CHADASHA’S STORY
501(c)(3) CHARITY BRINGING LIFESAVING HEART SURGERIES TO CHILDREN IN POVERTY
Years before the Chadasha Foundation’s official formation, a seed was planted in the heart of Dr. Clint Doiron. It happened in 2001 as he visited a pediatric AIDS hospital in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.
Clint was there at the invitation of Dr. Marc Pinard, a Haitian surgeon who ran clinics in Port-au-Prince and provided care to the poorest of the poor in sugar cane work camps. They met in 1999 when Dr. Pinard developed a heart condition. A family from Tennessee who had worked with Dr. Pinard connected him with Clint, who performed the needed cardiac surgery. During his treatment, Dr. Pinard shared with Clint the work he was doing in Haiti and invited him to visit. Clint put together a mission team and in 2001 went to Haiti to help with the work.
Standing in that children’s AIDS hospital, Clint noticed two babies sharing a bassinet. “There are empty bassinets here. Why do you have two babies in the same one?” he asked Dr. Pinard, who said simply, “I don’t allow children to die alone.”
“I don’t allow children to die alone”
– Dr. Marc Pinard
From that moment, says Clint, “we began to try to do something for the poor.”
Over the next few years, Clint and a core group led annual medical mission teams to Port-au-Prince and to Jimani, a Dominican Republic city bordering Haiti. And they did more. Clint and his wife, Kristine, brought a teenage girl with congenital heart disease to Knoxville, where she had her condition repaired. The child, May, is now an OB/GYN physician working in South Carolina. Later they brought another child, Olken, for heart surgery; he is now studying at the University of Tennessee.
From that moment, says Clint, “we began to try to do something for the poor.”
Over the next few years, Clint and a core group led annual medical mission teams to Port-au-Prince and to Jimani, a Dominican Republic city bordering Haiti. And they did more. Clint and his wife, Kristine, brought a teenage girl with congenital heart disease to Knoxville, where she had her condition repaired. The child, May, is now an OB/GYN physician working in South Carolina. Later they brought another child, Olken, for heart surgery; he is now studying at the University of Tennessee.
Following Haiti’s devastating earthquake in 2010, Clint and his mission partners witnessed an outpouring of assistance. They realized, however, that the desperate needs of Haitians would remain once the emergency was over. Out of this awareness came the Chadasha Foundation, an effort to meet ongoing needs, including medical help, education, feeding programs and Christian discipleship. Some of the founding members include Eric Dickenson, Don Smith, Michael Bowling, Dr. Neil Barry III, Phil Ogle, Orville Brackett, and Chuck Copeland.
The Lord provided resources for Chadasha to build and equip a hospital and orphanage in Jimani and a school in Haiti. They supported English language learning and pastor training. “Chadasha was in Haiti with the goal of physical and spiritual healing in the Name of Jesus Christ,” says Clint.
Clint and his team began noticing more and more children with heart problems. They learned that out of 290,000 babies born in Haiti each year, an estimated 1,200 are born with a congenital heart defect. Without surgery, those children die. Around the world congenital heart disease is a leading cause of child death from birth defects. “A hundred times more children die of untreated heart disease than die of childhood cancer,” says Clint.
Having brought two children to the U.S. for surgery, Clint and Kristine understood that it was too costly a process to meet the huge need. Surgeries had to be taken to the children.
Chadasha partnered, first, with the International Children’s Heart Foundation, then with Gift of Life International, both charities that supported pediatric heart surgeries in low- and middle-income countries around the world.
Clint and his team began noticing more and more children with heart problems. They learned that out of 290,000 babies born in Haiti each year, an estimated 1,200 are born with a congenital heart defect. Without surgery, those children die. Around the world congenital heart disease is a leading cause of child death from birth defects. “A hundred times more children die of untreated heart disease than die of childhood cancer,” says Clint.
Having brought two children to the U.S. for surgery, Clint and Kristine understood that it was too costly a process to meet the huge need. Surgeries had to be taken to the children.
Chadasha partnered, first, with the International Children’s Heart Foundation, then with Gift of Life International, both charities that supported pediatric heart surgeries in low- and middle-income countries around the world.
“A hundred times more children die of untreated heart disease than die of childhood cancer.”
– Dr. Clint Doiron
Because of growing civil unrest and violent crime, entering and working in Haiti was becoming dangerous. Chadasha gave the facilities it had built to another ministry. Currently the Jimani hospital campus is run by RTS Missions.
While Chadasha began moving its work geographically, a dedicated focus on pediatric heart surgery crystallized. Through Gift of Life International, Clint and his physician assistant Eric Dickenson had been working with Dr. Rodrigo Soto, a pediatric cardiac surgeon from Chile, who brought the skills and disposition needed to lead their efforts.
“God sustains every single thing we do.”
– Dr. Clint Doiron
Under Rodrigo’s direction, innovative heart surgeries are saving children’s lives in Guyana, Bolivia, and the Dominican Republic, and local physicians and nurses are being trained to do the work themselves.
From that first seed planted in Clint’s heart, Chadasha became a dynamic organization that evolved to meet the needs God put before it. Although Chadasha is no longer in Haiti, “our goal is the same,” says Kristine. “God provided for the founding and funding of Chadasha’s work, buildings and missionaries in Haiti. God provided our world-class pediatric heart surgeon, Dr. Rodrigo Soto, and our partnership with Gift of Life International. God sustains every single thing we do.”
Under Rodrigo’s direction, innovative heart surgeries are saving children’s lives in Guyana, Bolivia, and the Dominican Republic, and local physicians and nurses are being trained to do the work themselves.
From that first seed planted in Clint’s heart, Chadasha became a dynamic organization that evolved to meet the needs God put before it. Although Chadasha is no longer in Haiti, “our goal is the same,” says Kristine. “God provided for the founding and funding of Chadasha’s work, buildings and missionaries in Haiti. God provided our world-class pediatric heart surgeon, Dr. Rodrigo Soto, and our partnership with Gift of Life International. God sustains every single thing we do.”
Changing Lives. One Child At a Time.
Our Work In Action
Celebrating Progress
Olken’s Story
I first met Olken in Thomazeau, Haiti where he was bedridden. He had a resting oxygen saturation of 32% with a normal being 100%. He was nearing death as a result of having congenital heart disease called tetralogy of fallot, in this condition there are four serious heart issues including a large hole in the heart, a blocked valve in the heart, and shunting of blood causing him to be blue. In the CD I sent you You have a picture of Olken with me holding him in my arms when I first met him.
The Dominican Republic does not welcome Haitians into the country, I was a member of the board of International Children’s Heart Foundation and we were doing pediatric surgery in Santiago, Dominican Republic. It was extremely difficult to bring him to Santiago because he had no passport or medical visa. He was so sick that we had to do an entire exchange transfusion of all his blood. Interestingly the President of the Dominican Republic’s daughter was volunteering for us in Santiago and she gave him several units of her own blood enabling us to do one phase of the operation. Because he was so ill we had to do his heart operation in two steps, the first step was lifesaving and we increased his oxygen saturation to 60%. The next operation was too complicated to do in the Dominican Republic, we had plans to bring him to the United States but unfortunately the Haitian earthquake of 2010 killed 250,000 people and it also destroyed the infrastructure and communications network in Haiti. We were concerned that he and May, our other foster daughter from Haiti who we had done heart surgery on before might die from the lack of medical attention, but luckily we were granted emergency medical visas to bring them to the US and live with us emergentley. This was clearly Gods providence that allowed us to obtain their medical visas.
Once we made it to the US we realized that he had more medical issues that we had to correct, his diet in Haiti had mainly consisted of garbage and waste products, therefore his teeth were rotten and his nutrition was very poor. As he lived with us his nutrition was improving quickly, a wonderful pediatric oral surgeon named Dr. Christ caped his rotten teeth and pulled all the other teeth that were not restorable. Because we were his parents during this time we were able to finance his complex second phase heart operation. This final operation cured Olken. We had to take him to Columbus, Ohio at the Nationwide Children’s Hospital where he saw a world famous pediatric heart surgeon named Alistair Phillips M.D, he performed Olken’s total corrective heart surgery.
Olken rapidly recovered and was able to run on our boulevard just six weeks after the operation. He then re-enrolled into kindergarten where he learned to speak English. He was ultimately adopted by a wonderful Christian family by doctor and Mrs Matt Jinks. He rapidly excelled through elementary, middle, and high school. His athletic performances were amazing , he won the ten and under Oak ridge triathlon, In addition he excelled in baseball, cross country, and he was one of the top divers in the state.
He enrolled at the University of Tennessee in the school of Architecture where he attained a full academic 4-year scholarship, his area of interest is architecture designs for protection of structures during disasters and for mast protection of disaster relief structures. It is a joy to be around Olken, he is loved and respected by family, friends, and all that know him.
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