Dr. Michael Blood (1956-2013)

My love for Haiti was not a random event.  In fact, the roots took hold when I was a junior in high school. That was the year I met Dr. Mike Blood.  Dr. Blood was a family practitioner in my adopted hometown.  He and his practice partners cared for innumerable members of our community and he was well known for his local volunteerism.   However, later in his career, he felt a calling to expand his mission work and planned his first trip to Haiti.  What happened after that first trip was nothing short of spectacular, for it yielded the beginnings of what was initially known as Christian Mission South Haiti and later Medical Missions South Haiti (MMSH).   

MMSH was a service organization that introduced dozens of healthcare workers to the plight of the Haitian people.  Likewise, it gave many the chance to experience the need first hand via biannual mission trips to Les Cayes, Haiti.  Within the first few trips, Dr. Blood befriended a group of Haitian medical students from the Haitian Academy.  In them, he saw great potential and a vision that would become the focus of MMSH.  

During the years of MMSH being active, thousands of Haitians benefitted from Dr. Blood's work, but none more so than the Haitian medical students he had taken under his wing.  Dr. Blood's vision was to train the medical students to be as self sufficient as possible in all aspects of healthcare; in a country where this notion is difficult at best.  This was done with frequent trips to Haiti, and also by bringing these students to the United States to attend medical conferences, shadow various physician specialties, and to attend post-graduate training.  This process provided a solid foundation of medical knowledge, and afforded the opportunity to teach how to staff and operate a medical practice.  Through this model, Dr. Blood hoped to show how planning, organization, and consistency could lead to a sustainable clinic model in Haiti.  

Unfortunately, Dr. Blood was not able to see the complete fruits of his work, as he died suddenly in July 2013.  It was a huge loss for our community and the nation of Haiti.  However, his legacy lives on in every Haitian life he touched and every person he instilled the love for Haiti and passion for this work.  Avék Anpil Men Medical Relief hopes to continue the tradition Dr. Blood began.  Our hope is to support the idea of self sufficient medical clinics in Haiti.  By continuing the tenets laid out by Dr. Blood, we plan to foster new relationships as well as preserving established bonds.  We also hope to take Dr. Blood's love for Haiti and share that with as many as we can, with the hope that the lessons learned from his work can be passed on and built upon.  We thank Dr. Blood for his love and wisdom.  His work will never be forgotten. 

                                                                         Ryan R. Venis, MD FACEP (Founder AAMMR)