EMEANCELEGACY NEWSLETTER ____________________________________________________ November 2021, Edition A Medical Clinic to Open in Lafond The administration of Emeance Legacy invited Dr. Jordanie Falima, a medical doctor with an integrative medicine approach to visit the community of Lafond in order to assess the current medical needs and to elaborate an action plan for the use of herbal medicine in Lafond Dr. Falima visited Lafond on November 18 st and left on November 21 st accompanied by Bertin Meance. He met with several members of the community including children and elderly. Dr. Falima made the following observations: A. School age children primarily suffer from three main illnesses: 1. Upper respiratory infections (grip) 2. A v ery contagious skin bacterium called “Gal” 3. Alopecia (Pyas) B: The adults and elderly primarily suffer from the following medical illnesses: 1. Hypertension 2. Diabetes 3. Chronic pain Dr. Falima proposed to address the above issues with treatment (convention al and herbal medicine), education and prevention with the following short - term interventions: A. To address Gal 1. Immediately Identify students who suffer from Gal and make sure they are socially distant from the rest of the students to avoid more contaminations 2. Immediately Identify the families affected by the same condition 3. Immediately e ducate the families to sanitize their homes and clothes 4. Immediately p rovide treatment to the patients and their families (topical cream) 5. Immediately e ducate families on how to use guava leaves and Aloe Vera gel on a regular basis to treat Gal 6. Organize educational radio interventions about Gal and how to cope with it B. To address Alopecia (Pyas) 1. Identify students who suffer from Alopecia during the next mobile c linic 2. Provide them with proper medication (topical cream) available on the market to use topically 3. Organize educational radio interventions about Alopecia and how to cope with it C. To address Upper Respiratory Infections 1. Identify students who suffer from re spiratory infections during the next mobile clinic 2. Provide them with proper medication available on the market to use topically 3. Organize educational radio interventions about upper respiratory infections and how to cope with them D. To address Hypertension , Diabetes and Chronic Pain 1. Identify clients with the highest elevations during the next mobile clinic 2. Provide them with proper medication 3. Provide education to clients about proper nutrition and lifestyle changes to manage, reverse or prevent diabetes , hyper tension and chronic pain caused by inflammation 4. Organize educational radio interventions about hypertension, diabetes and chronic pain and how to cope with them Discussions on plants and their virtues Dr Jordany met with the E - meance legacy agronomist and they discussed the virtues of plants. Dr. Falima also discuss ed the implementation of therapeutic plants , which will be planted in all therapeutic gardens and eventually the garden of Emeance Legacy Hospital. He elaborated on t he curative properties of th e native plants were discussed and the perspective of using plants in integrative care. Meeting with Miss Marie Ange Meance, nurse and teacher a t the Kindergarten During that meeting, Marie Ange Meance informed the doctor about the most common pathologies she observed among the children at the Lafond School. We also discussed the role that she can play as a first aid nurse at the school, as someone who can alert th e doctor if ever, she observed a disease outbreak and to make other necessary referrals. Visit to the site for the hospital construction Dr Jordany was impressed by the position of the site as well as the space made available for the project. Visit to the cabin During his stay he visited all the therapeutic cabins and gardens and enjoyed a serenade from the local troubadour group led by Casec member Bertin Bazelais. One of the songs said: “ Doktè a pa te la men li rantre, m pral telefone Emil pou yo ” “The doctor just arrived, I am going to make a phone call to Emile for him” referring to the late Emile Meance and their affectionate belief that he is in charge in spirit . Dr. Jordanie expressed interest in starting a monthly medical clinic in Lafond wh ile guiding efforts to integrate therapeutic herbs and plants in the medical approach to be adopted by Emeance Legacy Hospital in Lafond. New Gardening Teacher at Lafond School In August 2021, Mr. Youry Donnat, agronomist joined the staff of Emeance Legac y. His position entails two roles: Gardening teacher at Lafond School and Master Gardener at the Therapeutic Gardens of Last Resort. As a g ardening t eacher he will ensure that: 1. students of all classes increase their knowledge and awareness of the im pact they can have on their environment in order to reach self - sufficiency, physical and emotional wellness and 2) how to identify and cultivate sustainable vegetables, fruits and herbs available in their immediate environment. As a m aster g ardener he will ensure all therapeutic gardens are creatively designed and contain a variety of ornamental and therapeutic plants aiming at welcoming, soothing and calming all guests. Mr. Donnat plans on designing the therapeutic gardens as followed: Prop osed Design for Therapeutic Spaces: Sitting and lounging made with local flat rocks Fire pit Tea and reading area Therapeutic H erbs and P lants: Aloe v era, g uava, m int, Basil, s oursop, Lemon grass, Sanglawou , r osemary , t hyme , l emongrass , mint, basil, g inger , turmeric , bitter melon and lemon. The Role of Women in building the Therapeutic Gardens On October 19 th , 2021 Mr. Donnat met with two group s of women recruited by the late Emile Meance to contribute to the construction of the existing therapeutic cabins . He discuss ed their participation in constructing the therapeutic spaces and the therapeutic gardens. These women and a few men (24 in total) are working on their own time and schedule and receive a small incentive and refreshment Thanks to their contribution Mr. Youri is able to start designing and constructing the therapeutic gardens, the main roads leading to the cabins and other landmark s and walking trails around the school, the cabins, the Wesleyan church and the pilgrimage site. This project is sponsored by the following friends of Lafond: Multicultural Counseling and Testing Center, Joseph Yachnik, Emilie Meance, Dr. Lorraine Gordon, Mrs. Maureen McNulty and Joyce Balderston. EMEANCELEGACY NEWSLETTER ____________________________________________________ May 202 2 , Edition Solution to the itching During the Winter of 2022, the children at Lafond School reported significant improvement after using the ointment bought for them by Emeance Legacy with the help our donors. The children reported they could not stop scratching which caused lesions to the ir skins. But with the advice of Dr. Felima, we sent 350 tubes of medicine for each of the household where members had the conditions. The children report that the medication worked well and they no longer have this itching. We did emphasize the need for them to improve their hygiene. 1200 dollars hundred dollars used for the purchase of this medicine came from the following sources: Joyce Balderston, World Connect and Janet Clodfelter and Emeance Legacy Skin lesion caused by itching Before and after Exchange with other schools The recent exchange visit of children from the Lafond School to the Notre Dame du Perpetuel Secours located between Lafond and the town of Petit - Goave continued to echo in Lafond. Lafond School played two soccer games which both ended in a draw. However, these games tasted like victory for the Lafond School kids who were less muscular than the ir adversaries. The people from the area where the school is located were laughing at them first and concluded beforehand that they are going to win big. Such was not the case. Bertin called the founder of the school Father Anis to tease him about the d raw, and to tell him yhat he can expect a warm welcome when the school visits us in May. They will go back to their communities with a lot of yellow yams, cabbage and beets, but I told him that he will bring back a heavy defeat. That is the level of conf idence we have in Salomon Jean, the soccer coach and physical education instructor working for our school. He is really doing a good job with the kids. “Reach Out” in its Rèv (Dream) program sponsored this activity. Lafond school also played with the nea rby Brignol Lindor Public School. We won the game 1 - 0. Our last game 1 year ago resulted in a draw. Lafond School Kids marching in the community of LEtang Durissy to meet their counterparts at Notre Dame School Challenges at the Lafond School: When our supporters could visit Lafond school, they were able to bring with them much needed materials for the school, especially the kindergarten. But now, with the restrictions on travel in Haiti, we no longer receive these materials. We are concerned that the children are not doing well in reading and writing. We will take steps to address these problems through teacher training, motivational sessions for parents, teachers and students. Incentives for the teachers can also help improve the situation. Eco tourism The shrine The construction of the shrine will resume soon. We are gathering construction materials to build the alley that will lead to the shrine. Father Roud made a tour of our site with nuns who were visiting his parish. The nuns were impress ed with what we have accomplished. He motivated us to continue with the work. Two spouses visiting The community of Lafond welcomed Franceline Malbranche Noel and Rosemelie Donnat. They are the wives of Sonel Noel and Hurry Donnat who are respectively wor king in Lafond as teacher and agronomist. For these staff member, these visits felt like a honeymoon; they both have been married for less than a year. In the Lafond guestbook, Mrs Rosemelie wrote: “Magnificent, is exactly the word I was able to find t o describe Lafond. It’s a peaceful and natural place. I really look forward to coming back” Radio Lafonbelle By Bertin MEANCE When Bertin visits Lafond, he will host a show with Beauliere Julnet, an alumnus of Lafond School who showed tremendous skil ls in hosting a music show on the radio. Our show is called “ Shock of the generations”. We will take tour playing oldies and recent music while engaging ourselves and the listeners in a dialogue between our generations. The idea is to share with the ne w generation the music we enjoyed in the past and the values they can adopt while at the same time allowing them to share with the old generation what they feel is important. In our first show, Beauliere had a lot to say about the decline in traditional v alues observed in the new generation. Other shows of Radio Lafonbelle include Marial Songs and prayer by host Holkens, a radio show by Pastor Jacques, a troubadour (Haitian folks music) show hosted by Baptiste, a civic education show hosted by Lafond Nati ve Brunel Desulme, a show where the focus is on a community every week. People from these communities are allowed to call in to talk about where they live, their challenges, their assets and their aspirations. Sonel Noel, a Lafond School teacher ensures the radio airs every evening sharing important information about the weather forecast, the Coronavirus, the hurricane season, etc. E - Meance Legacy Hospital People are showing signs of impatience about the construction of the hospital that has not started yet. The health needs are tremendous. Hypertension, diabetes, waterborne disease, reproductive health problems are all conditions that prevail in this area. While waiting for the construction of the hospital, thy hope we can continue with mobile clinics. But they know that things have been difficult lately because of the COVID 19 pandemics and the deteriorating security in Haiti. In the meantime, we contin ue to gather materials for the hospital. A generous contribution of $250.00 by Georges Pakeham allowed us to provide fees for refreshment to a few ladies and gentlemen who are volunteering to gather construction materials. The G oat P rogram It is with a heartbreak that we have to announce that many goats died. It appears that they were affected by the change of environment. The temperature is a bit colder in Lafond than where they were purchased. However, two of the goat recipients manage to return the first offspring which will go to two new beneficiaries. The goat and the next offspring’s will be theirs to keep. Agronomist Youri Donna is providing hands on training to the kids of Lafond school. Most recently, he started teaching them a bout raising rabbits and goats. We think that will make a difference. They are learning how to grow vegetables as well. The presence of this agronomist in Lafond is made possible thanks to the contribution of Multicultural Counseling run by Dr Ghislene Me ance. He is working on landscaping improvement around the cabins in Lafond. The idea is to improve our capacity to receive people who will come to visit our beautiful Lafond and to grow a collection of herbal medicine. Jacques receiving one goat offs pring from a beneficiary The Internet has finally found its way to Lafond Many of us remember how difficult it was to communicate by phone in Lafond, or to receive internet signal. We remember one visitor trying desperately to climb a coconut tree in ord er to communicate the status of his team to nervous parents in the states as their children were visiting Lafond as part of their school exchange program. Now it looks like all of this belongs to the past. Just this month, the Meance in New Jersey and Po rt - au - Prince had their first zoom meeting with a few boys and girls in Lafond. The kids were amazed and had a lot of questions about the living conditions in the United States. We will soon organize online classes for Lafond’s youth and children. Ghisle ne is ready to teach media and English classes online. We will try to reconnect with the visitors of Lafond and facilitate exchange between them and the locals they have met during their visits Our special thanks to: Geoges Pakenham for his contribution towards the construction of the hospital Janet Clodfelter for her contribution that we decided to put in the teacher’s salary pool fund Jayme and Junior Sinsmyr for their support through Reach out and the Rèv Program (school feeding, teacher salary, leade rship program Eddy Clesca, for his support to the community January 1 st Soup Joumou fellowship Multicultural Counseling and Testing Center for their support with the presence of a paid agronomist in Lafond Joseph Yachnik for a monthly contribution to the construction of the therapeutic gardens More sponsorship is needed for the followings: - Salaries for the teachers of the Lafond School - School materials for the kindergarten of the Lafond School - The School lunch program for the children and the teachers - Stipends for the hosts of Radio Lafonbelle - Lodging for the teachers of Lafond School Paypal donations are welcome at emeancelegacy@gmail.com You can also send a check payable to: Emeance Legacy 371 Morris avenue, second floor Elizabeth, New Jersey 07208