Checklist
- Passport: Get an up to date passport. This can take 6-12 weeks. A visa is not required. Make a copy of your passport and hide this in your luggage. Your actual passport should be carried on your person at all times.
- Vaccines and Health Precautions: Update your Hepatitis B immunization. Begin Hepatitis A injections. The CDC recommends a typhoid vaccine. Discuss malaria prevention with your primary care practitioner. There are no resistant strains of malaria in Haiti. HIV in Haiti is not a major concern for volunteers at this time. In both Hinche and Port-au-Prince, HIV chemoprophylaxis protocols exist for accidental exposures. However, universal precautions remain the primary prevention: observe them carefully. More information can be found on the CDC travel website.
- Flights: Make your flight reservations well in advance. Your destination is Port-au-Prince. You need to arrive in PAP no later than noon on the Saturday your week begins, and depart PAP no earlier than 12:30pm on the Saturday at the end of your week. This will often require you to stay overnight in Miami, Ft. Lauderdale, or PAP.
- Required documents: Your practice in Haiti must align with your licensed skills. You will need to submit the following materials to Midwives For Haiti no later than 2 weeks prior to your trip:
1) a copy of your midwifery certification
2) a signed copy of the Volunteer Release Waiver form (attached to the welcome email).
3) your flight itinerary to and from Port Au Prince (due 1 month prior to your trip)
These documents can sent via email to midwivesforhaiti@gmail.com, regular mail to Sarah Burd c/o Virginia Women’s Center, 8266 Atlee Road Suite 330, Mechanicsville, VA 23116, or fax to (804) 417-2201, Attn: Sarah Burd.
- Trip costs: You are responsible for your trip costs. Ask your coworkers, faith community, employer, etc. to help fund your trip. You will need to submit $650 program fee to Midwives For Haiti no later than 2 weeks prior to your trip (cost for each additional week is $400). This fee will cover transportation between PAP and Hinche, room and board for the week, and cost of translators.
You will need to bring cash ($1s and $5s) to cover any additional costs (purchase of Digicell cell phone minutes, moto-taxi rides, market items, and tips). If you will need overnight accommodations in Port Au Prince on either end of your trip, this cost is also not included in your program fee.
- Funding: You may receive contributions to cover your trip costs. Checks should be sent to Midwives For Haiti, with a note on the check or attached that this donation is to support your travel, so that you may be reimbursed for your expenses. You may only be reimbursed for those expenses that are documented with a receipt. Your donors will receive a tax donation form from Midwives For Haiti.
Donations can be made on the Midwives For Haiti website, or mailed to:
Midwives For Haiti
c/o Brenda Burgess
7130 Glen Forest Drive
Richmond, VA 23226
See the “Fundraising Guide,” which contains some creative ways to raise money for your trip. MFH letters verifying the dates and nature of your service are available upon request.
- What to pack: You should not plan to take more than 2 suitcases, plus carry-ons. You are permitted to check two 50lb. bags at no cost. Do not carry an obvious “purse”. Have a personal bag or backpack that you will carry with you at all times in Haiti.
Items to take:
- insect repellant (DEET is recommended)
- water bottle to fill each day
- toiletries
- sunscreen and sunglasses
- scrubs to wear in the clinic
- flip-flops for showering
- comfortable walking shoes
- respectful clothing (most Haitian women wear only blouses and skirts, or dresses. Do not take short shorts)
- camera
- hand-sanitizer and/or anti-bacterial wipes
- ear plugs
- journal and pen
- tissues - not guaranteed to be available everywhere you need it
- Medical supplies: You should take the supplies you need to practice with you:
- stethoscope
- blood pressure cuff
- gestational wheel
- tape
- gloves
- Doppler, if you have one
- Garbage and recycling removal: Haiti does not have a sustainable garbage removal system; therefore it is important to keep in mind that every disposable item or packaging of an item is an additional burden on Haiti’s ecology. Try to minimize the waste you are bringing as much as possible.
In addition, you should be prepared to transport some waste items back to the U.S. with you, such as easily packed disposable items from supplies you bring, recyclable bottles from the house, etc. Large (30-gallon) garbage bags are easy to pack in your luggage, and will make this process at your departure much cleaner and simpler.
- Reading before you go is strongly suggested.
Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder
Walking in Fire by Beverly Bell
Haiti by Charles Arthur
A Song for Haiti
The End of Poverty by Jeffrey Sachs
The Rainy Season
Third-World Folk Beliefs and Practices: Haitian Medical Anthropology from University of Kansas.
Recognize that you will not be able to save everyone you see or solve the problems of all the women. You were called to do midwifery care, you have those skills, and you will make a huge difference to the women in Haiti that you meet and teach. The books Where Women Have No Doctor and A Book for Midwives will be the main texts used for most of the curriculum in Hinche. Both should be there. Also there are the LSS Manuals from the ACNM. Students have a copy of Where Women Have No Doctor and A Book for Midwives in Creole. A Book for Midwives text is entirely available in English on the internet through the Hesperian Foundation. We have it translated into Creole but have not published it yet.
For helpful insight into what you can expect at your sight in Hinche, please spend some time reading the Trip Journals and blog entries found in the Trip Journal section of our website. In addition, please contact Sarah Burd (MidwivesForHaiti@gmail.com) if you are interested in speaking or emailing with a previous volunteer about their experience.
- Register with the U.S. Embassy in Haiti. We feel it is safe to travel in Haiti and especially in the Hinche community. However, U.S. citizens who travel or reside abroad may now register a record of their trip or residence so that the Department of State and/or nearby U. S. Embassy or Consulate can communicate with and assist citizens in case of an emergency. Registration is now online, and can be accessed at: https://travelregistration.state.gov/ibr.
There are a number of supply needs in Hinche towards which volunteers can contribute. Our Supplies Always Needed document lists items that are consistently needed at the hospital and Mobile Clinics in Hinche. It is most helpful to bring only supplied indicated on the list, and it is better to bring a lot of one item than a few samples of a variety of items. Volunteers can expect to receive a list of urgently needed supplies one month and two weeks prior to trip departure. If possible, time and luggage space should be reserved to help fulfill some of these requests.
In Hinche, you will be staying in our volunteer house, near the grounds of an orphanage. You can take small toys or things you can give to some of the over 100 children who live there. School supplies or other fun things are welcome.
Last updated November 30, 2011
