on what are normally jam-packed roads in the city. AMBULANCE is written on the side of the van which gets us through several […]
Day 3 in Haiti
Today has been a day of rest and unrest. We are safe in the compound around Adventiste Hospital resting after a long and stressful day yesterday. The streets of Port-au-Prince are filled with burning tires and the air is black over the city. In the distance we can hear occasional gunfire and protesters screaming. A […]
Day 2 in Haiti
At eight o’clock tonight, Rose was wheeled out of the operating room, tumor-less. It took us 8 to 9 hours to complete the surgery. As far as we can tell, we removed all the tumor and if so she has the chance to have a functional arm for the rest of her life. She wants […]
Day 1 in Haiti
The team has arrived at Adventiste Hospital in Port-au Prince. Rose is resting with her family in the hospital awaiting surgery tomorrow. She is nervous and excited for the opportunity to be rid of the mass that has enveloped her arm for the last two years. Dr Lee Zuckerman is prepared to tackle this tumor […]
Ultrasound Machine
In March, NAVMC’s board approved $2500 toward a new ultrasound unit for the clinic in Palacios, Centro Medico Humberto Parra. The unit just arrived and they shared some great photos of the staff posing with it. This ultrasound will not just be used in the care of pregnant women. Ultrasound in Bolivia is used to diagnose […]