Four Months Later-How You Can Help
To: Supporters of Quisqueya Christian School-Crisis Relief
Your constant concern is priceless to the people suffering in the aftermath of this earthquake.
Many of you have expressed an interest in returning to Haiti to work through us.
Since this will not be possible after May 14, 2010, we would like to notify you of other possibilities.
Global Therapy Group (Haitian Community Hospital), Route Freres, Port-au-Prince, Haiti
**For Physical and Occupational Therapists**
Donna Hutchinson: dhutchinson@globaltherapygroup.org
Fishers of Men (Morning Star Christian Academy)-Delmas 31, Port-au-Prince, Haiti
Cedric Bryant: widzabryant@comcast.net
Don Luszczewski: don@elysiumchurch.com
Mission of Hope-Ti Tayen, Haiti
Amy: amy@mohhaiti.org
JPHRO-Port-au-Prince, Haiti
Thomassin Guest House-Fermathe, Haiti
Beth Charles: 011-509-3422-9954
Willem Charles: 011-509-3449-0996
Dordy & Amos Joseph
Dordy: 845-596-1997
Amos: 845-729-5388
Haiti Line: 011-509-3609-8371
Adias Marcelin-Vivy Mitchel, Port-au-Prince, Haiti
011-509-3463-0162
011-509-3840-7767
We hope that this information is useful. Please email relief@quisqueya.org if you have any questions.
Blessings!
After May 2010
Days have turned to weeks and weeks have turned to months; and all the while, Haiti still struggles to come to grips with the aftermath of a devastating earthquake. Poor sanitation, which was the bane of our existence before the quake, has become even more unmanageable and threatens to take even more lives via malaria, tuberculosis, and typhoid. To put it simply, Haiti needs a lot of help.
The need for medical volunteers will continue, but QCS is not positioned to continue housing teams after the end of May. Right now the last day we can accept teams is May 14, and all teams must transition out by the end of May. We need to stick to this time table in order for classrooms to be put into shape for the 275+ students that we are expecting – and it will take a tremendous effort to get our school back in shape – rebuilding the libraries and redoing the computer lab will take a significant amount of time. The best way that QCS will be involved in the rebuilding of Haiti is for us to focus on being the best Christ-centered school that we can be, serving the children of missionaries, pastors, relief workers and others.
But our relief efforts will continue as well, through raising funds to rebuild houses for our employees and helping rebuild clinics and various other projects that our school will take on. As far as housing, we will be glad to research options and to facilitate finding rooms.
Blessings!
Thank you letter
Hello Tony and all Quisqueya staff,
I want to extend a personal thank you for allowing us to stay at your amazing school during our relief efforts in Haiti. I had a beyond wonderful experience serving the people and working along side your staff. You are truly doing amazing things for the people in the community and to be able to be a part of that was nothing short of a life changing experience. Thank you again for opening your school to our team and I wish you all the best during the continued relief efforts.
Sincerely,
Amber Willson, RN
Saddleback team, California
Update: April 6, 2010
We have updated statistics to share with you.
Statistics: From January 17 To Date
*Number of Patients Treated: Over 55,000
*Number of Medical Personnel That Have Worked Through QCR: Average of 50 medical personnel per day for 80 days.
*Value of Donated Medications Received and Distributed By QCR: Over $4.2 million (USD)
*Number of Hospitals & Clinics (Stationary & Mobile) That Have Received Aid from QCR: Over 80 (This does not include tent-city sites.)
Thank you to all who have helped and served!
The need continues
April 12, 2010, will be three months since the earthquake and Haiti is still far from rising from her ashes. Easter Sunday came and went with little change for the 1.5 million displaced people. There is still a great need for medical relief work as we deal with the long-neglected primary care and possibility of outbreaks of infectious diseases. In February 2010, a clinic in Croix-des- Bouquets (20 miles from Port-au-Prince) tested 88 people for malaria. Forty percent (40%) of them tested positive.
We feel it urgent to invite more medical teams to come and serve Haiti through QCR. Many of you have already worked long hours with us and your efforts are greatly appreciated. That being said, the harvest is still ripe in the tent cities and hospitals all over the country. They are asking for our help and we have had to turn them away. Help us spread the word! If you would like to send a medical team to QCR, please fill out a Group Information Form and email relief@quisqueya.org.
Oh Haiti!
“Oh Haiti” was all that came out of my mouth with tears streaming down my face, as I pulled on the arm of my new Haitian friend, who was trapped under the weight of the pickup that had just tumbled 500 feet down a steep mountain launching the final 50 feet onto the dry river bed…coming to rest in amongst the rocks, on its now crushed cap.
“Oh Haiti!” “Oh Haiti!” Literally feeling the pain, anguish, disappointment, confusion, a groan for a nation.
All around the wails of the Haitian locals filled the air. “Surely they must be dead.” The flash of the destruction, all they had survived, only to end up under the crush of their vehicle. “How is this happening?”
We had gone up to a remote mountain region of Haiti “Bel Fontaine” to do a medical outreach to those who rarely see outsiders. The trip up was a 4 + hour, 4 wheel drive, epic journey from Port-au-Prince, that landed us in the heart of the dry, rocky high desert of Haiti. We, 4 Americans, 1 South African and 1 Egyptian along side our 7 Haitian coworkers/ translators, labored serving the medical needs of this hard to reach people. The severe nature of the habitat produced equally devastating sickness and disease; this had left us bonded as brothers of war, but quite exhausted after attending to nearly 300 patients.
After 4 days of toil, we headed down the mountain in 2, 4 X 4 vehicles. We were slightly ahead of the other vehicle, so we were constantly on the lookout for our friends. As we arrived at the riverbed after a particularly steep, precarious section, we caught a glimpse of our other truck. We preceded ahead a short while when Junior started to scream, “Oh No!” We turned to see the other truck, loaded with our friends careening down the mountain and flying the last 50 feet landing on its nose in the riverbed and then settling onto its back with a cloud of dust.
All but myself and the driver were out and running covering the 250 meters to the crash site as we turned the truck around and raced to the other truck. We passed Junior kneeling among the rocks, heart broken, hanging his head, unable to urge himself forward, raising his arms in anguish totally overwhelmed at what he had just seen; his brothers, girlfriend, friends all lost. “Oh Haiti!”
As we arrived, preparing our hearts for what we would see, we found bodies scrambled, broken and bloodied that began to pour, or rather be extracted from the vehicle; 7 in all. 3 were critical with significant head and internal injuries, while the other 4 were broken and bleeding. With 3 EMT’s and a Medical Doctor, we quickly assessed the situation and stabilized the patients/ our friends. The look in their eyes as they looked up from the ground, desperation, literally a sucking of soul and hope…”Are we going to be alright?”
We were hours away from any help at all, over some of the most treacherous roads I have driven. Would they even survive such a ride was the question. Rowen (our team leader) and I made our way up the mountain to see if we could get a phone signal. We were able to connect with Quisqueya Crisis Relief (QCR) via phone (http://qcsrelief.quisqueya.org), and relay to them the GPS coordinates based on the iphones Google earth! Our hope was to get a helicopter in to evac the most injured, but as we walked back to the crash site, the report was that this would not happen. We were left to literally begin to make life and death choices…who would live who would die?
“Oh Haiti!”
As we began making a plan to camp overnight with the least injured, and drive out the 2-3 worst injured, who would go, who would stay…suddenly we heard the thump thump thump of a distant helicopter…
Wildly we began waving space blankets, the 100+ Haitians began cheering wildly, I found myself bursting with joy, relief and tears of exhilaration. Words cannot explain the emotion that ripped through our little band as hope welled up! They circled out of sight behind the mountains, had they seen us?
Then a bird was upon us, having dropped down from several thousand feet, they were hovering just over head looking for where to land! Not one, but TWO US Navy choppers landed and loaded all the wounded. They had been on their way back from another mission when they got the call. This meant low fuel and little time to move all the wounded. These rescue swimmers saved at least 2, maybe more lives that day! The groan was heard!
It was surreal as they left, and all we had was the aftermath and images rolling through our heads of what had just happened. So, we decided to bath in a crystal clear river with a bunch of Haitians enjoying the show! A cleansing that truly was deeper than the dirt and grime we were covered with.
QCR and the US Army had sent vehicles hours before, and as they arrived and shuttled us home over foggy, treacherous, now dark roads, we had a yet another adventure whilst the movie of what had happened danced in our head.
Psalm 91 9-12 states:
9 For you have made the LORD, my refuge,
Even the Most High, your dwelling place.
10 No evil will befall you,
Nor will any plague come near your tent.
11 For He will give His angels charge concerning you,
To guard you in all your ways.
12 They will bear you up in their hands,
That you do not strike your foot against a stone.
All 7 were taken to Miami Hospital near the airport and released that very night! There is no way possible, outside the hand of God sparing them, that we were not burying several of these saints. I believe the Lord’s hand was directly involved in the rescue and eventual health of the 7. Even at the worst, they were giving testimony to the Goodness of God when all hope was lost. It was a privilege to be with a company of people, who responded with Grace and decisiveness in the worst of circumstance, from our dear team, EMT’s, QCR, US Navy, and the beautiful Haitian people.
Some of what I learned that day:
- The high value of Team ministry. I believe each person, from the Haitians that provided the door to their house for a back-board, the Navy pilots, the Navy swimmers, QCR, apple, others whom we won’t recognize until Glory, to our little band was hand-picked to participate in something much bigger than ourselves. We had grown in love for one another, by serving and laboring together…the fruit this day was lives being saved.
- There is a shaking coming to the earth. I believe the Lord is raising up those who can lead in the midst of crisis. He is training many across the earth to do extraordinary exploits under extraordinary circumstances. Is that you? Much could be said about this, but I’ll leave it here for now.
- The Church (global) has much to glean from the Haitian believers. The general response of the church throughout Haiti has been to first turn to Him. In the midst of great suffering and trial, they have exuded great joy and confidence in who they are in Him. A real rending of heart, and Turning to the Lord is exhibited by many ordinary Haitians (Joel 2:11 ff.). The believers at the accident (some of the worst injured), spoke of Hope, and the Goodness of the Lord as they lay on a bed of rocks with little to no hope of getting out alive. We have much to learn about sharing in the sufferings of Christ.
- The Love Christ has for EVERY tribe, tongue, people and nation. I was able to literally FEEL His love for this nation. It would/ does hit me in waves, Christ’s passion for the Nations; every nation. There is something glorious He created in the Haitian to give Him Glory (Malachi 1:11).
- We aren’t ready. This is huge, we as the assembly of Believers, are not ready…only by going low, being humble are we going to be able to move forward in the coming days. Today is the day to begin preparing to be the Bride prepared and awaiting the coming King.
By Leonard Hays (http://asojournerssiftings.wordpress.com)
Update 3-28-2010: Tent City, Delmas 31
Hospitals are not the only place that Quisqueya Crisis Relief gives help. We have also been sending teams to the different tent cities to set up medical clinics. Since the earthquake, approximately 1 million people have been displaced in the Port-au-Prince area. Most of these people are living in tent cities.
The quality of life in these tent cities is beyond poor. The people do not have enough food and drinking water; therefore, they are dehydrated and malnourished. They do not have access to clean water for bathing or washing dishes, so they struggle with the problems that stem from these dirty conditions.
Many are struggling with gastro-intestinal illnesses, bacterial infections, scabies and anemia. As we enter the rainy season, germs will contaminate the water and spread through the tent cities and the streets. The unsanitary conditions of the tent cities are not conducive to the healing process. We saw one little girl who had been injured in her leg during the earthquake. The wound was still infected over 2 months later.
Below is our little “pharmacy”.
The Haitian people are appreciative of each way we are able to serve them. It was wonderful to bring smiles to the faces of these beautiful people!!
Update 3-22-2010 Physical Therapy at Community
As we walked away from the patient’s room, I turned to the physical therapist I was working with and said, “She’s not going to get much better, is she?”
“She” was one of several patients at L’Hôpital de la Communauté Haïtienne (Haitian Community Hospital), a 75-bed private hospital just outside Petionville that had opened its doors to the community in the aftermath of the disastrous Jan. 12 earthquake. More and more of the patients are at the hospital for reasons having nothing to do with the quake, but quake victims who do remain have suffered injuries that will require weeks or more of therapy.
Thankfully, among the other recent arrivals at the Quisqueya Crisis Relief Center this week, was Ann, a physical therapist from Vermont. I was fortunate to be able to accompany her on her rounds of the hospital as her translator.
This particular girl was about 14 years old. According to her records, she was trapped in her mother’s house when it fell down, and she suffered a number of broken bones. From everything we can tell, it’s a miracle that she survived.
A limited miracle.
Her right leg was amputated below the knee, and her left arm, which remains in a splint, is so sensitive that even a light touch to her fingers or the palm of her hand causes intense pain.
And that, presumably, is why for the past two weeks, she had barely done any of the exercises that a team of Canadian physical therapists had assigned her to do. As a result, she could bend her arm only with great difficulty, and she could barely move her hand.
“Li fe-m ma anpil! ,” she said through a tightened face, as Ann helped to straighten her fingers. “It’s agony.”
Ann was sympathetic but unrelenting. “I know it hurts, but if you don’t do these exercises ten times every hour, you may never use your arm again.”
Ann agreed with my assessment when I voiced it outside. The progress this girl has made at recovering from her injuries has been nothing short of tremendous, but unless she overcomes her aversion to the pain and makes those exercises a priority, her disabilities will become permanent.
Crushing as that is, you couldn’t ask for a stronger contrast with some of the other patients we saw.
There was Livye, for instance, a feisty woman in her 60s or older. Livye couldn’t wait to get out of bed and start walking. I had barely uttered the word mache before Livye had grabbed her walker, stood up, and started making her way to do the door.
“Alé!,” she told me when I blocked her from leaving the room. “Move!.”
Unfortunately, Livye was a little too eager to walk. Her left leg is still in a fixator, an external contraption of metal rods that is screwed into her leg bones to immobilize the broken pieces until they have healed. She needs to do exercises with her leg, but when she walks, she needs to support her weight with her right foot and her arms.
It took some effort to convince her.
“Si ou mete pwa –an sou pie goch ou, w-ap kraze-l nèt,” I had to tell her not once, not twice, but something on the order of five times. “If you put your weight on your left foot, you will break your leg entirely.”
By the time she told me to get out of her way, the entire room had joined in with me, clamoring for Livye to listen to what Ann and I were telling her. She finally got the idea, and though it was exhausting work, she agreed to do it Ann’s way. She’s headstrong, but that determination is going to carry her a long way. (Livye’s fixator was removed, and she’s in a cast now.)
Then there was Felix, the first patient whom we saw. Felix had suffered multiple fractures in both his legs, and he couldn’t wait to start doing his new exercises. We worked with him for more than half an hour, getting him to turn his foot to the right, and then to the left; getting him to lift his leg up in the air and hold it there for ten seconds; and even to lift his derriere off his bed and keep it in the air. He did exercises lying down, and he did them sitting up.
It’ll take him a while, but Felix will walk again.
Or there was Darlene, who had the bed between Livye and the girl who had lost a leg. Darlene’s hip was still sore from having the external fixator removed the day before, and at first she was reluctant to get out of bed and walk, but when we stopped by the room again that afternoon, some of Livye’s determination had rubbed off on her.
Darlene grabbed her crutches, worked her way to her feet, and took off for the door. I had to carry her saline drip behind her, and Ann walked right next to her to catch her if she fell, but once she had started, Darlene didn’t want to stop.
“Can you remind her that she’ll still need to walk back to her room?” Ann said, obviously consumed with visions of Darlene collapsing on the floor of the hall.
“Ou va bezwen mache a cham ou oui,” I put in, drawing a mild chuckle from Darlene. Then for good measure, I added, “Wa kouri byen kouri tale, non? You’ll be running a marathon soon, won’t you?”
Collapse Darlene did, but onto a chair instead of the floor. And then, after resting there for ten or fifteen minutes, she walked her way back.
People like Darlene, Livye, and Felix are the new face of need in post-quake Haiti, and workers like Ann are the face of the medical help that is going to be sorely needed. To be sure, there are health concerns about the crowded conditions in the makeshift tent cities that have blossomed all around Port-au-Prince, but the need for emergency medical care is receding.
Along with disease prevention, the medical need that is emerging right now among survivors of the quake is for physical and occupational therapy. Quake survivors must learn once again to use battered hands to grasp things, to lift with once-crushed arms, and to use once-shattered legs to walk.
If you are a therapist and you can offer these skills, Haiti needs you. With your abilities, the injured can be healed, and the lame can walk once more.
P.S. Germain did receive his leg. Judeline decided to walk today.
3-16-2010 New Statistics
QCR is pleased to announce our updated statistics. Thank you for all of your hard work!
Statistics: January 17-March 16, 2010
*Number of Patients Treated (To Date): Over 40,000
*Number of Medical Personnel That Have Worked Through QCR (To Date) : Over 1000
*Value of Donated Medications Received and Distributed By QCR (To Date): Over $3,000,000 (USD)
*Number of Hospitals & Clinics (Stationary & Mobile) That Have Received Aid from QCR (To Date):
Over 80 (This does not include tent-city sites.)
Blessings!
Update 3-12-2010 2 Month Update
Greetings from Haiti!
Today marks two months since the earthquake that changed our lives, and we wanted to give you an update from Quisqueya Crisis Relief. We are still helping our medical teams treat every medical issue imaginable (from headaches to life-threatening tuberculosis) by providing food, lodging, and transportation. QCR is still working with the local hospitals (remember, over 80% of all medical institutions have been damaged or destroyed) to make sure that personnel are working in the most needed areas, including mobile clinics in remote areas of Haiti.
There is still a great need for medical relief work as we shift towards the long-neglected primary care and infectious disease. We want to invite more medical teams to come to QCR to serve in Haiti. Help us spread the word! Please visit relief.quisqueya.org for more information. If you would like to send a medical team to QCR, please fill out a Group Information Form and email relief@quisqueya.org.
This is a report on Bojeux Parc-an urgent care center. This highlights the need for long-term care.
Judy Sandick is concerned about the public health issues that are slipping under the radar.
I met Judy, a doctor who had come to Haiti from Maine Miles Hospital in Damariscotta, Maine, with Comprehensive Disaster Relief Services, at Bojeux Parc on March 6, when I took a trip there with a medical team from the Quisqueya Crisis Relief Center. Aside from a few cases of follow-up care — a minor head injury, a lost toe — most of the 300 or so visitors to the health clinic were not there for any health difficulties related to the Jan. 12 earthquake.
“It’s transitioning to more of the regular care, which has been totally inadequate until now,” Judy said of the clinic, echoing statements other doctors have made about the nature of care at other medical clinics in the country. “The goal of the organization I’m with now is to set up a sustainable health care system in line with the national plan.”
Even “routine” health care can be a challenge in Haiti. For many, this care has been delayed because of the more emergent situation brought on by the earthquake, and for others, situations that would pose no difficulty at a modern facility in the United States are life-threatening here.
Consider, for example, the case of one woman who had been coming to the clinic at Bojeux Parc for prenatal care. Now nine months pregnant, she had lost her house two months earlier in the quake and is one of many refugees with no tent to sleep in.
If that were not bad enough, she also needs to have a Cesarean delivery because her baby has his back against her cervix, and not his head. Without the clinic, it’s probable that both mother and child would die when labor begins.
Difficult and upsetting stories like hers have always been a part of the health care scene in Haiti. What has Judy concerned is the hidden toll the earthquake is exacting right now, now that the eyes of the world have moved on.
Life in Haiti is a challenge even in the best of times. Even before the quake, life for millions was a matter of bare subsistence, with little to spare for luxuries.
January 12 made a difficult thing even worse. In the 40 seconds that it rattled Haiti, the earthquake claimed the lives of somewhere from 2 to 3 percent of the nation, and destroyed the homes of countless more. Now even the bare memory of that quake is enough to drive everyone outside in a panic and leave them frightened of what the future may bring.
For women especially, the hidden cost of the earthquake runs especially high. Sexual assaults have been on the rise, to the point that women in tent cities have become virtual prisoners in their emergency shelters, unable to walk by themselves in the dark if they need to use a camp bathroom. Often the greatest danger they face is the men in their lives, who may have no job, no home, and no outlet for their anger — except for the vulnerable woman who is too frightened to leave.
One woman had come to the clinic a few days earlier to receive treatment for an injury on her forehead. She and the man in her life, and their three children, have been living in a tent. He had snapped, and thrown something sharp at her head.
“The man doesn’t come home, except to demand sex — and to hurt her if she doesn’t arouse to his satisfaction.” said Judy. “Her parents both died in the earthquake, and so she has no one to turn to.
She has absolutely no resources, so she gets sutured up and goes back. Historically, these women get beat up more and more until they’re killed.”
Her youngest child, incidentally, is only 10 months old, and she already is pregnant with her fourth child. The woman herself is only 25, and other women in her situation reportedly are trying to make themselves miscarry, rather than bring a child into a world as frightening as this one has become.
“People don’t want to be pregnant right now,” said Judy. “Women are trying very hard not to get pregnant right now.”
Beyond the immediate difficulties of living in the aftermath of the shaking earth, the threat of disease is rising. For the hundreds of thousands of people who no longer have a roof over their heads, the lack of proper sanitation is a time bomb that is counting down to a health care crisis of alarming proportions.
With a pre-quake population of more than 2.5 million people, Port-au-Prince is the largest city in the world without a functioning sanitation system. Garbage accumulates in ravines and along the streets, where it molders and reeks under the tropical sun. Trash is burned, when it is not simply discarded or dumped; and indoor plumbing is a luxury of the bourgeoisie.
“That’s not good sanitation,” said Judy. “People are defecating everywhere. With the rainy season, there’s a high risk of typhoid and cholera.”
And in the tent cities, people are crowded together even more closely than ever. These are horrible conditions for people, but for pathogens and disease vectors, they are a paradise. With the rainy season now imminent, contagion can bloom like a bed of flowers, and disease can pass through the tent cities like a sickle in a field of ripe grain.
In these conditions, and with a national childhood immunization program nonexistent, Judy estimates that measles alone could claim a half-million lives.
Our conversation took place at Bojeux Parc, which, in better days, was a place where families with means could go to spend an afternoon. There were video games, a little train ride, tabletop activities like Foosball and air hockey, and even a boating activity celebrated by a giant sign that gloriously declared “Disco Boats.” It is an incongruous location for a discussion of cholera and typhoid outbreaks.
Over 300 people came to the clinic that day, which included a team sent by the Quisqueya Crisis Relief Center, and another team of doctors from Colombia as part of the U.N. mission. None of those cases were as dramatic as what put Haiti in the news two months ago and drew many of us to Haiti in the first place.
But if Judy and the experts familiar with the sanitation issues in the tent cities are correct, the need for medical support in Haiti is far from ended. In many ways, it’s just getting started.
David Learn
Update 3-10-2010: This Is What We See
Things Fall Down-David Learn
Here in Haiti, things fall down.
Life is fragile, and when the earth shakes,
Things tumble, and they come crashing down.
Houses, churches, hopes, dreams, lives.
Here in Haiti, things still grow.
People are strong, and though the earth shakes,
They stand tall, and they will not fall down.
Life goes on. There are children to raise,
Dreams to chase, and homes to build
Avèk ed Bondye, ya leve.
Photos: Mo Sadjadpour
Update 3-9-2010 Words of Encouragment From Our Teams
These are two thank-you notes we received from our medical personnel, and we greatly appreciate their encouragement.
Crossworld Team (3 RNs)
Dear Quisqueya Staff,
Thank you so much for everything you’ve done for us! We appreciate it more than you know. Everything you are doing made us so much more effective in helping those in need in Port-au-Prince. We seriously could not have survived here without you. Actually we are a little embarrassed to tell everyone back home how spoiled we were here, but we’ll tell them anyway!)
Thanks again for all you did and are doing!
The Crossworld girls ( Lisa, Sara and Ryna )
Independent RN
Dear Ted,
It is difficult to express the ” correct ” words of gratefulness to you. I am blown away by the body of Christ that God has given, by His grace, to me through the believers here at Quisqueya. You have poured your life into the people of Haiti for the glory of God. Your humility is convicting on a daily basis. Thank you for allowing me to partner with you in a small way as we live for His name and His renown.
Leaning on my Savior,
Beth Milbourne
Update 3-6-2010 CDTI
The doctors told me the woman had been trapped under the rubble of her house for days.
When an earthquake shook Haiti to its foundations on Jan. 12, she was one of the lucky ones. Unlike an estimated 200,000 people killed in the earthquake, she survived. And unlike other adults and several children staying at the clinic with her, the debris that fell on her didn’t break her bones or require doctors to amputate her limbs.
But she was trapped and unable to move until rescuers freed her.
The human body, with its grand design of skeleton and muscle, is meant to be a poem of smooth motion. But when it is held still for days on end, as this woman’s body was, the rhythm of the poetry is ruined. The concrete pressed down on her leg, and cut off the flow of blood.
As the pressure continues, the skin breaks down and splits open, and the concrete presses further still, and additional tissue dies.
“For some people, the pressure wound has gone so deep that it’s gone all the way to the bone,” said Krista Duval, a doctor of osteopathic medicine from Ohio University in Athens, Ohio. “These people will have very serious scars for the rest of their lives.”
Krista was one of 18 people on a medical team that left from Quisqueya Crisis Relief Center on Thursday to run a medical clinic at at the Centre D’Imagrerie Medicale, in downtown Port-au-Prince. The medical team treated some 100 people who came to the clinic that day, as well as another 56 who have been living in tents in the parking lot of the medical center.
While several of those patients are receiving physical therapy and followup treatment to amputations that were needed after Haiti’s horrific Jan. 12 quake, many others are receiving treatment for other injuries serious in their own right, such as the pressure wounds suffered by this woman.
Treatment takes time and patience. Gauze dressings must be changed at least daily, and a steady regimen of antibiotics contains the threat posed by infection.
Time, patience, and medical personnel. Most visiting medical crews leave Haiti after a week or two, and unfortunately, Haiti still lacks the infrastructure to provide the long-term medical care these patients need.
When the earthquake struck on Jan. 12, it destroyed more than an ability to provide immediate care for the victims of the quake. It also brought crashing to the ground the country’s ability to provide long-term care in the weeks and months that are still to follow.
That was particularly in evidence on Friday. The medical center we visited is an 18-bed private hospital located a short distance from the wreckage of the National Cathedral. The building, although it survived the earthquake and the many aftershocks that have followed, is badly damaged. The hospital is still standing, and doctors and nurses working with teams from the Quisqueya Crisis Relief Center have been able to use its equipment, but until repairs can be made, the hospital is effectively closed.
And hospitals and medical care remain in great need. On the day I joined the medical team, there were some 100 patients who came to the clinic. That number has dropped from the average of 300 that visited the clinic when it first opened, but it remains high.
In the parking lot of the medical center stand a dozen tents, housing 56 men, women and children suffering from injuries suffered in the quake, or caring for those who had.
“Every day we discharge a few and admit one or two,” said Beth Milbourne, 30, a registered nurse at Greenville Memorial Hospital in South Carolina who quit her job in the United States and moved to Haiti three weeks ago. She has been going to the clinic at the medical center every day since.
One of the patients admitted Friday was an elderly man who required an operation because of an obstructed urinary tract. Dave Drozek, a general surgeon from Ohio University who performed the surgery, spoke to me a moment about the operation as orderlies lowered the patient onto a makeshift cot under a tent in the parking lot.
“We’re transitioning to more regular day-to-day needs,” Dave said of the work he’d been doing that week at the clinic.
But, as he also noted, many of those needs have been delayed because of the pressing nature of the trauma inflicted by the quake.
3-1-2010: A QCS Survivor’s Letter
(This letter is from Ingrid Lopez de Martinez, a Quisqueya parent.)
A View From the Balcony of the Montana Hotel
I hope you and your families are doing well by God’s grace. We are Vanessa Martinez’s parents. We know that all the school staff must be extremely busy assisting with the relief efforts after the earthquake.
We would like to testify of the miracle that God performed in our lives. We can not stop thanking Him for His mercy. The morning of 12 January 2010, I was crying in my office asking God to be merciful toward Haiti and its people. I am sure God answered and continues to answer my prayers. I did not know an earthquake was going to strike Haiti that day. I cried to my Lord during the earthquake while I was on the street and the mountains were falling around me, asking my God to help my daughters, my husband and to have mercy on Haiti. I cried to Him with all my heart and strength.
Thank God my daughters, my husband and I are fine. God saved my little ones; our nanny got them through the debris of the collapsed building in La Village, Hotel Montana, which immediately collapsed with the earthquake. Vanessa, Natalia and Jesula (the nanny) were still inside the building when it collapsed. We are so grateful to God and happy to be together, but so deeply sad for all the people that lost their lives. It is still difficult to handle this mixture of feelings: we are not able to sleep, the girls are sick, and the doctor says it is normal given the experience they went through (post-traumatic stress) although they have no physical trauma. But, we know God is with us, He never leaves his children alone. Although we are weak He is strong; He will take all of us through these difficult times and show His power, love and mercy.
We have very courageous friends like you and all QCS staff that are still in Haiti; helping people help the population, at the time of the earthquake.
German was on his way home with his boss, and I was only two minutes away from the MINUSTAH HQ, since I had to deliver some equipment to the MINUSTAH PDSRSG. After the earthquake my first priority was to get to my daughters, so, I did not continue to the HQ. The traffic was impossible, so I had to ask a lady to allow me park the vehicle in her garage, so that I could walk to the Hotel Montana to pick up my daughters. At the same time I was repeating Psalm 23; God sent many people to help us during that time.
I managed to get to the hotel site around 7 pm. I ran into a colleague while searching for a place to park the vehicle, decided to walk with me to the hotel. When we got to the road that goes up to Montana we found it totally blocked, and since it was too risky to go over the hill, I continued on my own to the other side. I met a gentleman, who was going crazy with fear because his wife and son were also in the Montana, so we decided to continue to the hotel together.
I only found the collapsed building, injured people and other survivors (Haitians and foreigners) trying to help each other. However, God gave me the assurance that my daughters were fine and I started searching for them everywhere. He gave me such a delicious peace and I shared this blessing with other survivors in the Hotel Montana. People always asked me, “Do you believe in God?” I always answered, “I am a strong believer in Him; He is my strength”. Many people told me, “Do not lose that faith”.
The Montana Hotel-In Ruins
One of our neighbors was also desperately looking for her two sons after finding the collapsed hotel. German (my husband) got to the hotel around 9 PM. When I left our office (MINUSTAH Logistics Base), I called him to tell him I was on my way to the HQ. He also abandoned the vehicle and walked with a hurt foot to our HQ to search for me. He was shocked when he found the HQ building collapsed and thought I didn’t make it: a colleague of mine told him that I talked to him a few minutes before the earthquake and that we were supposed to meet in the reception of the building.
German walked to the Hotel Montana thinking that the hotel was still standing and that he was going to find the girls immediately. When he got there and we found each other, he screamed my name, and ran to hug me. He was so happy to see me, but so deeply sad to see our building totally collapsed and thinking the girls were still inside. He told me that he was not able to bear the pain of losing them. I tried to calm him down and told him not to lose his faith in God, who already assured me our girls were fine. God is great, faithful and merciful. German is such a good father and husband. I told him that we needed to keep the faith. We decided to continue our search, so we climbed to the roof of our building’s neighboring house, which was still standing, and German gained access to our apartment through the collapsed balconies, risking his life for our daughters, while there were still aftershocks from the earthquake. He could not find them in the rooms that were barely accessible in our apartment, he went as far as he could inside the collapsed building, but could not find them.
We thought the nanny took them to her house, so when we were about to go to search for them there. While German was still trying to gain access through another part of the building, I thought he went ahead me. I started walking to the nanny’s house, but then Eliana, one of our neighbors, found us and told us that she found our daughters who had taking refuge along with her sons and other survivors in a nearby house. Its outside wall had collapsed but this left a nice garden accessible. The wife of the MINUSTAH Chief Administrator, who also lived there and survived the earthquake, had seen our daughters with the nanny close to the hotel and took them to that location, where they were safer. We found them until around midnight that day.
We have our precious treasures with us and we are happy and grateful to God for that. But, we are also deeply sad for our colleagues that lost their lives and their loved ones. In a way we feel guilty because we are not there, but we need to take care of our girls and we will find a way to help from anywhere we are. We need to reunite with our nanny and take care of her and her family too.
We were evacuated by the Colombian government and we are currently in the US. We are alive and together, how can we not to believe in God, His faithfulness and His mercy. He is great and powerful, praised be His name. Our hearts and prayers are with the people that are in Haiti. God will provide everything for the school, its staff, the students and their families.
God bless you!
Ingrid Lopez de Martinez
2-24-2010 Diquini Hospital: Why Long-Term Care Is Vital
Quisqueya Crisis Relief Center sends medical teams to hospitals and clinics all over Haiti. Today, we will look at the work in Adventist Hospital of Haiti (Hopital Adventiste d’Haiti), known in our circles as Diquini.
The earthquake killed at least 200,000 people and injured hundreds of thousands more. Casts, external fixations, and skin grafts are just the beginning for our injured population.
However, this is not the end of the story. With 80% of medical facilities damaged or destroyed, Haiti’s struggle to treat and care for itself has become even more difficult. Malaria and tuberculosis are already taking their toll, in spite of the fact that these illnesses are treatable.
Yet, hope remains for those who keep up their strength. Even though the streets may be their home for several months and their situations have little chance of improving, our broken people learn to walk again…even with crutches.
Skin Graft
20-Year Old Fighting Malaria…AND Tuberculosis
2-21-2010 INTERVIEW WITH EDDY GIL (SCORE INTERNATIONAL)
QCRC: How long have you been staying with us?
E. Gil: We’ve been here for 2 weeks.
QCRC: Where have you been working?
E. Gil: In Leogane (3 hour-drive from Port-au-Prince), and in 2 tent cities in Port-au-Prince, Haiti
QCRC: What are some of the most memorable cases you’ve seen?
E: Gil: This week we treated an older man (late 50s) who lost 3 toes. He was living in the tent city and his wound had not been cleaned since the amputation, which was 2 days after the quake. Thankfully, we had a wound care nurse who was able to treat him.
QCRC: What are some of the major needs?
E. Gil: Tents, tarps, and most importantly, long-term follow-up care for the people who have been so badly injured.
QCRC: How has QCRC helped you?
E. Gil: You guys have been great! First of all, this is a very secure compound. It’s been great to have a place to stay where one feels safe. Secondly, you have been very hospitable and have had a servant’s attitude in helping us find places to work and working out the logistics.
QCRC: How long do you think it will take for Haiti to recover?
E. Gil: Years!
QCRC: And, finally, what has God laid on your heart?
E. Gil: First of all, it’s fantastic that Christians are shaping the nation in the recovery process. Secondly, it’s not a competition. We’re all working together to make sure that the help gets where it needs to go.
February 20,2010: To Date, Over 20,000 Patients Treated By Medical Teams Working with QCRC
Quisqueya Crisis Relief Center is pleased to announce the treatment of over 20, 000 people by medical teams working with them.
These teams have come from all over the world, namely, the United States, the Dominican Republic, Germany, Aruba, Canada, and South Korea, to name a few countries. Every morning and evening, the air is filled with English, Spanish, German, Korean, and Dutch, as well as the national languages (Kreyol and French).
Loading Up For CDTI-Damaged, But Operational
QCRC helps these teams treat every issue imaginable (from headaches to life-threatening bone fractures) by providing food, lodging, and transportation. We also work with the local hospitals (remember, over 80% of all medical institutions have been damaged or destroyed) to make sure that personnel are working in the most needed areas, including mobile clinics in remote areas of Haiti.
January 12
At 4:52 pm January 12, 2010, violent shaking, crumbling buildings, injury and death forever changed lives in Haiti from the capital of Port-au-Prince southwest to Jacmel and west to Jeremie. For what seemed like an eternity the earth heaved and buckled in uncontrollable spasms, but this was nothing compared to the violent shaking of hearts and souls.
Dust choked screams thudded dully off piles of rubble and twisted steel echoing terror from tortured souls, yet barely discernible through the cacophony came the distinct sound of hope; people quietly singing “Count your blessings name them one by one, count your many blessings see what God has done.”
God was indeed shaking souls!
Tears poured down my cheeks as I humbly listened to God moving through the hearts of His people. And I believe the shaking has just started, that is a soul quake within the hearts of His people. A shaking that crumbles all the divisive walls we have built; a shaking in answer to the prayer Jesus our Lord and life prayed in Jn.17:21-26:
“I pray that they will be one, just as you and I are one – as you are in me, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me… I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me.”
My dear friends, God is right, just, and good. Let Him shake, because out of the rubble will come renewed life of intimacy with Him and a unity of love never before seen on this earth.
Help us dig through the rubble of God’s hand as we help others become new creations in Jesus, our Messiah and our Life.
Ted Steinhauer
Director
QCRC
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