Dear friends,

Many of you have reached out to us in recent days after reading about the terrible events in Haiti: the assassination of the President, and the continuing turmoil in the country’s political and social life. We are very happy to report that our entire team is safe, as are all of the patients with whom we’re in contact.

The ongoing turmoil in Haiti brings into bold relief how difficult it has been for us – as for so many organizations - to reach our goals there. Over the past decade, we have seen the country transformed from a place of abject poverty but optimism for post-earthquake rebirth, to a place where the scent of fear, random violence and wanton disruption of civil society seems to hang in the air. Many NGOs have shut down, others may follow. One could not be faulted for thinking, or even saying out loud, “Give up!”

But we at Haiti Cardiac Alliance remain committed – we came there to provide dignified cardiac care, and under these conditions, it is imperative that we stay the course and stand in solidarity with our Haitian colleagues and friends who so bravely and tirelessly work to do the same for their fellow citizens. Despite the challenges, HCA has gotten almost 500 kids through to curative cardiac procedures since our inception, and we are even today working with our team on the ground to provide medical treatment to many hundreds more. Just in the last two days, we have been in touch with the foremost cardiologist in Port-au-Prince - one of our staunch supporters - who is working with us pro bono to fine-tune the medical management of some of our most complex patients.

We remain hopeful that Haiti will regain a necessary degree of civil equilibrium after this tumultuous period. At the same time, our board is also actively considering HCA’s broader future and developing our strategic plan for the coming five years - including an exploration of how the model of patient accompaniment that has worked so well in Haiti might be scaled to include patients in need in other low-resource environments.

So in closing, we want to assure you that the support and advice you have given us over the years has not been for naught – just the opposite. We have accomplished a great deal for the patients, we have supported our Haitian team members as they become genuine leaders of the program, and we have built a system of care that we believe could impact lives throughout the region and elsewhere!

Stay tuned and thank you all so very much for your generosity and support!