Dear Friends,

Our big news is that we have a new beautiful website! Thanks to Buddhist nun Ven. Robina Courtin, you will receive our annual newsletter from now on through: haitinaturalclinic.org

Thank you all for your continued support for our little clinic, which to date has treated about 87 000 poor Haitians for free!!! After cholera, chikungunya and ZIKA, we have a fourth epidemic epidemic, and the clinic is the offers the only possibility of treatment for most who cannot afford to see a doctor or the hospital. Once again we were able to observe natural remedies action.   

The Corona Virus

The Corona virus played out relatively mildly in Haiti, comparable to what we see in African countries. There is no testing whatsoever except for the few very rich people. We think this is, because climate, general health and nutritional status are comparable to Sub-Saharan Africa. Our patients by and large have never been treated with biomedicine, eat simple and are malnourished, so the risk factor underlying diseases for COVID 19 are rare in Haiti. Gratefully, we managed to ship a large amount of essential oils from Cary Caster to Haiti just in time before the lockdown hit, with more on the way (from Lora Cantele). We had anticipated a lockdown and had quickly moved supplies from the usual clinic site to Marie Lucie’s and Camio’s homes. Lockdown in Haiti means people can only be out for two hours every morning. The staff offered clinic from their homes in those brief time windows, as well as treating people who knocked on their door with an emergency. Marie Lucie and Josephine also did some outreach clinics. Our patients report that those who go to the hospital with other conditions will all be treated for Corona and all those treated for Corona die. So now people refuse to go, once again making our clinic is the only recourse for treatment for the locals. People cannot afford to buy masks.

The staff did home calls for people with acute respiratory distress. This was quite a successful undercover operation, because no one wanted to be known to have COVID 19 in the initial pandemic panic, neighbors burnt the houses of those known to have the virus. The clinic receives a such distress call about three times a week. The staff then goes to the person’s home and give them one to two drops of the essential oil of either peppermint or eucalyptus diluted in a bottle of water to sip over one day, as well as an inhalation per nasal stick, or a steam inhalation. These oils are antiviral, reduce fever, facilitate circulation and open the lungs (broncho-dilators). The person starts to breathe with more ease within moments, with the breaths slowing down and becoming greater in volume. By the end of the day, the breathing is normal. The patients usually have a bout of diarrhea two days later (sign that they are over the worst), for which they receive individualised homeopathic treatment, and go on to full recovery within a few days. Based on the typical symptoms, the staff is sure that 22 such cases were due to Corona. Even patients who had high fever can usually get up from the bed the next day. The only person known to the staff who died from COVID 19 was a young man who had a rich lifestyle and juvenile diabetes, the typical risk factor. He had never been treated at the clinic.

Typical COVID 19 Symptoms in Haiti

Anyone who has respiratory distress with one of the following counts as a Corona case in Haiti (real statistics do not exist, this is how the people in the street define it): unlike asthma, first a sore throat develops with difficulty swallowing, then a headache, abdominal pain with pain of the entire back so they are not able to stand up or walk and have to be carried to the clinic, then high fever, finally respiratory difficulties in people with symptoms. The specific abdominal pain is described as “the inside of the stomach detaching from the rest, like a meal churning”.

Most COVID cases in Haiti are hidden. People testing positive at the hospital do not want anyone to know for fear of being attacked. They come to our clinic saying simply that they have a fever, for which they receive homeopathic treatment. As the recover within a few days, they return and tell the staff that really they had COVID but were afraid to admit that. Remarkably, individualised homeopathy has helped those cases, even though they omitted the typical Corona symptoms. We are tremendously grateful for the continuous donations of homeopathic remedies from Hahnemann Laboratories in California. We could not do without them!

Peppermint and Eucalyptus Saves Lives

In one case, a man who had tested positive for the virus and was treated at the hospital and became worse and worse. One of his family members knew our clinic and pleaded to bring him to us. When he arrived, he could not stand by himself. He received peppermint essential oil in water and as an inhalation and was able to stand up within a short time, going on to recovery as described above.

Strong Coffee with Aloe Gel

Haitians have become so discouraged with the fatal results of the hospital treatments that most now take recourse to herbal home remedies, and they see people survive. A popular recipe is to drink strong coffee with fresh aloe gel, and yes, in the panic, some people overdose this! It says to take one tablespoon full of coffee simmered, adding the about 2 tablespoons full of fresh aloe gel. It says to sip this throughout the day.

The Antiviral Effect of Essential Oils

This is the fourth epidemic since the inception of the clinic. Each time we have found essential oils to be invaluable. Their action is fast, reliable, and requires no individualisation as homeopathy would, allowing us to treat a lot of people fast. In the area around the clinic, there are almost no more Corona cases, whereas in the other areas of Port-au-Prince and Haiti, cases are increasing quickly. This is what we saw in the case of cholera, as well. Those who are treated for whatever they had seem to become stronger and resist infection better.

Into the Future: Nursing Student Joins Clinic

We are happy that Josephine joined our staff. She is a third year nursing student who was trained in herbal medicine by her grandparents. Josephine’s medical experience is a great asset. A nurse in Haiti is trained similar to a nurse practitioner in the US: to run their own clinic without a doctor. Josephine is presently training to deliver babies as well as in minor wound surgery. She is helping the other staff upgrade their medical understanding. Josephine loves using natural substances to heal. She goes to school and works shifts at the clinic. At the moment, shooting has become so prevalent, that no one can take the bus. So she walks to school before sunrise under cover of dark.

We Need Seeds of Medicinal Plants

Right now, we are fundraising to put a goat-and-chicken-proof barbed wire fence around a small piece of land to start a medicinal herb garden. Our long-term goal is to make the clinic as independent as possible, which includes growing common medicinals. If you have dried herbs, tinctures, or seeds you could donate, please see our herbal wish list at [link] We are also especially looking for a donation of unmedicated inhalation sticks, the kind which aromatherapists use to provide specific oils for inhalation. Those have proved to be of invaluable immediate help.

Thanks to all of your loving support, so grateful we can continue to help! With many thanks to Andrea Lemon for designing and hosting the old website for over 10 years!

Love from Jinpa, Michelle and Julia 

With heartfelt thanks to our latest donors:

Ven. Robina Courtin

Kaia Fischer

April Eya of Hahnemann Labs, California

Lora Cantele of International Journal of Professional Holistic Aromatherapy

Jonathan Hinde of Oshadhi UK

Sally Tamplin

Rosemary Gladstar, Larissa Dickey, Andrea Lemon, “Personal Chef”, Susanne Kessler, Sujay Jhaveri, Tonia Shimin, Paul Gruen, John Schlottig, Ralf Strehlau, Michelle Ladue, all the participants of the Natural Viral care fundraiser class, Pat Holtz and family, participants in Julia’s herb walk.