Meet Dr. Bordes, an OB/GYN who manages a medical clinic for the community of Canaan, Haiti. Dr. Bordes started his work here following the 2010 earthquake when hundreds of thousands of people were sent to this “temporary” camp outside of Port-au-Prince. Six years later, Canaan has developed into it’s own city and is having it’s medical needs met thanks to the service of Dr. Bordes.
In this interview, AFF volunteer Hubermann Alcean had a chance to ask Dr. Bordes about his vision for the clinic and the medical needs that are going unmet within the city of Canaan.
Dr. Bordes shares his growth plans for the Canaan medical clinic including:
Building more advanced maternity services including a delivery room, pre-op and post-op space, and postpartum care.
Offering counseling services by a professional psychologist for victims of sexual assault.
Expanded emergency care services. Many of the residents of Canaan can’t get transportation to other hospitals or are turned away because they can’t afford the care.
Round-the-clock care for Canaan to save more lives!.
To all of the American doctors and nurses who have traveled with us to Haiti, you know Dr. Bordes and the extraordinary work he pours into the city of Canaan. We are proud to be partnering with him to support his vision for better medical services in this burgeoning community.
Raw Video Transcript in English
(Thank you, Hubermann Alcean)
The picture I have for this community.
So, we need a clinic or hospital that can see different types of people.
So now we have general consultation for patients who have colds and fevers. And right now we do c-sections we do deliveries now.
And now we need a space that can provide different services based on the type of patients and people that we are seeing.
For example, we would like to have maternity service.
Including patients who have preeclampsia.
Delivery room.
A room for postpartum or pre-op.
Post-op for after surgery or after operation.
And he would like to have a space also to see children.
And he would like to see infants, like little babies.
And let’s say if someone comes and has a c-section, after that if there is an issue with the baby we need to be able to ask about the baby and have a place for the baby to stay for the night for follow up.
And that’s for maternity.
Now we see all cases pretty much.
And we would like to offer a service based on the people’s culture and people’s familiarity of cultural differences if you want to call it that way.
And because we have a psychologist on board we started seeing a lot of patients that came here for sexual assault because it’s a big community and it’s a lot of people who live here and so many different types of people and we would like to have service where if someone was to be sexually assaulted and they need assistance and after being seen medically they have a psychologist that can come and counsel them and give them advice on how to move forward.
And even though we have a public hospital just right around the corner doesn’t necessarily mean that this hospital can provide all care for everybody. And if there is a lack of equipment and services, let’s say someone comes in from a car accident and they’re not allowed to take care of them because a lack of resources and sometimes that person might die trying to get somewhere else to get better care.
And that’s why I want to say we need an emergency service just to be able to see someone right away who has been in a car accident or something big happened and save some lives.
And we can say that those type of services are very important for this community and the fact that most people who live in this community don’t have enough money to afford anything else that would be awesome to have that kind of possibility for them.
And just think of someone gets in a car accident at 1 o’clock in the morning.
And let’s say someone is sexually assaulted during the night.
And let’s say to be honest just during the day like if someone were to go somewhere else to get care you have to have a private car some kind of transportation to get out of there. And that’s why most people come here is because they can’t afford the transportation to get somewhere else. They have to come here and with what little I have, I have to be able to do something.
And as Jeff can say, one time when he came in there was a patient that had a really bad emergency and he had to take him somewhere else to get care.
And we think if we can build a hospital that can provide those type of services and we can assure you that we can save some lives and a lot people won’t die because they can’t get that kind of care.
During our October 2016 trip to Haiti, we had a chance to sit down with our friend Déluc Silar and find out how things are going at the Ororaedh Orphanage.
One of the things that we absolutely love about Silar, and a big reason that we wholeheartedly support his program, is how much he loves his kids. He needs to… there are 70 of them living in his house! Silar and his wife have made it their life’s work to take in abandoned and orphaned kids, love them, feed them, protect them, and educate them.
Silar took a big leap of faith when he decided to serve as a father to seventy kids. We are looking for people who can help support his work with a recurring monthly gift to cover the costs of feeding, clothing, educating, and caring for all of these kids.
When you donate to the American Friendship Foundation, 100% of your donation goes direct to the project. We don’t have any employees in the United States, just a dedicated group of volunteers.
People who work for Microsoft, Boeing, and other companies that match donations are encouraged to leverage those funds with their recurring gift. Search for “American Friendship Foundation” and “Ororaedh Orphanage” to find our listing.
Many of you reading this post have met Déluc Silar and visited his home. He is an inspiration for anyone having one of those “overwhelmed parent” moments! More importantly, he is a great example of the Haitians we work with who love their country and are working tirelessly and selflessly to give it a better future.
In this 2-minute video, we introduce you to Jean Philippe Sauveur, the director of the J Nissi School in Haiti. Watch this video to hear how the school is doing, some of the challenges of growing up in Cité Soleil, and Jean Philippe’s hope for his students. (Recorded October 27, 2016)
We are proud to be partnering with Jean Philippe as he makes the decisions impacting the seventy kids under his care at the J Nissi School. The school was a dream of Jean Philippe’s late step-brother Windy and has developed into a beacon of hope in the community over the past six years.
Movable walls within the church where they currently host three of the classes to foster fewer distractions.
More benches to accommodate the growing number of students.
Enough textbooks for every student so they can get their homework done.
Storage space for the teachers to store their books and other teaching resources.
More notebooks for the kids.
More chalkboards for the teachers.
As we raise money to support the school, we first cover the monthly operating expenses and then give Jean Philippe the authority to make decisions on which projects to prioritize and how to get them accomplished. This is a project run by Haitians, we are simply here to provide support as they work towards solutions for their country.
Full Interview
We had the chance to film this interview while sitting down with Jean Philippe Sauveur on October 27, 2016. While we had to cut this video down to suit our fellow short-attention-span Americans, you are welcome to watch the entire 35 minute video and read the full transcript of this interview.
When you spend time in Haiti, you frequently get surprised by the amazing people you meet and the opportunities to help that seem to come out of nowhere. Especially when a guy like Hubermann takes you wandering about!
During a visit to Dr. Bordes’ medical clinic in Canaan, team members Jeff Clark and Hubermann Alcean set out on a walk to explore the roads around the clinic and see how the city is developing. Right up the road from the clinic, they noticed a man with a sewing machine. When they stopped to say hello, they learned that the man takes on apprentices who want to learn this skilled trade and that his business is capable of taking on a wide variety of orders.
Now, a little bit of background.
One of the ways that AFF partners in Haiti is through the support of a school in Cite Soleil. In addition to providing the funding for the school, we provide the kids with backpacks, uniforms, and school supplies every year. The school uniforms have come from different sources over the years like Walmart and various wholesalers, but the whole process is still a work in a progress. So why not give a local a shot at the business as a way to keep the dollars in Haiti?
The man agreed to take on the order and even to drive to our school in Cite Soleil and take measurements on the 75 kids in Jehovah Nissi School. Not bad for a chance encounter!
As icing on the cake, we had the opportunity to meet one of his prospective students and sponsor his apprenticeship for the next year. The young man will learn a valued trade and be set up with skills that can earn him a respectable living as an adult.
When you take the time to wander in Haiti, you simply never know who you’re going to meet. We are very excited to have a new partner for the coming year that will sew uniforms that fit our students wonderfully and help them to take pride in the education that they are receiving.
“People often ask, why go to Haiti? What can change? I ask you to look into the eyes of anyone of these children from Cite Soleil and ask them. Has school changed you? Has having food daily at school changed you? Does hope for tomorrow change you?
We will meet the new class of this year in a week! Those eyes are why this school enters its 6th year and we keep going to Haiti.”
– Jeff Clark
A team from AFF has been assembled for a “back to school” visit to Haiti in late October. During the trip, we’ll visit the three main American Friendship Foundation projects in Haiti, assess the impact of Hurricane Matthew at each site, make some visits to our other local partners. Our three core projects in Haiti are:
J Nissi School
Ororaedh Orphanage
Canaan Medical Clinic
Many of you who read this blog post have visited these sites with a past team. We are looking forward to capturing photos, video, and interviews with our Haitian project directors and sharing them with you upon our return so you always remember that connection you created. You are a part of the story!
As always, donations are appreciated to support these projects and 100% of your gift goes directly towards supporting these worthwhile projects.
Below you can read a more detailed overview on the project sites we’ll visit.
J Nissi School
Started in 2011, the J Nissi School serves kids in Cite Soleil, which is one of the poorest and most dangerous areas of the Western Hemisphere. Over the past five years, we have partnered with our school administrator Jean Philippe to build a a safe place within the community for our students where they get a good meal every day and the education required to break the chain of poverty.
During our October visit, the team is going to distribute brand new school uniforms, backpacks, and school supplies direct to our students. For those of you who have visited the school, you know what a fun day this is for the kids!
We are also hoping to have a meeting with the parents of the students, to take the teachers out to dinner, and to take the kids for an offsite field trip.
Canaan Medical Clinic
We are also very excited to have the opportunity to spend some time with Dr. Edouard Bordes on this upcoming trip. Dr. Bordes runs the clinic in Canaan, which is a city that sprung up as a refuge for victims of the 2010 earthquake. His clinic serves a community of 200,000 Haitians and is an essential service in this remote area outside of Port-au-Prince.
While visiting, we’ll have the opportunity to see the operating room that is under construction at the clinic. This new OR is intended to serve as a birthing center for the women in Canaan. Dr. Bordes pours his heart into his work and we look forward to discussing his future plans for the clinic and how we can support his efforts.
Ororaedh Orphanage
We continue to support Pastor Silar Déluc and his wife in their superhuman efforts to house, feed, and educate 65 kids under one roof at the Ororaedh Orphange near Port au Prince.
During this trip, we’ll have the opportunity to visit Pastor Silar and his extended family, see how the school is developing, and thank him for his faithful service.
AFF was able to make our first food deliveries to the orphanage and the J Nissi School in Cite Soleil just two days after Hurricane Matthew made landfall in Haiti.
Jackson, our man on the ground in Haiti, was able to make his way around Port-au-Prince to deliver these much needed supplies. Here is a picture that he sent us today!
The American Friendship Foundation is eager to join in the recovery efforts in Haiti following Hurricane Matthew. One of the beautiful things about being a nimble non-profit organization is that we can mobilize quickly and make things happen thousands of miles away. The food will continue to be delivered as the communities around Port-au-Prince regain their footing.
In three weeks, AFF will have a team of people on the ground to assess our project sites, provide any assistance needed, and bring back stories to share with all of our supporters here in the U.S. and Canada.
During a visit to 
As icing on the cake, we had the opportunity to meet one of his prospective students and sponsor his apprenticeship for the next year. The young man will learn a valued trade and be set up with skills that can earn him a respectable living as an adult.
A team from AFF has been assembled for a “back to school” visit to Haiti in late October. During the trip, we’ll visit the three main American Friendship Foundation projects in Haiti, assess the impact of Hurricane Matthew at each site, make some visits to our other local partners. Our three core projects in Haiti are:
Started in 2011, the 
We are also very excited to have the opportunity to spend some time with Dr. Edouard Bordes on this upcoming trip. Dr. Bordes runs the
We continue to support Pastor Silar Déluc and his wife in their superhuman efforts to house, feed, and educate 65 kids under one roof at the 
