Thank you for your gracious support of our work!

After navigating some significant changes in our travel plans due to political unrest in Haiti, our group has returned from an equally amazing experience in San Jose, Costa Rica working with Maximo Nivel, a local partner offering volunteer programming and language training in Costa Rica, Guatemala and Peru. Our projects for the week were managed and led by our local leader, Medical Specialist Tatiana Cubillo Jimenez, and focused on service at childcare facilities and a church/rehabilitation center in the San Jose areas of Purral, Tejarcillos, and Alajuelita. Students, assisted and supervised by the local team, provided general health assessments to children, to assist in the provision of referrals for further medical care. Students also worked with a local physician to provide assessments and treatment for adults in a clinic setting. Our team experienced and learned a significant amount about the local medical system and thoroughly enjoyed the opportunity to help and collaborate.

Our team cannot thank donors enough for their support of our trip through the Duquesne Spirit crowdfunding campaign. Your support was able to support our team traveling to San Jose by purchasing medical supplies needed to support our activities with patients. We cannot wait for continuing services in years to come.

Thank you!

To our donors,

Thank you so much for your gracious support of our fundraising campaign to bring our School of Pharmacy students down to Cap-Haitien, Haiti, to work on our ongoing global health projects. We can’t express how appreciative we are of your donations. Today, we are writing to update you on the need for a location change for the trip that you helped to fund.  

In the weeks since our campaign ended, there have been some developments in Haiti. Unfortunately, there has been a fair degree of political unrest and demonstrations that have resulted in heightened warnings from the State Department regarding travel to the country. Based on this and some additional developments with our partners in-country, the University has decided it most appropriate to forgo the trip for this year. We are saddened by this change, but put the safety of our students at the highest priority. We remain in solidarity with our friends at the Espwa Foundation, St. Anthony’s Medical Clinic, and throughout Cap-Haitien, and will support them as we can from afar until we are able to return.

Our students are committed to spending their break assisting with local healthcare needs through volunteerism at clinics. They are keen to continue their education and volunteer work in global health, and evaluated alternative options for travel. After working with some partners and evaluating our options, we have decided this year to move our trip to Costa Rica, to participate on a medical service campaign with IVHQ, an organization helping to connect volunteers across the globe with local projects. We will be heading to San Jose to work with local medical personnel in several clinics, quite similar to what we had planned with our partners in Haiti. Our students are excited that we are able to still find a way to contribute to global health in a meaningful way.

We look forward to keeping you updated about our global health experience this spring. Thank you again for helping to make it possible!

If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to reach out to us.

Thank you,

Drs. Jordan Covvey (covveyj@duq.edu) and Kevin Tidgewell (tidgewellk@duq.edu)

Our crowdfunding campaign for the Duquesne University School Of Pharmacy Haiti Global Health Experience is over halfway to our goal!

Thanks to great supporters like you, we have raised a total of $1,325 from 31 donors, 53% of our goal. All of us at Duquesne University greatly appreciate your support! These gifts will help our students to contribute to the goals of St Anthony's Medical Clinic and improve the health and well-being of patients in Cap-Haitien, Haiti. We are looking forward to our trip in March, and are in the midst of planning projects for our time in the clinic. We are most excited about an opportunity to introduce a pictogram prescription labeling program to help patients with instructions in how to take their medications. We also can't wait to reconnect with our local physician partners, Dr. Eugene Maklin, and Dr. Rodlin Paul, to hear about how they've been doing since we last visited.

With five days left in our campaign, you can provide additional support to this campaign by sharing our crowdfunding page. Share our page www.spirit.duq.edu/haiti with any alumni, family, friends or colleagues who may be interested in donating. Gifts of any size will help us reach our goal. Another great way to spread the word is by taking a moment to share our page on social media. Over the course of this campaign, we have realized how many of our friends have personal connections to Haiti through their work, volunteer efforts and religious organizations. Your sharing furthers our reach and impact in such a meaningful way.

Thank you again for your support!

Sincerely,

Jordan R Covvey, PharmD, PhD, BCPS

Assistant Professor; Division of Pharmaceutical, Administrative and Social Sciences

Duquesne University School of Pharmacy