Dr. General Guy Theodore will be honored

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Haiti d'abord, Edens Debat of radio optimum will honor Dr. Guy Theodore who just received a great award, this saturday December 13, 2008 in long island.

Many dignitaries will be there but what everyone want to know is who is Dr.Guy Theodore and what are his achievements?

Well, Dr. Guy Deve Theodore was born in the rural mountainous village of Pignon, Haiti and frequently accompanied his father, a Baptist lay minister, on donkey rides as he preached and cared for the sick and dying throughout the area. At the age of 12, he could not understand all the poverty, sickness, and suffering, and asked his Earthly and Heavenly Fathers to help him become a doctor to serve his people.

His prayer was answered as he pursued his education in Port-au-Prince, interned in the United States and practiced in New York for five years.

He planned to buy a house in the U.S. in 1978, but God reminded him of his earlier prayer and his promise to help his people.

Instead of the home purchase, Dr. Guy used the funds to initiate God's plan for Pignon by starting the first construction of a clinic on the site where he was born in Pignon.

He entered the U. S. Air Force to continue his service to mankind and broaden his professional experiences.

Dr. Guy became the Chief Surgeon at the Little Rock Air Force Base and in 1981 formed the Christian Mission of Pignon, Inc. with the help of Arkansans, who began making medical and dental trips to his home village.

He became a Fellow of the American College of Surgeons in 1982, being one of the few Haitians to achieve this distinction.

In 1983, after seven years in the U. S. Air Force and achieving the rank of Colonel, he went home to serve his people full time and fulfill his promise to carry out God's vision that had been shared with him.

Peter Jennings of ABC NEWS honored Dr. Guy Theodore in September 1994 by choosing him as "Person of the Week"

The Comité de Bienfaisance de Pignon (CBP) is a Haitian non-profit organization that was established in 1984 by Guy Deve Theodore, M.D., F.A.C.S. to provide medical and public health facilities in the North Central Plateau area of Haiti.

Dr. Theodore, a Haitian originally from Pignon, having practiced in the USA since 1976, formed the Christian Mission of Pignon, Inc. (CMP) in 1980 with the help of many supporters.

The mission now operates under the name PROMISE for HAITI, Inc. Their goals for making medical and dental mission trips to Pignon became a vibrant health system that now serves a community of more that 140,000.

Initially a clinic that was built on the site where Dr. Theodore was born, the work of CBP has evolved since 1981 into a medical system with a 65-bed hospital in Pignon and four clinics located within 20 miles radius all providing quality care to some of the neediest of the Haitian population.

Hospital Bienfaisance de Pignon, (HBP) is now a health network serving several communities.

Together, the hospital and the clinics they handled more than 45,000 patient visits in 2005. And the goal is to continue to improve services that will reach many more each year.

HBP Satellite Clinics

Dondon
6 beds

St. Raphael
15 beds

Ranquitte
10 beds

La Victoire
10 beds

PROMISE for HAITI, Inc. is a U.S. base entity established since 1983 to assist CBP with development efforts in Education, Agriculture, Construction and Well Drilling support.

Several other organizations have affiliated with us to lend their support and expertise in medical and non-medical mission work.

Hospital Bienfaisance's public health care system provides one of the most successful community health systems in Haiti.

The Maternity Housing Project at Hospital Bienfaisance de Pignon is intended to provide housing for any high risk expecting mothers that live in the remote areas around the Central Plateau.

Christian Mission of Pignon (CMP) and Hospital Bienfaisance (HBP) are erecting a house to accommodate twelve high risk pregnant women and their guest within the grounds of the hospital.

The project features twelve bedrooms, two full bathrooms, a general room for visitors, a porch, and outfitted with kitchen, laundry equipment, and necessary furnishings such as beds, chairs, tables and light fixtures.

This facility will be staffed by nurses with an obstetrician on call 24-hours/day.

2006 Health Statistics

Population (2006): 35,553

C-Sections

176
% area CBP
4.94

Deliveries
1,385

Midwifes
1,166

Institution
219

Patients Seen in 4 Basic Services
10,112

medical
3,438
34%

pediatrics
2,326
23%

Surgery
2,225
21%

OB-Gyn
2,123
22%

Basic Services + Other Care
29,120

Total Deaths
684
2.35%

Malaria+
157

Typhoid+
150

Major Surgeries
466

Vaccination (0-11 months)
80%

Total Hospitalized Patients
1,873

Pub.
1,197
64%

Priv.

676
36%

OUTPATIENT Med
3,419

Ped.
2,387

OBGYN
2,098

Surgeries
2,208

Pre-natal
4,477

FP
3,315

Dental
7,053

VCT
3,618

Ophthal.

545

TOTAL
29,120

PROMISE for HAITI has provided medical, logistic and financial support to CBP since the clinic was established in Pignon.

Pignon, Haiti is a small town in the Central Plateau of Haiti, about 40 miles south of Cap-Haitien.

Dr. Guy Deve Theodore, M. D., F.A.C.S., founded a small clinic in his birthplace, in 1983. This clinic is now a 65-bed hospital with four outlying clinics, operated by the respected Haitian-non-profit organization, Comite de Bienfaisance de Pignon (CBP).

Under Dr. Theodore's leadership, Pignon has become a model-mission-medical center with demonstrated results through preventive healthcare.

Our mission has sponsored substantial well-drilling projects, and agricultural projects and educational scholarships in the Northern Central Plateau of Haiti.

Bi-weekly passenger and charter flight services (Cessna - 6 Seats) service the small airport to Pignon.

TortugAir flight services can provide charter flights (17 seats).

Improvements are underway at the Pignon airport.

These important improvements permit Missionary Flights International (MFI) to provide passenger and cargo flight service (DC3 planes) between Fort Pierce, Florida, Cap-Haitien, Pignon and Port-au-Prince.

MFI has been delivering much needed supplies directly into Pignon.

A Customs' House has also been constructed at the airport to facilitate the delivery of passengers and goods.

Mission trips fly to Haiti on MFI's DC3 cargo planes that have been retrofitted to hold passengers.

The flights are very comfortable and enjoyable.

CBP has a Radio System with repeaters, which permits communication with the four clinics it supports in the Central Plateau, the Haitian Public Health System and its facilities in Port-au-Prince.

CBP also has satellite facilities for communication with its supporting organizations in the USA.

Rotary International has granted a charter for the Rotary Club at Pignon and Dr. Theodore served as its charter President.

HOSPITAL STATISTICS

EOY 2007 ADOPT-A-NURSE

EOY 2006

Comparison Statistics
Haiti
Pignon

Infant Mortality 0 - 1 year
57/1,000
14/1,000

Infants & Juvenile Mortality
86/1,000
26/1,000

Maternal Mortality
630/100,000
145/100,000

Complete Immunization-Children 0-11 Months
41%
70%

DTP3
Unknown
93%

HIV positive
2.2%
0.37%

Family Planning
25%
38%

Hôpital Bienfaisance de Pignon
2005
2006
2007

Total Deliveries

Surgeries

Lab Tests
3,634

736

26,106
3,557

670

27,855
2,698*

550*

28,806*

Total Patients seen
42,571
49,316
35,242*

World Christian Relief Funds was founded in 1975 with the mission of "Helping the World's Needy to Help Themselves." The organization first worked in Bangladesh and India.

in 1983, through the COMITE de BIENFAISANCE de PIGNON (CBP), WCRF started assisting Dr. Guy Theodore, the founder of the HOSPITAL BIENFAISANCE de PIGNON (HBP).

Presently, the CBP works diligently to improve on water quality through storage and distribution systems.

An additional phase of the Comité's goals is to implement waste disposal and proper sewage treatment.

Water is Life!

Hundreds of wells have been completed in the area and are providing the much needed water to the people in Pignon.

YOU CAN HELP!

· Donation of cash, securities or property.

· Sponsorship of water purification systems ($2,500).

· Sponsorship of water distribution network at $10.00 per foot.

· Sponsorship of solar panels to run remote pumps ($780).

· Donation of 4x4 vehicles for use by the hospital and for well drilling.

Please support the philanthropic work of Dr. Guy D. Theodore

Dr. Guy D. Theodore, M.D., F.A.C.S, PAG

Founder

HOSPITAL BIENFAISANCE de PIGNON

Pignon, Haiti

The Rocky Mountain Christian School was built with funds donated by 2,500 American High School students at a retreat in the Rocky Mountains.

Scholarship Program Information

The Scholarship Program's goal is to connect students and sponsors so that children attending the Pignon area schools can be educated; and to provide a student's tuition relieving the family of the financial burden.

The program is designed so the sponsor receives reports of student progress and information about their families.

There are two ways to sponsor a student for scholarship :

1. Call the HELP office in Iowa at 641-628-9353.

The Education Coordinator will assign a child from the waiting list compiled by the committee in Pignon.

2. While in Pignon, a sponsor may select a student from the Application List on display in the H E L P Office in Pignon.

Please contact Adele Romelus or Gyrlene Jean-Pierre.

DO NOT pay for the student in Pignon.

The funds must pass through the H E L P office before being sent to Haiti in order for the student to be a part of the Scholarship Program.

If you choose to make your own selection from the Application List at the H E L P Office in Pignon, the following must be sent to the HELP office in the US:

1. A photo recorded on a disk by HELP staff in Pignon and sent to the US

2. Name of student
3. Name of mother and father
4. Name of school
5. Identify the student as either a primary or secondary student, and

6. Send a check made out to HELP to the address below for either

$100/year - Primary School

$290/year - Secondary School

NOTE: Students spend

6 years in primary at $100 per year and

7 years in secondary at $290 per year

Haitian Education & Literacy Program
Joanne Schafer, H.E.L.P. Coordinator
Box 275, Pella, Iowa 50219
Telephone: 641-628-9353 FAX: 641-628-9502
E-mail: help2000 at kdsi.net

DEADLINES

JULY 15

- The tuition is collected in one payment each year. It needs to arrive in the HELP office by July 15 for funds to reach the school in time.

DECEMBER 31

- This is the last day to sponsor a student in a given year. (See exceptions below)

EXCEPTIONS

A STUDENT CAN BE ADMITTED ANYTIME DURING THE YEAR IF:
1. a student already in school needs a sponsor and is on the waiting list.
2. the Comite needs to act immediately to help a hardship student.

PROMISE for HAITI supports six (6) schools in the Pignon area. The total enrollment at the beginning of this year was 1,713 students.

Statistics / Promise For Haiti Inc Schools

School year 2007-2008

#
School Name
Boys
Girls
TOTAL

1
Rocky Mountain
156
163
319

2
Sonshine School
184
158
342

3
Meredith
134
127
261

4
Three Bears & Me
157
138
295

5
Morningside
123
112
235

6
Salt & Light
146
115
261

TOTAL

900
813
1713

Five of these schools present students to the Official Primary School Exam.

Salt and light students will sit for exams next year (2008-2009).

Official Exams P6, June 2008

School Name
Official Exams
Passing
(%)
% Children Sponsored

Rocky Mountain
33
18
54.54%
24.24%

Sonshine School
27
25
92.59%
100%

Meredith
13
12
92.30%
100%

Three Bears & Me
9
4
44.44%
9.87%

Morningside
21
7
33.33%
1.58%

TOTAL
103
66
64.07%
53.84%

agricultural

PRIVATE "TYPE=PICT;ALT=Sample Donation Button

With wood as the primary source of fuel and building materials for Haitians for hundreds of years, most forests have disappeared and erosion has destroyed much of the land. Even tree stumps are gathered and used for fuel.

For the past fifteen years, the Comite de Bienfaisance de Pignon (CBP) has grown seedlings for reforestation and fruit trees for food. To date over 1,500,000 trees have been distributed to individuals and groups.

Trees for reforestation are given at no charge with an agreement that they will not be cut down for 25 years.

The Tree Nursery on the CBP farm near Pignon is shown in the photo to the right below.

The Tree Nursery provides employment for a number of Pignon citizens.

One of the greatest areas of need in Pignon and in all of Haiti is for more sources of employment.

This is an area where someone with vision, experience and resources can provide employment for residents of Pignon, where there is a strong sense of community and work ethics.

Employment opportunities can provide and exciting challenge and numerous rewards for this special person or persons who take the initiative.

Hospital Bienfaisance

de Pignon

Teaching Haitian dental laboratory technician trainees.

Dental care has been available at the hospital in Pignon from its very beginning.

One of the original board members of the mission was the late Dr. Robert Smith, a dentist from Jacksonville, Arkansas.

His name is the first one listed in the Pignon Guest House sign-in registry in the original log. For a number of years only simple dental treatment procedures, primarily extractions, could be offered.

The dental clinic consisted of a room also used as a hospital storage room. Often, dental teams set up out in the courtyard to do their extractions due to the heat, and because of better light conditions.

In 1989 Dr. Jean Petit, a dentist from Cap Haitian, began working in the clinic.

In 1990 the Haiti Ministry of Health furnished him a mobile dental clinic mounted in the back of a pickup truck.

At this time he could now do simple fillings and cleanings, along with extractions.

He set his mobile clinic up in the courtyard of the hospital in Pignon, as well as in other towns in the district.

In 1989 Dr. Larry Griffin, an orthodontist from West Memphis, Arkansas started going to Pignon with West Memphis mission teams.

After several years of primarily doing extractions he recognized the need for a regular dental clinic so normal dental care could be made available to the people in the Pignon area. He raised money for constructing and equipping the present dental clinic building, a modern three-chair clinic, which was opened in 1993. Dr. Petit became head of the dental clinic and now spends most of his time working in the Pignon clinic.

Dr. Marvin Loyd teaching Dr. Claudine Wainright, a recent graduate of the Haiti Dental School, how to use a

filling material.

Currently Dr. Petit operates one of the more modern dental clinics in Haiti, where a variety of dental care is available.

Usually he has a young dental resident working with him. Upon graduation from dental school in Haiti, the new graduate has to serve a one-year "social service" residency in a charity or government clinic before he/she can be licensed for private practice.

The Pignon dental clinic is approved for this. This social service resident spends much of his/her time working with the local schools on a children's dental health program, where the emphasis is placed on prevention.

The children are given an oral examination, furnished with a toothbrush, toothpaste and dental floss.

They are given oral health instructions, their teeth are cleaned, and needed treatment is performed in the way of extractions and fillings, all free of charge.

In 1997 the Christian Dental Society selected the Pignon clinic to be the proto type for their first mission dental laboratory program.

Their related Association of Christian Dental Laboratory Technicians, working in conjunction with Dr. Petit and U. S. supporting dentists, furnished the equipment for setting up the lab. Currently three young Haitians are receiving training from them on operating the dental lab. They are able to make full and partial dentures, as well as do some limited crown and bridge work.
Today the dental program is being operated very successfully, and, most importantly, entirely by Dr. Petit and his local Haitian staff.U.S.support primarily is technical, furthering their training and furnishing equipment and supplies.

Patients are charged by their ability to pay, with none turned away in pain. These fees collected cover only a small part of the cost of operating the dental clinic.

Contributions from U.S. dentists, churches and charitable organizations help make up the difference.

Most dental supplies come from the World Dental Relief mission warehouse.

Hugues Sanon Haitian Press, December 12 2008, 1:38 PM

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