Grace Community Birth Center, Director’s Update
The Grace Community Birth Center is becoming ever more a reality with visits from the RWE Builds staff to discuss building plans and meetings with the Health Ministry to ensure the center attends to all regulations. Each day brings us closer to breaking ground and the building taking form. The evolution of our three acres of land in Grand Bassin in northern Haiti will allow my passion, commitment, love, and thirst for change for my community to grow beyond its current bounds and reach new heights. I became a midwife (with the support of a lot of great people around the world) to serve women, babies and families and with a vision to renew Haiti one family at a time. In 2022 The Grace Community Birth Center will be taking a giant step toward achieving my long term vision of healthier families and a more peaceful Haiti.
On a daily basis the core work of the GCBC is providing prenatal and postpartum care, baby check-ups, and family planning. The GCBC provides maternity care with respect and dignity, free from harm. We hear from the women we work with that the care we provide makes a difference in their birth outcomes, in their lives. I recently chatted with a couple of our women and they agreed to share a bit of their story with you.
“I don’t know how you do it, Ninotte. You provide the care with so much respect, love, and compassion. I came to you when I was very stressed and I was anemic and preeclamptic. Without your care I don’t think I or my baby would be alive. Thank you!”
- Claudine
“I was 18, a senior in high school and 16 weeks pregnant when I came to Ninotte. I was stressed and even in denial that I was pregnant. The father of my baby was also in denial mode. But Ninotte heard me, loved and cared for me without judging me and I had a healthy baby girl. Now I am in my first year of college. Thank you Ninotte!”
- Daphka
As I walk through the neighborhood on my way to see a postpartum woman I often hear children calling my name. On a recent morning these 3 girls, all 4 years old and all cared for by me, were following me and chanting my name. This warms my heart and tells me that we are where we are suppose to be. I and the GCBC is a model for change that these children and the entire community can aspire to and learn from. These children are the future of Haiti and I hope that the GCBC contributes strong and empowered families to that future.
