Dr. Bob’s Feb. 4th Update
MOL e-mail report, Feb 4th, 2010
Gentlefolk,
This report is from Port-au-Prince, Haiti, a city which has become a living Hell, now 3 ½ weeks after the earthquake, where tens of thousands of persons are roaming the streets without homes, food, drink or clothing in anything near adequate amounts for their survival. Tons of food, water, medicine, are still sitting on the tarmac of the hopelessly clogged international airport where the UN, Red Cross, US Army, and other relief groups seem somehow to be milling about with the right hand never knowing what the left is doing. I’ve been there trying to find food and water for one of the tent cities near where we are staying that have received NOTHING, and many of them are nearly starved. It is frustrating to all of us beyond measure.
The 82nd Airborne Division and the Salvation Army seem to have washed their hands of working in concert with the UN because of their incompetence. (The UN is putably in charge of the distribution process which to all appearances has failed miserably to deliver life-saving goods to this pathetically needful populace in a timely manner). I can testify to the fact that both the Salvation Army and the US Army are busily distributing relief materials in many areas and either have given or have promised to give me food and water and certain medicines we failed to bring in that are badly needed, like worm medicine, chloroquin for malaria, and topical meds for skin lice.
Future groups coming in should concentrate more on medications than surgical dressings as there is a glut of these items on hand in the city now, as the emphasis on treatment is steadily shifting from acute trauma care to the usual residual illnesses of typhoid, dysentery, malaria, malnutrition, and various infections. Right now, in addition to our work at the general hospital and another clinic nearby, we are in the process of buying our own rice, beans and oil to distribute amongst some 3000 persons in the zone of Delmas 33 and Charbonierre who are hungry and about 2200 of whom are without homes, sleeping on the streets and makeshift tents. We will purchase what we need through an organization called CAM from whom we bought food during the hurricane disasters of a couple of years ago. We are also purchasing local food for an orphanage of children that was destroyed leaving all 22 of them homeless. What a sad state of affairs that we must purchase food from private sources, while tons of it still sits on the tarmac at the international Airport.
Meanwhile we are all working to the point of exhaustion in several areas, but mostly at the General Hospital downtown right in the center of the worst destruction, where most buildings have totally collapsed. The corpses of thousands of victims will not be recovered for months, even years hence. The stench of death, while still strong in some areas is gradually giving way to the stench of excrement, as these displaced people have no place to relieve themselves except on the streets, alleys or open fields. Most of the bodies have desiccated under the hot sun, but even as I write this note, several corpses of young nursing students are being exhumed from the rubble of their nursing school which collapsed, killing many of them. This goes on a half-block from where the ER triage tent where I and others of our group have worked. As one of our nurses stated, it can only be described as “Hell on earth.” Clearly, in all my many years of medical experience, even battle conditions in Korea, I have never experienced anything even closely approximating this.
When we stepped off the plane in Santo Domingo (no commercial planes are flying into PAP for the foreseeable future) we began a long journey in a chartered bus for just our group and all our supplies that took 21 hours in all between Santo Domingo and Port-au-Prince before arriving at the residence that was loaned to us for quarters while we are here, thanks to the husband of Nurse Ritha Chavannes, a Haitian American nurse on our team. We are therefore blessed with a safe haven while continuing our work in this dangerous and virtually lawless city. Yet it amazes me at how little evidence I see daily of the looting and insurrection one would expect in these conditions: definitely a tribute to the gentle nature, courage and resilience of this brave people.
Our relief group, led by David Bevil, who has worked with us before in Haiti will arrive on the 14th, as we depart on the 13th, although Betty and Nancy will remain behind for a few days to coordinate the next group’s activities, which again will be centered around the general hospital. It consists of David, one doctor and six nurses. Please keep them and us in your prayers in this very difficult time for all involved in this huge relief effort for Haiti in their hour of deepest need.
Please keep them and us in your prayers in this very difficult time for all involved in this huge relief effort for Haiti in their hour of deepest need. More later. God bless all! Dr Bob