My name is Dasson Mesadieu, but everyone just calls me Anel.  I was born on March 19, 1986 and am 28 years old.  I’m married to Fanie and we have one son named Dave.  We were married in 2011.  She works in the clinic too.

I have 2 brothers and 3 sisters.  I was born in Germain and live in Cazale now.  These towns are not too far apart and I see my family often.  Right now, I live in a 3 room house that is made of cement blocks and covered with tin.  We have an outhouse, shower, and outdoor kitchen.  There is a place to get clean water close to the house.  My mother-in-law, wife, son, and I live in the house.

I started working in the clinic in 2004.  I have done many different jobs –  make new charts, pull old charts, register patients, give out numbers for the pts in the morning, enter groups into the education area, help when patients are fighting or upset, look for lost charts, go find parents of children in our care when they are ready to go home, paint, lay tile, lift boxes, clean, go get official paperwork done, help get paperwork for medical visas, help buy & build houses for people RHFH is helping, help register & pay for school, and take patients with emergencies to the hospital.

The work is good for me because the pay helps my family live.  The money that I’ve earned has helped me to build a house, get married, and care for my family.  We can buy food and other things we need.  Sometimes I even have enough to help others in my family when they are having a hard time and that makes me happy that I’m able to do that.  This year, I’m also able to send my son to preschool.

I enjoy making charts and helping others.  I like helping people when they are having a hard time with money or sickness.  It makes me happy when I find a parent and bring them back to pick up their healthy child.

I don’t like it when we get done late and when the parents of the children give false addresses. This makes my job difficult.

There are a few things that would help me do my work better.  It is really hot in the office where I work and it would be great if we could get a fan.   Also, if RHFH had a motorcycle I could use that would help me find the families.  I think that it would be good for the clinic to get a computer system that could archive the clinic charts.  There are a lot of them and it takes time to find them if the patient loses their card.

There is one thing that I will always remember in my work.  Several years ago, there were two children that we were helping that were born with a problem.  No one could tell if they were a boy or a girl.  I think that is very hard for a child to understand.  It’s not fair to them and it makes me sad.  I want all children to be born healthy and without this problem.  I can’t imagine how I would feel if my child was born like this.  I was able to help the parents go to Port-au-Prince to get all the paperwork needed to do a medical visa.  Getting the passports was hard, but I tried not to get discouraged.  This was the way that I could help this children.  After much work, they were given visas and went to the United States.  I remember when they returned.  I was so happy when they returned healthy after the surgery.  The families were so happy and very thankful.  I was very excited that I got to be a part of this.  I think that they will have very good lives because of all the people that worked together to help them.  This makes me very satisfied with the work that I do.

On a normal clinic day, I get here early and start handing out numbered tickets at 6:40 in the morning with another guy that works here.  We start calling in patients after the staff prays at 7:00. I pull the charts of returning patients and give them to the patients.  I look up lost chart numbers and write referral letters.  My lunch break is from 12 to 1.  I come back and do more of the same things.  I also fixed charts that are misfiled and keep the filing cabinets organized.  It’s hard since there are over 135,500 charts.  We are suppose to get done at 5, but sometimes don’t get done until 6 or 6:30.  This is a very long day for me.

I like living in Cazale.  I’ve lived in this area all of my life and my family is all close.  I think Cazale needs a good road, electricity, a clean market, more businesses, and a trade school.

RHFH helps the area by helping people have good health.  They send people to other facilities if the medical cases are too hard.  Sometimes it’s hard to find help, but it is so good when they help these special cases.  They promote education of the children.  It is very good that they provide jobs for so many people.

I think that I’m a good employee for the clinic.  I try to work hard and do a good job at what I do.  I like the mission and all that they do.  Even if the work is hard or I’m discouraged, I always try to do my best.  I’m a Christian and go to the Episcopal church here in Cazale.  I would like for you to pray for me for good health, a good life, and that I can always take care of my family.