Olomouc, Haiti – For the sixth time, the Archdiocesan Caritas Olomouc helped provide health care in Haiti thanks to contributions from the campaign For the Health of Haiti. Thirteen Olomouc companies took part in the event, when visitors of a cafés paid any amount for a glass of water.

As part of the campaign For the Health of Haiti, last August, visitors to selected Olomouc cafés were able to refresh themselves with a glass of tap water and pay for any amount from 1 to infinity crowns. Although the cafes did not like the situation in the last year, thirteen of them decided to join the campaign this year as well. Also thanks to them, we managed to collect a beautiful 11,600 crowns, for which Haitian partners organized health examinations and bought medicines for children and adults.

It was the medicines in Haiti that the Archdiocesan Caritas Olomouc always carried during their missions. The annual trips included visits to Haitian partners, handing over letters to adoptive parents to children involved in the Child sponsorsip programme, and, above all, carrying out health examinations for children and adults under the leadership of MUDr. Josef Marada. Due to the political instability and poor security situation in Haiti in 2019 and the coronavirus pandemic that shook the world, the Haitian missions for 2019 and 2020 also had to be canceled. However, even this situation did not stop the Archdiocesan Caritas Olomouc in active cooperation with Haitian partners, and the proceeds from the campaign For the Health of Haiti went to Haitian partners again this time, without Czech humanitarian workers.

For the money from the campaign For the Health of Haiti 2019 and 2020 projects, Haitian partners bought drugs and disinfectants so that they could cure the health ailments of people from the local community. “As an organization that has been operating in Haiti since 2005, we are very pleased to see that the programs we introduced there many years ago, such as the annual medical examinations, continue to run successfully even without our presence on the ground,” said the humanitarian coordinator for Haiti, Lada Matyášová.

“As part of the Child sponsorship programme, we try to enable local children to study in primary schools. However, this is very complicated when children are ill or suffer from a health problem and cannot actively participate in teaching,“ continues Matyášová. It is inflammation or rashes that most often plague locals. At the same time, a few drugs are often enough to cure them, but they can be difficult to obtain in Haiti or they are too expensive. Thanks to the proceeds from the campaign For the Health of Haiti, Haitian partners were able to purchase these drugs along with disinfectants that allow local children to attend school safely.

Thank you for your support not only to the people who contributed, but also to Bistrá kráva, Bistro & Bar Konvikt, Café Jan, Café Na cucky, Café Restaurant Caesar, Caffé Trieste, Coffee Library, Jazz Fresh Café, Na břehu Rhôny, Traffic Coffee, U Kristýna and Kikafe Coffee Roaster.

Kateřina Biolková, Archdiocesan Caritas Olomouc