thefieldjournal

Earthquake Relief Team Blog 12: Update from Twilla

April 29, 2010 by Hannah McLear

Update from the ground: Doug and I went to Cap-Haitien last week by way of BahamasHabitat out of Nassau. This is a group of strong Christian young people who have organized flights in and out of Haiti. I think two of the three partners are ages 22 and 24. They go in every day with supplies, medicines and providers to the outlying areas of Jeremie, Lecayne, Pignon, Pilate, Cap-Haitian and Milot. Rotary International assists with the cost of fuel. The planes and the pilots donate their time. The two pilots who flew us had volunteered for 3 weeks. One was from Hilton Head and the other was from Sandy Springs. This is a jewel of an organization. We arrived in Cap-Haitian and met with Nate of Kobit Sante. We then went to the Gym/Triage Center and worked non-stop for 2 days. We took care of quake victims who had not eaten for 3 to 4 days...It is difficult to treat patients with illnesses and injuries when there is no food. We scavenged our resources and sent out calls for food from other non-governmental groups and mission groups. Concomitantly, we purchased rice and beans from the market. In addition, other groups made donations of medicines and other needed supplies for the triage center. Supplies needed are formula, ensure, vitamins, pain medicines and antibiotics. In order to make room for the injured and sick children at Hope Haven, we moved the older boys out to the new site. We purchased cribs, sheets, mattresses for the rooms at Hope Haven. Over the next two weeks, we will move all of the boys ages 12 and older out to the new site. We had two generators donated to us while we were there. They were sent from a group in Savannah who we worked with in January. We will keep the girls at Hope Haven along with the new children. In addition, we will have a third location for the older abandoned children. Abraham is organizing this location. Cheron and I went to Milot on Saturday to assess the readiness of the children in the pediatric section. There are 3 that are ready with many more who will be ready over the next few weeks. These children have lost limbs and or have all stages of burns and other injuries. We met with the administrator and the chief of staff. The chief of staff is scheduled to make a visit to Hope Haven prior to the release of the children. He was impressed that we had been on the ground for years and our track record with sick children. He also liked the fact that we have 24/7 professional coverage from a nurse practitioner and nurse midwife. I cannot describe to you the happiness of the children. There were laughing and waving their little limbs. Before we went over to Milot, a journalist from 60 Minutes spent a couple of hours with us at the new site on Saturday. He interviewed Cheron, the children and Moi. Please continue to pray for the Haitian people. The supplies are slow coming in. It is difficult to assess where the bottlenecks are located. If everything is going to Port-Au-Prince, then it will most likely remain in Port-Au-Prince. According to the reports, 100,000 people have been transferred out of Port-Au-Prince and these transfer efforts will continue. I thank each and every one who has donated time, talents and resources to EHIH. We are using wisdom in every decision we make. Jeremiah 33:3 Call on me and I will answer thee and show thee great and mighty things that thou knowest not. My current plans are to go in about every 2 weeks to assist with the health relief efforts and transfer of children to Hope Haven.