On this Throwback Thursday we’re looking back at a part of our work that quietly changed lives — health education about spina bifida and other neural tube defects.
Real Hope For Haiti has been doing health education since 1994, and in 2007 we began a focused effort on neural tube defects. Back then our clinic saw roughly 6–10 cases a year. Many families faced impossible choices: a few children traveled abroad for surgery, more had operations in Haiti, and sadly some babies died. With the cost, risk, and heartbreak of treatment clearly high, we decided to try preventing as many of these cases as we could.
Our approach was simple and persistent. We ran a one-hour radio show every week for two months and followed it with short radio spots to reinforce the messages. For two months we also turned our waiting area into a classroom — every family who came through heard the same lessons. We produced posters and handouts and concentrated on women of childbearing age, teaching them where to find folic acid in everyday foods and why a prenatal vitamin matters. At the clinic we began giving folic acid to anyone who might need it and made it a permanent part of our preventive care.
Partners — surgeons, hospitals, host families, travel escorts, and generous donors — stepped in when surgery was needed. But the heart of the change came from education and simple nutrition support.
The results have been powerful. Today we only see roughly one case a year where previously we saw many more. We’ve noticed women coming in for their first prenatal visit earlier, and more women returning for regular care. Perhaps most meaningful: families who once believed a birth defect was a curse or punishment began to understand the real causes and the practical steps they could take to prevent them. A disturbing local practice — where some parents quietly abandoned babies born with certain defects — stopped as families learned there were options and help.
Here’s a voice from the clinic that shows how this change happened day by day:
“At first the questions were full of fear and shame. Women asked if their baby was cursed. I answered every question, sometimes the same ones many times, with patience and kindness. Over the years I watched fear turn into action — women taking vitamins, coming earlier to clinic, bringing friends to learn. That change is what makes me happy to work at RHFH and see this improvement over the years.” — Magdala, prenatal nurse
This Throwback Thursday we celebrate that transformation — not because we are finished with the work, but because education turned fear into hope and action. Your past gifts made radio airtime, folic acid tablets, posters, and teaching time possible. With continued support, we can keep teaching, keep supplying vitamins, and keep preventing needless suffering.
If you’d like to help fund our health education programs, please consider a gift to Real Hope For Haiti:
Mail a check: Real Hope For Haiti, 15215 Endeavor Drive, Noblesville, IN 46060
Thank you for believing that information — given with compassion and consistency — can change a life.