Tienne Dispensary by Dror Yaron

GigapanMagazine.org  vol 3 issue 4

The Tienne clinic is one of four mountain health centers, all of which are staffed by Haitian community health workers, volunteer health outreach workers and nurses. Located atop a mountain, about an hour from HAS, the dispensary is often the “first stop” for a sick or injured patient. Footpaths bring people from remote mountain households to the dispensary. Specializing in pre-natal, family planning, nutrition, small surgeries and procedures, the dispensaries also act as a venue for referral to HAS. Should there be a need, a healthcare worker onsite will refer patients who visit the dispensary to the hospital for further evaluation and treatment. In addition to community health centers such as this one, HAS also provides mobile clinics to better serve those who live in more remote areas of the Artibonite Valley. The services include prenatal care, family planning as well as minor surgical procedures.

On the day the photography team visited the Tiennes center, there was a class being taught on the back open-air porch of the health clinic. The class, taught by a twenty-five-year old nurse and midwifery specialist, Jeanne Bright, was to develop training for midwives. The class was composed of about fifty-five students, of whom most were male. Watch short video from that class and listen to an audio clip of the students singing at: seehaiti.posterous.com/tienne-dispensary-57687 
Representations of a day at this dispensary by local artist Joseph Augustin: friendsofhasgallery.org/zoom/1400x720/506419.html 
Local artists paint a mural at the Tienne clinic: hashaiti.org/blog/health-mural-brightens-tienne