Haiti Report, January 22, 2010

Santo Domingo

“There is no such thing as a short-term mission

 – maybe a short-term trip –

the mission is never short-term.”

George Chin, MD
MMIer
on a project in India

Dear MMIers,

Let me state my recommended action plan first and then give you the rational.

Action Plan Recommendation:

We invite you to move forward with us in the building and equipping of the Permanent MMI Center in PaP. We have:

Two fellowship trained (anterior segment and oculoplastics) ophthalmologists graduates of the MMI residency in Santana.

Tim’s wife, Paola, is a dentist.

A third ophthalmologist, graduate of Santana (retina) lives in Santo Domingo and visits PaP to care for patients periodically.

A young Haitian woman finishing up her training with us as an Ophthalmic Tech.

We never move forward without trained people ready to go. We don’t believe in “build it and they will come”. We are ready in Haiti – join us in the building and equipping of a center that will be part of the restoration from the rubble in Haiti.

Your generosity can be channeled through the Haiti Fund at: www.mmint.org.

We will publish a new Haiti Project Calendar as soon as possible.

On Site Report from January 20 and 21.

Tim DeYoung and I just returned from a short visit to Haiti. Many of you are wanting to help with the disaster of the earthquake so we decided to do an in person visit to cut through the second hand information of CNN and the media, friends reporting from family members in Port au Prince (PaP) and local newspapers.

What surprised Tim, who was in PaP at the time of the earthquake and for several days after when he brought Paola (his wife), seven months pregnant and another friend (nine months pregnant) to Santo Domingo, was the sense normalcy people are trying to achieve in the midst of disaster and loss of family.  Even though we traversed and crisscrossed most of the city we didn’t see one dead body on the streets. We did see people burning one body, apparently a family member by their demeanor, a few yards off the street. People were calmly picking up the pieces of life; waiting in lines before the Canadian and American Embassies, cooking in the huge tent “cities” set up in the parks, soccer fields and open spaces, selling mostly food in normal street markets, carrying bundles on their heads, smoking and talking on the corners, and, of course, moving rubble.

PaP is just as you see it on TV – a very high percentage of all buildings are “pancaked” or severely askew. Tremors continue. We felt three in just one hour while visiting a clinic. Most major streets are clear now and traffic is moving as are relief supplies. The “sacking” activity is mostly people entering destroyed buildings, at great risk, and recovering food and other useful items. Undoubtedly, some intact buildings are being broken into and sacked but that is the exception, from our perspective.

Our main interest is in medical services and how MMI and our Santana Hospital might help. Within the first hours after the ‘quake our Santana staff was on the phone with public hospital in Jimaní about 22 miles from PaP offering our surgical services. We are well know there since our staff surgeons have done more surgery there than anyone in the history of the hospital. We were told they needed no help because the Dominican Army doctors (56 of them!) had just moved in and had begun to operate. Then, our OB-GYN, General Surgeon and Anesthesiologist went to PaP the day before Tim and I. They spent two full days in and out of the still functioning ORs offering our services. They found there was no room for more doctors and nowhere to stay, bathe or eat.

I talked with several other surgeons (one MMIers wearing his MMI badge!) who had managed to get to PaP in the first days and had been very busy and productive until now. They had come in as individuals and had been assimilated by the “big boys and girls of relief” (who are doing a good job). The people we spoke with were in departure mode because acute care surgical cases were dropping off as people were treated and/or died. There is still no place to stay for more than a handful of people and much of that is precarious. Doctors told me in some clinics they were “tripping over supplies” but that the problems now will be long-term chronic care that will be handled by the returning Haitian staff (they have been away caring for their families and property) and the long-haul foreigners.

Tim and MMI will continue to ferry food, antibiotic and specialty supplies to our people and friends on the ground in PaP. We do not believe we should organize now for projects of futility. We will publish a calendar soon with opportunities for serving this much damaged country and its people.

Yours,
Tim and Willie