Dr. Reginald Baugh, Bobbie Baugh and Friends Host Haitian Relief Fundraiser

By Fletcher Word
Sojourner’s Truth Editor

Need a recipe for relief?

A little inspiration helps particularly if that inspiration comes in the form of a native of Haiti who is trying to raise funds for his earthquake-ravaged homeland.

It might also help if those concerned about the recent events in the hemisphere’s poorest nation have a bit of familiarity themselves with the conditions that the earthquake has served to exacerbate.

So you get concerned individuals together, come up with an idea to raise money and then invite a number of influential friends and there you have it  … recipe for relief.

Lee Jean-Gilles was the first ingredient in this particular recipe.

Born in Port-au-Prince Haiti, Jean-Gilles moved with his family to the United States when he was four years old. Educated in his adopted homeland, his Haitian roots remained strong in a home in which the family spoke French and Creole, ate Haitian food, played Haitian music and admired Haitian art.

Those experiences moved Jean-Gilles to open an art gallery – Pierre Paul Art Gallery in Ann Arbor – named for his father. The tragedy in his native land moved him to open an exhibit in his gallery on February 14 featuring Haitian artists in order to push the effort to raise relief funds Arts for Haiti. Fifty percent of the proceeds will go into a fund to start the Arts for Haiti Foundation that will eventually operate a school in Port-au-Prince for promising Haitian artists.

Diane Parrish and Reenesha Parrish-Nnaji, founders and operators of Parrish HomeCare, were among the group that heard Jean-Gilles’ plea for help … and responded.

During a visit with their friend Bobbie Baugh, in Baugh’s home, they decided to hold a fundraiser bringing together Jean-Gilles’ art, a furrier – Silver Fox Fur, Inc of Detroit and several other craftsmen. The fundraiser, they determined, would be held in Baugh’s home on Saturday, February 27 and would be titled Haitian Relief Trunk & Art Show.

Of course it would help to have the assistance of the other residents of the home – that would be Dr. Reginald Baugh, MD, and the couple’s son Brandon, a medical student next year at The University of Toledo. No problem.
 

Dr. Baugh, professor and chief of the division of otolaryngology (ears, nose and throat) at the UT Medical Center, was eager to help.

Dr. Baugh, who joined the staff of the Medical Center about 10 months ago, has often used his skills and training in service to the Third World. In 2000, for example, Dr. Baugh made a series of trips to Jamaica to set up hearing screening programs. He and his colleagues brought in computers as well in order to have the hearing tests transported back to the States via the Internet for evaluation. They also established a five-year program for those with hearing aids to donate their used ones to those in need in Jamaica.

In 2008, Dr. Baugh took part in a trip to Ethiopia where he helped to deliver the tools and expertise to establish a training program for ears, nose and throat health care providers – no such program had ever been established in that country prior to that visit.

And more recently, Dr. Baugh found himself on a 10-day trip to the Dominican Republic, the country that shares island space with Haiti. Dr. Baugh and his associates were in a remote area just 20 miles or so from the Haitian border and for days, from 6 a.m. to dusk, they treated those in need – or as many of those in need as they could.
 

Dr. Baugh was greatly affected by that particular visit as he saw hundreds of patients with no other source of health care – some of whom traveled miles by foot in order to see the medical professionals.

“They didn’t have a good go of it before the devastation,” says Dr. Baugh of the area he visited. “They have challenges every day to eat, to find clean water, to find medication. When I was in the area, there was an insatiable demand for care – they would come from miles and miles in the dark of night starting out at 3 a.m. sometimes in order to get there in time, some not in the best of health obviously.”
 

Having been in that area pre-earthquake, Dr. Baugh had a certain amount of understanding of how much more difficult life has gotten for those who survived the earthquake.

The fundraising event at the Baugh’s home has been judged a rousing success by the organizers. According to Diane Parrish, the final figures won’t be in for a week or so, but quite a few furs were sold during the afternoon event as well as several paintings. In addition to the sales, most of the invitees left their own separate donations for the cause of the Haitian victims.

The Pierre Paul Art Gallery is located at 3370 Washtenaw Avenue in Ann Arbor. For more information on this particular exhibit call 734-975-1050 or go online to sales@pierrepaulartgallery.com.

Silver fox Fur, Inc. is located at 3031 W. Grand Avenue in Detroit. For more information call 313-872-4260 or email silverfoxfurs@yahoo.com.

Untitled by Ronald Boyer

Copyright © 2010 by [The Sojourner's Truth]. All rights reserved.
Revised: 02/23/12 10:57:16 -0800.

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