HAITI DISASTER RELIEF

*** Most aid organizations can only take trained professionals … people with disaster relief certification. The Red Cross offers a course, if you’re interested.

*** There are few things we can do in the immediate besides pray and donate funding, as there is limited access to Haiti (as is often the case in a disaster situation).

*** While the immediate disaster is front and center on our mind, there will be much that needs to be done for MANY years to come. Just because you don’t go this week doesn’t mean you should scrap your interest in offering relief. Get some training, raise some funding, and make some connections (after the “smoke” clears, as they say) and then go to help.

There is plenty to be done in disaster relief. Here is some information that might be useful if you’re considering donating or getting involved:

Donating

The Society of St. Margaret, 17 Highland Park Street, Boston, MA 02119. For updates and more information about the sisters’ work in Haiti, go to www.ssmbos.com and click on the “Haiti” page link.

Episcopal Relief and Development: Donate online at www.er-d.org or call 800-334-7626, ext. 5129. Donations can be mailed to Episcopal Relief and Development, PO Box 7058, Merrifield, VA 22116-7058. (Please put “Haiti Fund” in the memo line of all checks.) Also, Episcopal Relief and Development is producing a bulletin insert that will be available online.

Volunteering

The highest demand right now is medical support and supplies. If you have some kind of healthcare skills, have disaster training, and are prepared to travel to Haiti, here is some information that may help.

Contacts

Doctors without Borders 212.679.6800 … has an online volunteer form and probably won’t accept anyone who lacks disaster experience and/or training.

Partners in Health 617.432.5256 … is based out of Boston and has medical programs and facilities in Haiti (PiH has set up a temporary field hospital in Port-Au-Prince and all medical facilities are reporting a lack of sufficient staff and medical supplies).

Episcopal Relief & Development 800.334.7626, ext. 5129 … has a disaster relief program and may have a channel for volunteers.

The Episcopal Church of Haiti … http://www.egliseepiscopaledhaiti.org and the local contact through the diocesan offices in Haiti is The Rev. Kesner Ajax … kesnerajax@yahoo.com . Though communication in Haiti is currently a challenge, Kesner has had some internet access.

Credentials

It’s recommended that you carry a copy of any current valid medical credentials or licenses. You might plan to keep one in your bag and another physically on you. That’s also the case with your passport. Be sure to keep a copy of your passport separate from your actual passport. (If your passport is lost or stolen, a copy will significantly expedite replacement.)

Self-care

You’ll be going in to difficult places and be exposed to increasing health risks. If you haven’t been to a travel clinic recently, you should do so. Get things like malaria tablets. Unlike a typical mission-related trip, you’ll want to remember to take supplies such as water treatment tablets which are usually available in stores like Eastern Mountain Sports and REI.

Packing

Plan to pack “extremely” light. You’ll probably be carrying your personal belongings much of the time. A good rule is for all of your personal items to fit in one carry-on. Keep in mind that you’re in a disaster area, so keeping up appearances isn’t really an issue. If you’re a medical professional, you may want to restrict the majority of your wardrobe to scrubs. Scrubs are appropriate for just about any healthcare environment and provide an added advantage of identifying you as medical.

Take as many checked bags as you can handle and that are allowed … filled with all types of medical supplies (you might call the airline prior to departure to see if you can get luggage fees waived for humanitarian efforts). Think in terms of any kind of bandaging or wound cleansing materials, as well as any antibiotics, Benedryl, Ibuprofen, extra strength Ibuprofen, Vitamins, Children’s Tylenol, basic personal items such as a toothbrushes, lotions, hand sanitizers, and so forth.

Provided by:

The Global Mission Partnership Task Force

The Episcopal Diocese of Massachusetts

In Port-au-Prince, our medical mission team stopped at an orphanage to provide lunch for the children (peanut butter and jelly sandwiches we made the night before), to make donations of clothing, school supplies, and games, to provide basic medical care to those with the greatest need, and to spend some time playing with the children.

Many orphanages in developing countries lack adequate services … running water, electricity, sufficient staffing, and medical care. In addition, the children come from deplorable situations, often carrying physical and emotional scars from their difficult situations. Some children are simply dropped off by family members, because for some reason they feel unable to care for them. Then there are others who are found in the trash. Sometimes, children have had some kind of medical situation that their families were unable to attend to, compounding a situation that may lead to a permanent condition or amputation. The permanent medical condition they created by not being able to access or provide adequate medical care often leads to abandonment. Some children are born on the streets to prostitute mothers and are abandoned or brought into the world of prostitution at an extremely young age until rescued by someone who cares enough to bring the child to an orphanage. Sometimes a mother will move in with a new boyfriend, bringing the child with her, and then use the opportunity to abandon the child at some point in the future hoping the boyfriend will see the child as his responsibility. In some cases, children are left in abandoned homes, or are locked in closets or small rooms for long periods of time, because no one is available to care for them. While the stories seem endless, the reality is that NO child should have to experience any of these life scenarios. And yet, many do … daily.

An orphanage visit definitely emphasizes the point that mission is more often about “being” than “doing.” Orphans need someone who will be with them, staying long enough to let them know they aren’t forgotten … that they are loved. On this hot sunny day we arrived to a very warm and energetic welcome … in fact, it was a bit overwhelming, particularly after four very full days of medical clinics. All of the children were excited to be touched, held, or to be played with. Many signaled that they wanted to be picked up. Once raised into our arms, most didn’t want to be put down nor did they want to let go. Like several others in our group, I quickly ended up sitting on the floor so that I could hold more than one child at a time.

One young boy (~ 4 years old) will be in my thoughts for a long time to come. I never knew his name, and he didn’t say a word to me. He sat on my leg for a long while … just sat. At one point, another child tried to monopolize me and he got very upset. He didn’t say anything, but used his presence to make it clear he wouldn’t be moved. What sticks in my mind about him was that he didn’t seem to have any kind of emotional affect (outside of that brief forceful standing of his ground on my lap). I spoke to him, touched his arms, handed him things as they were passed around by others, but he never did anything but look forward with a blank stare. He didn’t take things from me. He didn’t smile. The only emotion thus far was the few moments when he thought his spot on my lap would be threatened. When I was ready to resign myself to the assumption that maybe he had a learning disorder or some kind of brain damage, I noticed a tear running down his face. Though there was no change in his facial expression, he was crying. Tears ran down his cheeks for several minutes. I wiped away his tears with my finger. There still wasn’t any movement or change in expression. He didn’t offer any kind of emotion other than the tears. But after I wiped them away, he leaned back into my shoulder, snuggled into the fold of my arm, and fell into a deep sleep. I continued to hold him until we were ready to leave, at which point I laid him down on a padded bench and walked out of the building.

It was difficult to put him down. It was difficult to leave the orphanage. As short term missioners, we know we have to leave. But those who touch are lives, somehow change us … they become a part of us. I guess, in this way, we are living out one of the blessings of the Eucharist … where we are all one in Christ.

Having just read the book, Mountains Beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder, Haiti has been on my heart, especially since they have been hit by four hurricanes this season and are the poorest nation in the hemisphere. Beyond just sending money down, has anyone found a good way to reach out to our brothers and sisters in Haiti?

Haiti

I have been traveling to Haiti for the past 6-7 years as part of a medical team to provide care in several different rural areas. I have seen extreme poverty and it’s devastating results. I have seen children doomed to die from malnutrition and adults in their 40’s paralyzed by strokes that blood pressure medication costing $3.00 per month could have prevented. I have seen people blind with cataracts that a $20.00 operation could cure. I have learned to work with no electricity or water and a minimum of diagnostic equipment. My work in Haiti has been a challenge to my medical knowledge and a challenge to my faith.

It is tempting to see the hundreds of people waiting to see us at the beginning of every day, as well as the tremendous need around us as too overwhelming. However, Jesus taught us to see each individual and to care for each person as though he or she were the Christ. I have no hopes of making changes in Haiti- I just hope to provide good care and hopefully ease the suffering of the one person that I have before me.

Emilie Hitron, MD - Christ Church, Needham