Lighthouse Covenant International’s joint partnership with ESPWAM, a volunteer non-profit, charitable organization, brought together a medical team and volunteers to provide medical assistance to the people of Port-au-Prince, Haiti. “Choose Hope Medical Care Mission: One Week, A Changed Life” took place from Jan. 18 to 23.

Maurine McFarlane, Chairperson of Lighthouse Covenant International, was one of the driving forces behind the humanitarian effort.

She wanted to focus a laser beam attention on the Caribbean island even though it has faded from the forefront of the public consciousness.

McFarlane traveled to Haiti days prior to the team arriving to help prepare the clinic with their host, Church of the Rock. The health professionals offered primary care and specialized in dentistry, psychiatry and office gynecology.

There was also management of acute and chronic conditions such as dehydration, malnutrition, respiratory ailments, hypertension and diabetes. Education on preventative medicine including STDs such as HIV as well as nutrition counseling was also given.

McFarlane was taken aback by the conditions she witnessed.

“There’s still a lot of debris,” she said. “It’s very dusty still and the roads are still in a lot of bad shape but we expected that. So, that was not a shock.

“One of the things we realized that if we’re going to treat some of these patients, there needs to be follow-up care and I was surprised that some of the hospitals where Doctors Without Borders seem to be taking the lead in, there were a lack of doctors in those facilities and also supplies,” McFarlane added.

She noted many were still living in tents and that there was no clean water, which made hygiene a critical issue. However, those affected did not have easy access to resources.

“What was so shocking for us and our doctors, who have seen many, many cases of diseases in women, have never witnessed so many, if not 100 percent, of the women who came in the facility were infected or had some kind of diseases,” she said. “We know it has to do with the fact that if there’s an OBGYN in Haiti, it’s for the upper class, and the lower class people cannot afford those services.”

Dr. Gregg Alleyne, director of general OB GYN and director of HIV Services at Drexel College of Medicine, was one of the doctors who went on the trip.

His wife, Dr. Kathleen Christophe, who is Haitian-American and a fellow OB GYN physician, accompanied him.

“We saw almost 1400 patients or something like that in a three day period with most of them being women and children,” Alleyne said. “It was very rewarding from that standpoint but there’s still a lot that needs to be done.

“We didn’t just want to be medical tourists, go and spend a couple of days and then go home and resume our normal lives,” he added. “We wanted it to be something to have an ongoing presence there and work a lot closer with these people.”

Teresa Lucas was a volunteer on the trip. She said that she was startled by the remnants of the 7.0 earthquake, which struck Haiti in 2008.

“I did not know that the need was that great, especially after two years since this earthquake that they’re having the type of challenges that they’re having,” she said.

Lucas said it was a blessing for her to help and encouraged others not to take what they have for granted.

“Just our personal products that we need when our monthly comes on,” she said. “These are things these ladies don’t have access to and the diseases, just taking care of yourself as a woman.

“We are blessed beyond anything we can think of,” Lucas added. “We go to the dentist anytime we want to. We cancel appointments and my biggest thing is that there’s a world out there beyond America and all the luxuries we have.”

Carol Blacken, vice chair of Lighthouse Covenant International, also shared what stood out to her.

“I must say I was quite impressed with the level of hope and faith I saw and experienced by the people we met and touched! Their faith I'm certain has been what has sustained them through this very difficult time,” she said.

“I saw hope in the eyes of the children which was quite inspiring, given all that they have gone through. It has given me renewed faith that we can make a difference in the lives of people if we have compassion and are as passionate as we are about helping humanity.”

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Contact staff writer Stephanie Guerilus at (215) 893-5725 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .