Thermitus is a trained pharmacist, and holds diplomas in this field. He is also an accomplished interpreter, speaking Haitian Creole, French, English and Spanish. Before being appointed In-Country Executive Director, Thermitus worked for HUFH as our Assistant In-Country Executive Director and before that, as a translator, pharmacist, volunteer coordinator and as our Haiti Village Health Site Administrator where he managed the guesthouse and clinic at our Global Health training site. He has organized the community to clean large areas of the beach, polluted from offshore, stressing the connection between the environment and heath. He is very dedicated to the people in his home village of Labadee, where he has set up community projects for youth. He is a talented artist and musician.

Fritznel, an attorney by education, has a varied background and a diverse skill set. Certified in customer service, crowd management and technical first aid, Fritznel handles communication and ONG administration and is the Coordinator of Emergency First Aid in Labadee, a farming village outside of Cap Haitian where he was born and raised. Fritznel worked as an interpreter for about 10 years. He first began working with NGOs in 2007, when he served as General Secretary of Heart Together for Haiti, followed by a position as logistician for the Computer Center for Kids. After working for Royal Caribbean Cruise lines, Fritznel joined HUFH & HVH, a former partner of HUFH, as coordinator of the Sante Pou Yo Clinic of Bas-Limbe. After earning his legal degree, Fritznel was named HUFH Legal Liaison and Manager, serving as HUFH’s in-country general counsel and director of human resources and recently became our Assistant In-Country Director.

Dr. Ortelus graduated from medical school in the Dominican Republic, and immediately returned to Haiti to do her social service residency at Justinien Hospital, the public hospital in Cap Haitien. Dr. Ortelus takes care of patients in our Malnutrition, Well-Baby, Hypertension and Mobile Santè programs, and works with our obstetrician in our Prenatal program. As HUFH’s in-country medical director, Dr. Ortelus provides direct supervision for all of our health care programs and direct care to the patients in those programs. She also leads the in-country medical outreach team, bringing mobile medical clinics to communities who have no access to basic health care. In Dr. Ortelus’s own words: “I started volunteering with Hands up for Haiti early this year. I am passionate about helping people in need with an open heart and lots of love.“

After earning her diploma in nursing sciences at Roi Henri Christophe in Cap-Haïtien in 2014, Verline continued her training with courses in, among others, Helping Babies Breathe and Helping Babies Survive, prenatal ultrasound, vitamins, high risk pregnancies, sickle cell anemia and hypertension, emergency medicine, HIV/AIDS, cholera and pharmacology. Verline worked and trained in several hospitals including Fort St. Michel, Grande Rivière du Nord, Bon Samaritin du Limbé, Trou du Nord and the Health Center of La Fossette. Verline began volunteering with HUFH in 2015 as a nurse in charge of one of our malnutrition program sites. In 2019 she was appointed the head nurse at the Shada community clinic, a position in which she continued when the Shada programs were moved to the HUFH office. As our newly appointed Director of Nursing at Hands Up For Haiti, Verline coordinates all nursing and TSK activities related to the well-baby, prenatal and malnutrition program and supervises the TSKs and program nurses at each of the sites; she is also the nurse-in-charge of our prenatal program, offering direct care and education at three sites.

After graduating from l’UNACH, the Université Académique of the North of Haiti in 2014, Nurse Guerline Robillard completed her internship at Bethesda Hospital as a nurse clinician. While at Bethesda, she served as a peer educator. Guerline continued her nursing training in maternal/child health at the Health Center of La Fossette, in community health care at the Monbin Crochu Health Center and received a certificate from Vitamin Angels. She also earned a certificate in computerized accounting from INFONDA (the Vincent Foundation). Guerline joined HUFH in 2017, working in our Hypertension and Malnutrition Programs as a nurse and program manager. She was appointed the Assistant Nursing Director in early 2021, with supervisory and program delivery duties.

Miguel-Ange first began working at the Shada clinic in 2008 as a volunteer. He began to work for HVH, now merged into HUFH, in 2011, and for HUFH in 2012. Miguel-Ange studied political science at the Police Academy in Port-au-Prince, information technology at Dominicano Haitiano Centro Tecnologico in Cap-Haitian, and NGO administration and accounting at AHEC School in Cap-Haitian. Commenting on his role as the Malnutrition Program director, Miguel-Ange says: “In my role, I hope to make the program go better. I’ll work to improve it, but I need your help to do so.”

Miguel-Ange recently returned to school and earned his degree and license in Psychology at the Franco-Haitian University of Cap-Haitien. How will Miguel-Ange’s training as a psychologist help him and HUFH help his community even more in a country where Mental Health help is severely limited? In his words, “I can help children and adolescents who have suffered physical and psychological abuse, sexual abuse and neglect. I can psychologically support pregnant women and people who have been traumatized. In short, where there are people, I will work. . . I’m happy because HUFH has accompanied me to get this far.”

Miguel-Ange commitment to helping his brethren has inspired him to continue his education even further: he was granted a scholarship to continue his studies in a Master’s degree program in Clinical Psychology. Currently, in addition to his roles as Program Administrator and Supply Chain Manager, he will be serving as a Psychologist for HUFH moving forward.

LaMar is a finance professional at IBM. Currently the Chief Financial Officer for IBM’s Brokerage Services (formerly Gravitant), LaMar has worked in many capacities in both finance and accounting at IBM. He graduated cum laude with his degree in accounting from BYU’s Marriott School of Management in 2002. Over the years he has worked as a volunteer with many service organizations including Big Brother/Big Sisters, YMCA, as well as various soup kitchens, hospitals & schools. He has served as an assistant Scoutmaster for a local troop of the Boy Scouts of America for over 6 years. He became involved with Hands Up for Haiti through his wife Amy, a Nurse Practitioner, who is a founding member, and, before he assumed his current position, led the organization’s growth first as its Executive Director and then as its Chief Financial Officer.