Congratulations to the graduates of Class 8! Last week, we honored what these 29 graduates have accomplished, but also what all 124 Midwives For Haiti graduates do to transform maternal health in Haiti with their compassionate work. With their skills and training, Haiti is becoming a safer place to give birth for thousands of mothers each year. 

Big thanks to all of our friends, alumni, supporters, Every Mother Counts, and Stella & Dot for celebrating this special day with us!

Check out our photos from graduation. Also, don't miss People magazine's interview with Christy Turlington Burns on her recent trip to Haiti to celebrate our graduation and 10th anniversary!

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With diplomas in hand, securing paid employment is often the hardest part of this process. Several of the graduates already have placements waiting for them and they are off to their new jobs. For those who don't, we have been holding CV workshops to support their employment search. We're also networking extensively with our contacts to help find jobs for these graduates.  

If you know of any groups, clinics, hospitals, or health centers in Haiti who need the skills these graduates have to offer, please contact our Program + Partnerships Director, Stephanie: icc@midwivesforhaiti.org.

Wendy Dotson, CNM, joined us for graduation and our 10th birthday party. Wendy was one of the first volunteers to respond when our founder, Nadene Brunk, sent out an email back in 2006 asking for help to begin teaching midwifery skills in Haiti.

Wendy was chosen to be the godmother, or marrin, of the ceremony, an honored role and tradition that she says "seems to be kind of a cross between Maid of Honor at a wedding and an AA sponsor." Midwives For Haiti has come a long way and here are a few of Wendy's 10th anniversary reflections: 

"I am happiest that I truly believe women in Haiti are being helped, and lives saved, by the ever-growing group of Midwives for Haiti graduates, a number now well over 100, and 92% of them employed. I'm also thrilled that we no longer work out of two closets, one hospital classroom, and a church rectory, as we did when Nadene and Steve and I attended the start of Class 2.

Even better, our Jeep drives on a highway all the way to Hinche, instead of flying in a tiny plane and landing on the dirt airstrip after the goats were chased off. And oh, the LandCruiser! MFH has 2 motor vehicles now, a Jeep and a LandCruiser, and sometimes, both of them are running! Once, we got around in Ronel's 1984 Hilux truck with wooden benches in the bed for seats. These are only a few of the near-miraculous accomplishments and blessings of Midwives for Haiti over 10 years that we are all celebrating.

This ramble down memory lane is a bit over simplified, and reminds me of a dad that once told me "when they're little, they have little problems; When they get bigger, they have bigger problems."... It's true for non-profits, too, and makes me reflect on on how to help MFH. Find funds for solar power panels to energize the compound where the classroom, offices, volunteer housing, and supply depots now reside.

Manno Bastia (L) and Ronel Emmanuel (R) have been with us since day one! It has been ten long years of their unwavering support as House Manager and Driver. We honored them and many others who have given so much to Midwives For Haiti at our 10 year celebration. 

We asked Ronel, how has Midwives For Haiti and Hinche changed over the past 10 years? Here's what he said:

"How has Hinche changed? Hinche was like a pregnant woman waiting to give birth. Women were waiting for Midwives For Haiti to be here, to deliver them. Years ago when my wife was pregnant, I used to have to travel to Pignon to get her care. The way things were at Hospital Ste. Therese if 12 women arrived at the hospital, all 12 people arrived feet in front (dead). Now, women get the best care there. MFH has hired lots of people, they invest in people, that's what makes all of this a success. In the beginning… listen, birds cannot build a nest right away. To do good things, it takes time. Taking time and being patient, good things come." 

See more of our team.

Our monitoring and evaluation team has been collaborating with Richmond-based B-corp !mpact Makers for months on an exciting new project for mobile clinic. Two !mpact Makers recently spent a week in Haiti with our M&E Manager, Brittany, to implement a custom-designed data collection app using the CommCare platform. All mobile clinic SBAs were trained to use the pink Samsung tablets and are now using them at the mobile clinics-- saving time, money, and paper waste by streamlining our data processes. Be on the lookout in November for the full pilot report!

The Mobile Prenatal Clinic provided care to 808 women last month and referred or transported 25 women for emergency care. Each one of these prenatal visits and transfers was funded by donors like you.