Haiti Earthquake Relief

Two months after the earthquake that killed as many as 200,000 people in Haiti, GlobalGiving’s 17 partner organizations continue to make a meaningful impact on the ground.
- The Lambi Fund has already sent cash disbursements to 43 different community organizations throughout rural Haiti to purchase food, clothing, medicine, and other essential supplies for the thousands of displaced persons who returned to the rural communities following the earthquake, also helping to fuel the local economy.
- RedR is providing vital training to aid workers, particularly focusing on effective distribution and warehousing, as well as courses on how to manage people and projects in emergency situations.
- Comprehensive Disaster Response Services is seeing between 300 to 800 patients daily and is assisting in the establishment of a new tent village for families with small children.
- Within three weeks of the earthquake, Partners in Health sent 66 planeloads to Haiti with more than 235 medical volunteers – orthopedic surgeons, anesthesiologists, surgical nurses and other medical professionals – and roughly 100,000 lbs of medical supplies to support the large network of local health care providers already working in the country.
As the focus of the work in Haiti begins to shift from relief to recovery, you can support some of the long-term rebuilding efforts that GlobalGiving’s partners are carrying out at: http://www.globalgiving.org/haiti-recovery/. As an added bonus, GlobalGiving is MATCHING at 30% online donations up to $1000 per person made to any of these projects on TUESDAY, MARCH 16.
Thank you again for your amazing support for these relief efforts on the ground.

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One of the important things about working with the community closely is that you both learn to respect each other. CHF focuses on community-based development. The workers we employ to clean up are from the community, and our community mobilizers are key to all these efforts.
From David Humphries, CHF Communications Manager on the ground in Port au Prince:
One of the community mobilizers, Civille, took me to his home in the improvised camp at Parc Seminaire in Solino, one of the areas we are surveying for building transitional shelters. 1500 families live in the camp so maybe 7,000 - 10,000 people. But the camp is downhill from the major settlements that they have abandoned, and with the rains, it had become a swamp. As Dede, my Haitian guide, said to me: “Welcome to the Third World.”
They had tents that had been distributed by a relief agency, but the tents were soaked in mud, and the canal, which passed by the camp was blocked and had the stench of raw sewage. The children ran up to me shouting ‘Yo!’ and ‘Hey, you!’ and asking for their picture to be taken – not a common experience in Haiti, where people prefer to avoid the camera. In fact, despite their living conditions and this being a ‘red zone’ we were welcomed by everyone. Perhaps that is the benefit of working with the community.
I hope that we can provide this area with suitable shelter as soon as possible.

Pictures:

• The camp at Parc Seminaire, Solino. (JPG)

Thanks for your support since the earthquake that devastated Haiti January 12th. With your help, the Lambi Fund of Haiti has been able to take extraordinary action to help meet the dire need throughout the country.
Because of the Lambi Fund's deep ties with rural communities throughout Haiti, we are uniquely placed to support rural areas that have absorbed thousands of earthquake survivors that fled the rubble of Port-au-Prince, most with nothing more than the shirt on their backs.
In the Haitian tradition of peasant solidarity, rural communities took in quake survivors and shared with them everything they had. As just one small example, the 80-year-old mother of one Lambi Fund staff member has taken in 39 people in her small house.
As you can imagine, the already limited resources of rural community organizations quickly began to dry up, which is why we've devoted our immediate response primarily to providing financial resources to our trusted local partners so they can provide survivors with basic needs.
Thanks to your support, 43 different community organizations throughout rural Haiti received cash disbursements to purchase food, clothing, medicine, and other essential supplies for the thousands of displaced persons who returned to the rural communities following the earthquake. This helped infuse the local economy as well.
You are also making a difference with several women's groups in Port-au-Prince who lost everything in the earthquake, but are still standing up for the rights of women and children.
With your additional support, you can continue to make a difference in Haiti by supporting what Lambi Fund has been doing in Haiti for the past 16 years - partnering with community organizations to strengthen their capacity to produce locally grown food, improve water access, expand pig and goat raising enterprises, and invest in community micro-credit funds.
These programs allow more families to eat, more parents to work, and more children to go to school - all of which is fundamental to the long-term recovery and sustainability of Haiti.
It is important to stress that the recovery will take time, as it has for major catastrophes before it, but with your continued commitment, Haiti will set itself on a new course of progress.
On behalf of the Lambi Fund of Haiti and the people of Haiti, thank you for making all of this possible.
Sincerely,
Josette Perard
Port-au-Prince, Haiti
Lambi Fund of Haiti Country Director

Links:

• Visit Lambi Fund's website
• Read more about our Earthquake Recovery Plans
• Follow Lambi Fund on facebook

Pictures:

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• Lambi Fund earthquake recovery meeting with locals (JPG)

From David Humphries, CHF Communications Manager--
One of the key concepts that CHF works by is what we call ‘capacity building’. What this means is training the local people in a country so that by the time CHF leaves, they are able to continue the same level and quality of work – without us.
Even in an emergency situation we practice this, and I had the good fortune this morning of visiting our heavy machinery technical specialist, Dale Lawson, training 12 Haitians in how to operate Caterpillar vehicles.
One of the problems Haiti has faced before is a dearth of skilled labor so CHF has already undertaken a joint training program with Caterpillar to train Haitian operators (see [link to the public private partnerships piece]). But now, after the earthquake, demand for skilled operators has increased even more.
I met Dale and his team on their first lesson. They were focusing on safety. The next stage will be basic maintenance – oiling, checking all the parts to make sure the vehicle is in good condition. Then they will start to get behind the controls. Our aim is for the trainees to reach international standards.
Dale said: “In the west, they’d do all these basics at first in a parking lot. Here, they’ll be learning in a real environment.”
Although my French is extremely rusty I was able to chat with the group of trainees, who were aged between 18 and 42. It was their first time working with CHF and despite most of them being very young, some had up to four children. After a while they asked for a basic English lesson. One of the most popular statements was “I want to go to Miami!” but at the end one of them grinned and told me: “We want to always work for CHF!”
I hope they always work operating heavy machinery. Not for CHF, but for the private sector in Haiti, as it recovers from this earthquake and directs its own development for the future.

Links:

• visit our website for more information on our response in Haiti

Pictures:

• Haiti_Earthquake_Response_March_3_2010_027.jpg (JPG)

In his testimony today before a Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee, Save the Children President Charles MacCormack urged Congress to help ensure a brighter future for Haiti and its children by strengthening the capacity of its government, citizens and private sector.

He noted that well-coordinated collaboration between the Haitian government and civil society, the United Nations, the U.S. and other donors and non-governmental organizations, such as Save the Children, was essential to addressing both the immediate and long-term development needs of the country.

MacCormack shared his observations from his two visits to Haiti since the magnitude 7.0 earthquake struck over three weeks ago. "While the Haitian people are extremely resilient and have exhibited much patience, their challenge is daunting," said CharlesMacCormack. "It will take a collective effort today to give the children and families of Haiti a better tomorrow."

In his testimony, MacCormack said that it will take 10 years and a substantial investment to rebuild the country, and will require a coordinated and transparent response. To help the Haiti government redirect its funding into investments that would help in its recovery, MacCormack proposed that Congress expand Haiti's trade preferences to include additional exports, issue grants instead of loans to the Haitian government and support cancelling Haiti's nearly $1 billion international debt.

"Future funds must go to providing children and families access to health services, education and economic opportunities," said McCormack. "This is a long-term disaster and the U.S. must commit for the long-haul. Sustaining significant investment over the next 10 years will be critical to ensuring the well-being of children and their families."

MacCormack applauded President Obama's appointment of USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah to oversee the coordination of the U.S. humanitarian response to the Haiti earthquake but urged that this role be expanded to include the long-term development needs of the country.

"The U.S., with non-governmental organizations and donors, should intensify its commitment to building the capacity and systems of the Haitian government and Haitian civil society to lead and manage their own development," said MacCormack. "We must support Haitians in building back better for the children of Haiti."

Drawing on lessons learned from Save the Children's response to the 2004 Asian tsunami, MacCormack noted that putting Haitians at the center of their own development and recognizing the critical role of women and youth in the decision-making process would be essential for Haiti's recovery.

On the ground in Haiti for over 32 years, Save the Children launched one of its largest disaster responses ever. Save the Children has reached more than 200,000 children and adults, providing lifesaving food, medicines and supplies. In addition, the organization is working to protect vulnerable children, providing spaces to play and helping trace unaccompanied children to reunite them with their families.

Six weeks after the earthquake struck, David Humphries, Communications Manager for CHF International, is in Haiti. He will be producing daily blogs of the situation on the ground.

Port au Prince has changed since I visited last November. The hotel where I stayed has been obliterated. The shop where I bought food and water is now a pile of concrete. Colleagues’ houses where I enjoyed dinner are now pancaked.

Driving from the chaotic and crowded airport, internally displaced person camps are immediately evident. Large numbers of white tents — from relief efforts — are visible, but something else was visible — dark clouds.

In November the sun shone every day, but today the clouds are a sign of something to come.

Within a few hours, as darkness fell, torrential rain struck, like nothing I have seen in Europe or the US. In just twenty minutes the tropical rain had swamped roads. Of course, this was the moment when our car developed a flat tire and we had to rush for shelter while we found another vehicle. But this small inconvenience was just the briefest taste of what people living in tents were experiencing and will experience. ‘Tent cities’, whether made up of donated tents or makeshift can be seen everywhere. They are on roads, football fields, any open ground. Many families are camping in tents outside thier houses or on the side of a road; where one would expect to see a car parked, that’s where a family is living.

The rain storm was over soon and most of the rain evaporated from the roads. But this was a harbinger of what is to come. The rainy season will come soon — it begins as early as March — and is followed by the contiguous tropical storm season which lasts until November. Flooding will cause sanitation hazards and disease.

CHF is embarking on a project to produce over 5000 transitional shelters for families; building or improving temporary homes to allow Haitians to live in safe, sanitary conditions for up to several years as the major reconstruction takes place.

Looking at the rain, we all know it’s a race against time.

Pictures:

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Dear Supporters,

Due to the continuing need on the ground and in the absence of municipal healthcare workers and funding, the SHINE/CDRS mission in Haiti will be extended for four to six weeks.

With your support, we have collected in excess of $180,000. With the extension in mind, our aim is to reach fundraising goal of $250,000 which will enable us to run the services for the additional time period and handover at that point to local non profits.

We need medical volunteers to staff the main facility and outreach camps and mobile health units. Ground teams see between 300 to 800 patients daily, and are working closely with AEMIR Haiti to facilitate the distribution of much-needed food and water.

SHINE/CDRS is also assisting in the establishment of a new tent village for families with small children. We hope to put in place a medical camp that will attend to the needs of mothers-to-be and children.


Please visit us on our new website, www.shinehumanity.org. And now, Words of Appreciation for Todd Shea (Executive Director, CDRS):

1. “The success of IMANA mission is due to sincerity, quick action and most of all networking and collaboration. First credit goes to our relief chairman Ismail Mehr and Tod Shea of CDRS who acted fast and decided to make a team of IMANA, CDRS/SHINE and AIMER Haiti which brought further cooperation of other organizations like USAID to Zakat Foundation.”                             Dr. Parvaiz Malik                               President Federation of Islamic Medical Associations [FIMA]                                                       and Member IMANA Relief


2. "Todd I was really impressed with your dedication and hard work. I guess the word NO has no place in your dictionary. I was pleasantly surprised to come across people who knew of you once they saw you photos.”                       
M Azhar Ali  MD                
Feb 18, 2010

3. “ It was an honor  to serve with you Todd. ”
Ronald A. Tomo MPA, CCP, CNA             VP & Chief Information Officer
Nassau University Medical Center
            February 9, 2010

                                 
4.  “I want to thank you again for all you did for me from finding me a place to stay in DC, getting me fantastic transportation from Santo Domingo to Haiti, the city tour of P-a-P, the midnight egg sandwiches, and so much more. I consider the week I spent in Haiti the most important significant thing I have done professionally and again wish to thank-you for your part in making it happen.”
Janet Jasper 
Glen Ellyn, IL  60137                                         February 8, 2010


5. “Todd has really proved that even in very difficult circumstances, when there is a will there is a way and by creating a set up and  a platform , where we could all work was a great achievement. Rest of the components of the team starting from communication, logistics, nursing and doctors really blended very well and I can say with utmost confidence that this was the best combination. This model should be a good one for IMANA relief to expand on and refine.”
Saeed Akhter MD, MPH, FACS
Chairman and Professor of Surgery
Shifa International Hospital, Islamabad, Pakistan
February 14, 2010


6. "Todd,  I always knew you are doing a wonderful work with remarkable consistency and dedication but after visiting you in Haiti I am convinced.  Thank you for making our team's  stay so positive. Please keep up the good work."                                     Asim Ashary 
CFO SHINE                                                     February 20, 2010

8. “We are all extremely proud of you Todd, it is not easy to do what you are doing. Thank you once again for taking such good care of all of us and keeping the atmosphere so positive.”                                                                                         Farzana Naqvi MD.  
Board Member, SHINE                                                                                       Feb 20, 2010

"I was deeply touched after reading all the attributes dedicated to your relentless efforts from these people who witnessed your commitment and hard work up close and first hand."                         Adeela Ahsan MD.
Board Member, SHINE
February 21, 2010

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Save the Children plans to provide emergency assistance to save lives, alleviate suffering, and support the recovery of 800,000 people (including 470,000 children) affected by the earthquake in Haiti. We plan to transition into longer term rehabilitation and reconstruction to ensure a better future for Haiti’s children.

Number of beneficiaries we plan to reach: 800,000

Number of total beneficiaries reached so far: *502,766
*number includes distributed medical supplies and medicines to support beneficiaries over 6 wk period

Pictures:

• Credit: Getty Images North America (JPG)
• Credit: Getty Images North America (JPG)

US Deputy Chief of Mission David E. Lindwall visited Petit-Goave on Sunday, February 21. Accompanied by representatives from CHF and the U.S. Marines, the Deputy Chief of Mission visited a variety of sites in the area, including the hard-hit areas of downtown Petit-Goave and the devastated coastal neighborhood of Petite Guinee where CHF has been performing cash-for-work activities.

Pictures:

• Ambassador Lindwall with Marines and CHF Staff (JPG)
• Discussing strategy (JPG)

CHF's cash for work programs are well underway in the cities of Port au Prince and the Petit Goave. Of the 586 workers currently employed in Petit Goave, 40% are women.

Marie Bonese Point Du Jour is a 35 year-old mother with a 9-year-old son and former businesswoman who lived in Port-au-Prince. after the earthquake she moved to Petit Goave and is now employed with a CHF cash for work team there.

Marie Bonese Point Du Jour

“I am content, I do not regret coming to Petit-Goâve after this catastrophe. This program enabled me to earn 2400 gourds (US$69) over the past two weeks. I would like to spend several weeks working like this, with an aim of saving a small sum which would enable me to get back on my feet and take care of my only son.” She added: “I will remain in Petit-Goâve for as long as possible because I feel safe here.”

Rosita Saint-Jean is a 56 year-old mother with 4 sons and a widow (prior to quake). She is a resident of Chabanne, next to the area of Petite Guinee, which was destroyed by the quake.

"The money that I earned from this program is a deliverance for me and my family. I will pay a small debt, then buy food to keep my sons healthy. I thank the person who gave this job to me," she says.

Pictures:

• Rosita St. Jean (JPG)

RedR sent a team to Haiti to assess what training and support would be needed as the international community works with Haitians to provide relief to people affected by the disaster.

The team’s work has shown that relief workers on the ground need more training in logistics - such as effective distribution and warehousing, as well as courses on how to manage people and projects in emergency situations. There is also a need for training and support in technical areas like camp management, site planning and structural assessment. And the team anticipate that training in water and sanitation will be needed once more permanent sites are planned.

Thanks to people like you, RedR was able to begin on-the-job training at the end of February with content delivered as short, open courses of one to two days duration.

Thank you so much for your support. Watch this space for further updates.

I traveled to Haiti on February 9th to meet with Rotary 4060 in Santo Domingo of the Dominican Republic. This was Rotary 4060’s Disaster Relief Committee meeting to plan, schedule, allocate donated funds, map and plan truck convoys to Port-au-Prince (PAP) and, to introduce WaterBrick to its members. It was decided that WaterBrick would be warehoused and distributed from 4060’s UN Cargo location in PAP. In PAP, I was introduced to and met with Dr. Claude Surena, President of Haiti’s Medical Association, to discuss their need for WaterBrick and how distribution would be implemented. Dr. Surena said they needed a minimum of 400,000 WaterBricks which would be 2 per their 200,000 tents requested from the United Nations that would arrive soon. Dr. Surena stated that water and food storage containers were necessary to establish sustainability for the homeless but that 750,000 was really needed to make a real difference. The first container load of WaterBricks is now on its way to Port-au-Prince in Haiti with additional manufacturing underway for many future loads to be delivered.

Also, we delivered food, medications and WaterBricks to the Good Samaritan Hospital and two orphanages in PAP. We then made commitments to return with additional WaterBricks and food on our next trip in early March. After our forty-hour convoy to deliver these much needed supplies and, without sleep, we returned back to Santo Domingo and I flew home on February 16th with a much better understanding about the needs of Haiti and its many homeless families. We need to continue our efforts with greater commitment and understanding that this is only the beginning of the worst; yet to come.

On February 16th, CHF completed the first payroll for its ongoing cash-for-work earthquake recovery project. In less than two hours, CHF paid 429 workers for their two-week participation removing rubble from streets, public buildings, and private homes in Petit Goave. This was the fastest and most orderly payroll CHF has ever seen in Petit-Goave. During the first two weeks of clean up activities in Petit Goave, workers removed nearly 1600 cubic meters of rubble and CHF has paid more than US$30,000 directly to workers.

Thank you for your continuing support of CHF as we work to put the people of Haiti back on their feet.

Pictures:

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Dorzely Octave is a 42 year old mother of eight children, aged between 10 and 24 years old. She is the head of household and supports her family alone. Before the earthquake, Dorzely had a small business selling coffee and bread and kept her supplies in a storage place in Delmas. But when the quake struck, the building was destroyed. All of her stock and materials inside were unsalvageable.

Dorzely is now part of CHF’s rubble removal team working Delmas. On February 8, she was working on Delmas 17 with the rest of her team. The ‘HIMO’ rubble removal teams are an essential element of recovery from earthquakes and other natural disasters. Not only do they undertake essential clean up work, they restore people’s livelihoods by employing them in cash for work activities that enable them to support their families. These teams are also empowering, as they employ Haitian men and women in the recovery efforts, making them active participants rather than passive ‘beneficiairies’. With purpose and a sense of solidarity, it becomes their recovery process.

CHF’s HIMO teams consist of 12 people, and we aim to have a balance of men and women – our experience is that women are capable of doing the same work as men in rubble removal. Dorzely says:

“I am proud to be part of this team. We are helping to clean the streets. I am able to help with the clean-up efforts. My job is to take the stones and debris and put it into the wheelbarrows. It is great to be a woman on this team because I am working with all of these men and I can prove that I am just as strong as they are.”



Dorzely was in a small town just on the outskirts of Port au Prince when the quake hit. She immediately tried to get back into the city to get to her house:



“My kids were in the house when the earthquake hit. I was so afraid because I was not with them. But when I came back to the city, I found them all alive with only some small injures. My house did not fall, but it is pretty damaged. One of my daughters is sick. With my first pay check I will take her to the doctor and buy her the medicine that she needs. With the second pay check I will try to purchase some of the items I lost and re-start my business.”

Pictures:

• Dorzely_Octave_Delmas_HIMO_team_023.jpg (JPG)

Zanmi Lasante staff continue to work around the clock to provide care to the many injured and sick still arriving at Port-au-Prince's General Hospital (HUEH), as well as at their clinics and at field hospitals they set up during the first week after the earthquake.

MADRE has been working with Partners in Health to provide Zanmi Lasante with medicine and medical supplies.

Andrew Marx, Partners in Health's Director of Communications, recently returned from Haiti. In his words:

"...inspired is what I felt upon seeing our Haitian partner organization Zanmi Lasante spring into action, doing what they do best—what they've been doing for over 25 years—working in partnership with the residents of destitute communities to provide quality health care and essential social services."

Staff at the clinics and the hospitals have noticed a change in the type of injuries they are seeing. Many people who sustained non-life-threatening injuries during the earthquake are now coming in to seek treatment. Doctors are very worried about the high numbers of people who are at risk of infection from untreated wounds. MADRE will continue to work with our partners in Haiti to respond to the needs of people affected by the earthquake.

At the one-month mark of the crisis, Save the Children has reached 477,000 children and adult members of their families with lifesaving immediate relief.

*See attached document for full fact sheet

Attachments:

• Haiti_earthquake_One_Month_On_fact_sheet.pdf (PDF)
  

SHINE/CDRS Haiti Update Feb 9th, 2010

SHINE/CDRS will deploy two of its own teams to Haiti. The first leaves out of Southern California on Feb 11th, and among the 12 team members are two SHINE board members, Asim Ashary (Chief Financial Officer) and Dr. Farzana Naqvi. The next group leaves on Feb 19th, and will consist of 24 doctors, nurses and non-medical personnel.

We are now in Week 3 of the Haiti mission. Operations are running smoothly on the ground. The main mulit-agency hospital in Bojeaux Barc continues to see upwards of 300 patients a day who present with a variety of issues - including post operative care, infections and primary health conditions. We are currently staffed by 25 volunteers from three different agencies across the United Sates, with each individual performing at a high level of excellency.

Medical volunteers are providing care out of the main hospital, as well as deploying to surrounding general hospitals, community hospitals and church clinics. They are also conducting two to three outreach missions daily to poor neighborhoods. On one occasion earlier this week, some of the volunteers working the night shift at the general hospital were able to save the life of a young woman who was hemorrhaging from an ectopic pregnancy. In addition, Executive DIrector Todd Shea met with actor/humanitarian Sean Penn and his foundation representatives on the ground last week and he has been asked to provide medical volunteers to the facilities that the foundation runs in Haiti.

SHINE/CDRS is also supplying food, water and medical supplies to camps housing the homeless, distributing rice, cornmeal, and other staple food products. We are continuing an appeal for donations of baby food, infant formula and oral rehydration salts.

“So many children and families have gone now three weeks with barely any steady food supply. We’ve met a pregnant mother who has told us that since the earthquake, her children had only been eating a meal a day, without vegetables or meat.”
Halane Hussein, Save the Children’s Emergency Advisor in Haiti.

Save the Children's work is taking place in Port-au-Prince and in nearby communities; we are also monitoring the relocation of families away from Port-au-Prince.

Emergency Health Care
• On February 4, 1,344 patients were treated by our 13 mobile health teams in 36 camps.
• A new clinic was established in Gaston Margon, outside the main town of Carrefour, where conditions were significantly worse than the camps in the town
• In Jacmel, our seven mobile teams vaccinated children against measles on February 4. They also distributed vitamins and screened children for malnutrition.
• In Leogane, a field hospital supported by Save the Children and operated by a partner, World Wide Villages, has treated approximately 250 patients
• Save the Children and another partner did an aerial assessment of rural areas and identified a site where some 250 homeless families were gathered. A mobile team health team was dispatched.

Food
• Save the Children is conducting a two-week, mass food distribution to some 285,000 children and adults in Martisant and Tabarre, Port-au-Prince in cooperation with the World Food Program. To date, over 95,000 people have benefited from our food relief.


Water
• In Port-au-Prince, Carrefour Feuilles and Jacmel, 29,000 children and adults have access to clean water though Save the Children.
• Latrines and showers we have constructed are available to 13,800 people.
• Save the Children and partner agencies are delivering water by tanker truck to distribution points we have created.
• In Leogane, we distributed approximately 215,000 water purification tablets – providing more than 300 families with safe water. We also trained 12 health agents in household water treatment and hygiene promotion in the community.

Shelter and Non-Food Relief Items
• 8,600 people have received essential non-food relief items, such as hygiene supplies and plastic sheeting for shelter.
• 125 tents are being provided for a small settlement of homeless families in Cote de Fer. Blankets, jerry cans and hygiene kits will also be distributed.
• The first distributions of items for some 580 families in Jamal will take place on February 6.
• 1,000 family-size tents are being shipped by Save the Children from China, where the agency responded to that nation’s earthquake in 2008.
• 100 semi-permanent structures for housing or other uses have been ordered.

Child Protection
• 18 Child Friendly Spaces in Port-au-Prince and Jacmel have been opened. Each serves an average of over 100 children a day through structured, supportive activities. Save the Children plans to open hundreds of these essential sites for children.
• Save the Children has trained 50 social workers from other nongovernmental organizations to provide psychosocial support to children, including training in child protection policies and how to conduct activities at our Child Friendly Spaces.
• The agency has been requested by the UN to coordinate the reunification of separated children with their families.

Education
• Save the Children will be among the lead agencies to rapidly restore education for children to provide them with a structured, secure environment. Our goal is to establish 3,000 temporary learning spaces targeting at least 80,000 children
• We are assisting the Ministry of Education in a needs assessment to determine the number of schools that have been destroyed, partially damaged and those that were not damaged. The assessment will also identify the number of children and teachers in the affected areas.
• Field visits by our staff in three camps found no teachers, but children and parents anxious for education to resume.

Livelihoods
• Save the Children plans to offer “cash-for-work” to clear out irrigation channels for the up-coming planting season.

Save the Children has committed to a five-year Build Back Better initiative, which will take us from the relief and recovery phase to working with families to rebuild their communities. The strategy is similar to the five-year rebuilding initiative we launched in Aceh Province, Indonesia following the epic December 2004 tsunami. Our goal is to provide emergency assistance to save lives, alleviate suffering, and support the recovery of 800,000 people (including 470,000 children) affected by the earthquake, and transition into longer-term rehabilitation and reconstruction to ensure a better future for Haiti’s children.

Pictures:

• Photo Credit: Getty Images North America (JPG)

Dear Friends and Supporters,

SHINE/CDRS started from nothing on January 14th. Now we assist with a multi-agency effort that has saved hundreds of lives and taken some of the pressure off of tertiary care hospitals. As a team, we have a wealth of disaster relief experience and a strong partnership with a reputable local organization. To date, we have:
Delivered medical care to over 4,000 patients

Delivered food aid and water to thousands affected by the quake

Facilitated over 100 medical staff and logistics support volunteers

Maintained a well-stocked pharmacy

A secure compound with professional security staff and around the clock support with four vehicles and six local employees

We are pleased to announce that we are the proud recipient of a grant from the Canadian agency, IDRF (International Development and Relief Foundation) (www.idrf.ca) which covers much-needed food aid, water and medical supplies needed for earthquake survivors.

We now need your support with a few more key resources and pieces of equipment to enhance our capabilities and service delivery. Our running costs are $10,000 a week to keeping existing services going. You have helped us come so far- Please help us see this mission successfully through till its conclusion in early March.

To view a list of the supplies that we need, please see the attached file.

To those of you who have deployed with us, our deepest thanks and appreciation. They have some kind words of feedback to offer us. Monica Adorno, an emergency responder who plans to redeploy says: “Todd Shea is simply awesome. What SHINE/CDRS has accomplished on the ground with so little is staggering..”

Dr. Nabile Safdar, also of IMANA, adds: “SHINE/CDRS is bringing their experience to the relief effort in Haiti. For many IMANA Relief volunteers, Todd Shea and his crew were among the first to greet them at the airport, help arrange for transportation, and provide valuable debriefings regarding what to expect.”

For more information, please contact Laila Karamally at 714-261 1044 or lailakaramally@cdrspakistan.org

Thank you,
Todd Shea
Executive Director
Comprehensive Disaster Response Services
Bojeux Parc Joint Medical Relief Mission (CDRS/SHINE, IMANA, Destiny World Outreach and Aimer Haiti)
Haiti Cell Phone: 011-509-3790-2108
e-mail: toddshea@cdrspakistan.org

Pictures:

• Shea briefs doctors (JPG)

Attachments:

• Supply needs (XLS)

Two recent videos highlight the work you're supporting in Haiti.

From TIME magazine and Unicef, the videos show the work of local journalists in Haiti, producing daily news and distributing radios so those affected by the earthquake have accurate information about aid, health, and recovery.

Thank you again for your support! Please share these videos with others who might be interested in humanitarian media in Haiti.

Links:

• Radio News Saves Lives in Haiti (TIME)
• Radio links Haitian families to life-saving aid (Unicef)

Pictures:

• TIME video on radio news in Haiti (JPG)

PIH had more than 100 doctors, 600 nurses, and a total of 4,000 Haitian employees on the ground in Haiti working from 12 existing PIH medical facilities in Haiti before the earthquake struck on January 12th.

• PIH quickly established field hospitals in Port-au-Prince, helping set up 20 operating rooms, 12 of which were able to function around the clock.

• PIH established a comprehensive triage and relief transfer system to move patients back and forth from Port-au-Prince to PIH sites in the Central Plateau and Lower Artibonite Valley.

• PIH is evacuating patients in critical condition to hospitals in the United States and Dominican Republic as well as to the U.S.N.S. Comfort.

• PIH has sent 66 plane loads with more than 235 medical volunteers – orthopedic surgeons, anesthesiologists, surgical nurses and other medical professionals – and roughly 100,000 lbs of medical supplies to support the large network of PIH’s local health care providers already working in Haiti.

• The long-term ramifications in Haiti are going to be significant and far-reaching with a new, large group of vulnerable and displaced people. PIH has the experience and commitment to Stand With Haiti for many years to come.

Looking ahead, PIH’s efforts will be spent in three core areas:
1) supporting the public sector’s ability to provide health care;
2) mobilizing people at the grassroots level to participate in the health care system; and
3) addressing the mid- and long-term health, social, and economic ramifications of the resettlement of tens of thousands of people from Port-au-Prince to areas where PIH works.

Links:

• Solar Power and PIH - a key to help Haiti "Build Back Better"
• Nurse Erik Bartkowiak recounts the MedEvac flight from Haiti

Pictures:

• MedEvacing a young patient in Haiti (JPG)
• A surgical team at PIH's main hospital in Cange, Haiti (JPG)
• The church in Cange, Haiti - turned into a patient ward (JPG)

Number of beneficiaries we plan to reach: 600,000

Number of total beneficiaries reached so far: 172,751


Overview of Activities by Sector:

Non-Food Items (NFIs) Distribution:
8600 people are benefitting from NFIs Save the Children (SC) has distributed

WASH:
Approximately 16,500 beneficiaries are receiving clean water

Health:
Save the Children has carried out 2857 medical consultations in the last week, including 660 children under 5 years through the mobile clinics. Save the Children is responsible for providing health services in 32 camps/locations.
Save the Children is playing a significant role in strategic discussions with World Health Organization (WHO) in the national health cluster, and is also responsible for leading the sub-national health cluster in Leogane and the sub-cluster for mobile clinics in Jacmel.

The priority of the health cluster is moving towards provision of primary health services through mobile clinics and fixed health facilities. A national immunization campaign is planned to start next week.

Nutrition:
· 31 nutritional and 109 health agents from the commune of Leogane have been trained as breastfeeding promoters and a number of these will be trained as breastfeeding counselors next week.

Child Protection
· 17 Mobile Child Friendly Spaces are up and running in Port-au-Prince (PAP) and Jacmel. Child Protection programs will soon be starting in Leogane as well.

Food/Livelihoods:
· SC food distributions have reached over 30,000 beneficiaries thus far. This number will increase greatly once World Food Programme (WFP) distributions in PAP begin tomorrow and continue for the next 2 weeks.

Just an update to let our supporters know that we have collected an additional 12 pallets of medical supplies this week - with more coming in daily. As the materials arrive they are sorted, documented and then arranged on wooden pallets so they can be shipped safely to the destination and distributed in an organized manner.

The medical supplies are collected from many partners in the Bay Area - hospitals and clinics that we have long standing relationships with.

Our work has a threefold purpose- disaster relief, general medical relief year long in Latin America and saving/diverting what would be medical waste from Bay Area landfills.

If you work in the medical industry and can benefit from our life saving work - please contact us!

Pictures:

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RedR’s assessment team is now looking at what support aid agencies need as they work to deliver emergency aid to people affected by the earthquake. Technical training in the delivery of emergency water, sanitation, hygiene, shelter and logistics is high on the list of priorities, while international and local relief workers are also likely to require training in security and camp and project management.

Our needs assessment team is also examining training needs in the implementation of humanitarian standards and best practice in the field, such as technical standards under the SPHERE framework, the Humanitarian Accountability Framework aimed at making humanitarian action accountable to beneficiaries, and People in Aid, which promotes good practice in management and support of aid personnel.

Donations received from donors to Global Giving and other RedR supporters have allowed RedR to deliver an initial two-month training programme: with your generous support we hope to be able to extend this to a 12 month programme.

Dr. Paul Farmer, PIH co-Founder and United Nations Deputy Special Envoy for Haiti, recently testified at the “Haiti: From Rescue to Reconstruction” hearing of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

"I am at my core optimistic about the possibilities before us and the potential of our support to help rescue and transform our poorest neighbor," stated Paul in his submitted testimony. "The response from citizens of the United States to the recent events in Haiti has been overwhelming and encouraging. There is the promise of solidarity by our leadership to make long-term commitments to the kinds of investments needed in Haiti—and to fulfilling them."

"For two centuries, the Haitian people have struggled for basic human and economic rights, the right to health care, the right to education, the right to work, the right to dignity and independence,"he continued. "These goals, which Haitians share with people all over the world, should direct our policies of aid and rebuilding."

Read and watch the complete testimony at the link below:

Links:

• Read and watch Dr. Paul Farmer's testimony

Equipping Medical Staff in Haiti

MADRE has been working with Partners in Health to support Zanmi Lasante as they continue providing emergency care for the earthquake survivors in Port-au-Prince and for those who have managed to flee the city.

Through the support and cooperation of many aid agencies, within the first days after the earthquake, the general hospital in Port-au-Prince (HUEH) was equipped to receive survivors. Since then, medical staff has been working around the clock to treat the many severe injuries people sustained during the disaster.

Zanmi Lasante medical staff has also been receiving patients in their clinics and at field hospitals around Haiti to deal with the flow of patients fleeing Port-au-Prince. Medical staff has reported that the need for orthopedic surgeons is dropping, but that there is an increased need for post-operational care.

Ophelia Dahl, Executive Director of Partners in Health, reported from her trip to Haiti this week that the hospitals and clinics are still receiving people with untreated injuries, a full two weeks after the disaster.


Women's Health Delegation Responds to the Most Pressing Health Needs in Haiti

MADRE partnered with Circle of Health International (COHI) to send several teams of women's health workers into Haiti over the last two weeks. Seven volunteers are now on the ground in Haiti, working out of Fond Parisien, a Haitian town on the border with the Dominican Republic. Every day, more earthquake survivors arrive in packed buses as they flee the devastation of Port-au-Prince. In addition to serving the general population of survivors, the volunteers are caring for pregnant women and victims of sexual abuse.

One team member has begun the Rapid Health Assessment, an assessment to identify the most pressing women's health needs. To this end, a group of Haitian women have been hired to conduct interviews and they are currently being trained in interviewing skills.


Providing Medical Care to the Most Vulnerable

MADRE is working with SOFA, a national Haitian women's organization, to provide medical services to earthquake survivors. SOFA and MADRE partnered in 1996 to build Klinik Fanm, the first Haitian clinic dedicated exclusively to women's health and human rights. Though the clinic building was damaged in the earthquake, the doctors and women's health practitioners have managed to set up a temporary clinic for survivors, and they are treating a steady stream of patients every day.

Thanks to your generosity, almost a million dollars from about 13,000 individual donors is making its way to Haiti for earthquake relief efforts. Thank you! GlobalGiving’s 17 partner organizations on the ground are helping provide emergency medical care, shelter, and food in the immediate post-earthquake efforts and providing longer-term support in areas including rebuilding and training. Impact on the ground is already being seen, including:

- Deep Springs International distributed enough clean water tablets to purify over 100,000 liters of water at a school in Leogane, 1 million liters of water in two field hospitals, and an additional half million liters will be distributed throughout the countryside by mobile medical teams. (www.globalgiving.org/4582)

- Internews is now airing daily humanitarian information radio programs on 21 local and national stations in Haiti. Reported by local journalists, information includes where to find water, tips on avoiding water-borne illnesses, location of medical clinics and special camps for children and orphans, plans for recovery and jobs, and more. (www.globalgiving.org/4572)

- CDRS assisted in setting up a multi-agency field hospital at Bojeux Parc, right at the city limits of Port Au Prince, which is now seeing up to 200 patients a day. (www.globalgiving.org/4592)


Four new projects focusing on Haiti earthquake relief efforts have been added recently to the GlobalGiving site. They are:
1) Architecture for Humanity - to develop a long-term rebuilding plan for sustainable housing, schools, and community centers. (www.globalgiving.org/4605

2) Freeplay Radio – to provide robust, solar-powered radios to earthquake survivors so that they can access critical information (www.globalgiving.org/4608)

3) GHESKIO Center – to replenish supplies of a local Haitian hospital so that it can continue humanitarian and emergency care (www.globalgiving.org/4611)

4) Water Missions International – to provide solar-powered water purification systems that can be used by communities in both the long- and short-term relief efforts (www.globalgiving.org/4598)

You can read more firsthand accounts and project updates from our partners in Haiti at http://www.globalgiving.org/haiti-earthquake-updates/

Pictures:

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January 27th: First Shipment of Aquatabs Arrives!
“Our first distribution was to a school building in Leogane. Several hundred people are living there with no access to clean water. We distributed enough tabs to purify over 100,000 liters of water at the school!” John Smith, DSI Volunteer

Additional distributions include:
-Two field hospitals received enough Aquatabs to purify 1 million liters. Each patient receives a strip of tabs.
-Mobile doctor team distributing tabs as they go into the countryside. An additional ½ million liters will be treated
-A distribution was held in accord with the US Marines outside one of their camps

“People are excited to get the tabs because many of them understand the dangers of their water situation. Also, they know how to use them already.”

A special thank you to the people of Lanxess for their donation of Aquatabs.

Additional News:
Water Treatment Training: 150 health agents and 36 Monitrices (community health workers) have been trained and provided with Aquatabs to distribute
Buckets: Negotiations with the local bucket factory are complete.
Jolivert: Jolivert, our first production site in northern Haiti, is producing 136 liters per day of Gadyen Dlo (liquid chlorine).

Pictures:

• Gadyen Dlo Station Set up (JPG)
• 5 Survive In this Home, Including an Infant (JPG)

“The spirit of the Haitian people has been remarkable. The word resilience does not do it justice. Our national staff has come back to work, often under incredibly difficult circumstances, to help the children of Haiti when they need it the most. On the streets—where tens of thousands still sleep each night—and in hundreds of makeshift camps that have sprung up in clearings amongst the rubble—there is still a sense of community where neighbours and strangers alike are working together to help each other survive.”
- Lee Nelson, Country Director, Save the Children in Haiti

An amazing 360 panoramic view to give a sense of what it is like for children and their families living in impromptu camps:
http://www.savethechildren.org.uk/haiti360/

Internews’ daily humanitarian information program, Nouvelles-Utiles, is now airing on 21 local and national radio stations in Haiti since beginning daily broadcast on January 21. Reported by local journalists, stories in the program have included: where to find water, tips on avoiding water-borne illnesses, the location of medical clinics and special camps for children and orphans, plans for recovery & jobs, and more.

Radio stations are eager to air the programming, and individuals are grateful for the information. “People are stunned, dazed, and they’re still walking around in a bit of a dream wondering what’s going on with their lives, and I think one little bit of certainty they can have is to know what’s going on around them,” said Yves Colon, Internews Journalism Advisor in Haiti.

“Haiti is a poor country – we have so many troubles. It’s really nice to know that people are thinking about us,” said Gaelle Alexis, a Haitian journalist who was rescued by her husband after 10 hours under rubble.

On Friday, January 22, Alexis worked with Internews to translate MTV’s Hope for Haiti Now telethon into Creole for Haitian listeners. Internews facilitated the broadcast of the telethon into Haiti together with national radio and television stations with support from MTV, Westwood One, the BBC and CNN. (See Links for a video of the broadcast).

Thank you for your continued support – the flow of news to Haitians is critically important, and with your help, Internews will continue to make sure that local-language, accurate information reaches the people who need it most.

Links:

• Video: MTV telethon broadcast into Haiti
• Listen to Nouvelles-Utiles (Creole)

Judith Louise lost her 6-year-old son in the earthquake and very nearly lost her 15-day-old baby boy, who does not yet have a name because he has not been baptized.

"When the earthquake struck, I was in the bedroom," said Judith Louise.

"I tried to run, but it knocked me down and I couldn't go back inside to grab the child. Outside, they asked me where was my baby. I told them I didn't know."

"The baby's grandfather went back inside and he saw that the baby had fallen on the ground. The wall had collapsed next to the baby and he was covered in dust. When they pulled my child out, I thought he was dead."

Judith Louise's husband, Friesnel, said, "The baby wasn't moving or breathing. It took a long time to revive him. When Judith Louise started nursing him, though, he came back to life."

"We were lucky to find the child alive," said Friesnel.

"Our house was completely destroyed. We lost everything. Everyone's house has been destroyed, so now we are equal as one – you understand. We don't have anything to survive with. Even if we have money, we can't find anything to buy. Nobody is giving us anything. We're all suffering here."

Friesnel worries about how his family will survive, living in the streets.

Save the Children helps families like those of Judith Louise and Friesnel by providing medical and nutrition supplies.

"We need to rebuild our houses. Our baby is suffering because we don't even have money to buy milk. We need money to reorganize our lives. We need food to come to this country in order for all of us to survive."

Pictures:

• Photo Credit: Getty Images (JPG)

Dear Friends and Supporters,

Fifteen days have passed since the 7.0 earthquake shook the island of Haiti, claiming 200,000 lives and leaving 3 million homeless. CDRS has been on the ground since January 14th, and in the words of CDRS executive director, Todd Shea, it has been “simply hell” out there. Early teams witnessed death and misery of an untold scale and even for the volunteers, it was too much to bear.

Chaos and confusion are now beginning to subside, and with improved coordination and the opening up of supply lines, the delivery of aid and medical care is gradually coming up to speed. We have much good news to report:

- SHINE/CDRS assisted in the identification, and setting up of a multi-agency field hospital at Bojeux Parc, right at the city limits of Port Au Prince, which is now seeing up to 200 patients a day. Congresswoman Maxine Waters visited the facility, and had praise to offer the collaborative Hatian and American effort. Following her visit, USAID facilitated the establishment of a fully-fitted air-conditioned operating tent where volunteer doctors are now able to perform more complicated procedures.
- SHINE/CDRS continues to play an active role at the facility, providing ground support, supplies and food/water aid to assist in the running of the hospital, which is also providing post operative and outpatient services.
- The agency is facilitating in the deployment of volunteers from the United States. Our ground staff meet the volunteers at the airport in Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic, provide overnight lodging, transfer into Haiti by road, followed by accommodation, food, communication, medical supplies and security in Haiti. So far we have facilitated over 100 doctors and medical staff.
-SHINE/CDRS facilitates 2-3 mobile health teams a day that go out to poor neighborhoods and provide on-site medical care to earthquake victims. The more serious patients are transported back to the hospital where they receive further attention. At present, these mobile health units are seeing up to 300 to 500 patients a day.
- The agency is poised to set up a medical camp at a tent village. We hope to funnel doctors, medical supplies and donations of food and water to the earthquake-affected families seeking shelter in the village.

SHINE/CDRS is honored to have received the following note from Marie Lochard-Lubin, an RN who volunteered with SHINE/CDRS in the first week:

“I found that Mr. Shea was very resourceful. He conducted a meeting at the end of each day, so that we may be updated on his activities, to hear about our day, and to strategically plan our next day. Also during our daily meetings, he would update us on the news, medical stock, transportation status and he required us to provide him a list on what stock is needed. I don’t believed that any one was looking for everything to go 100%, but in spite of all obstacle Todd Shea did a great job. Todd would remind us almost daily that any issue we had to make sure that we address him. I do believe that it is everyone's responsibility to do your home work, regarding the status of a country before you decide to come on board. Overall Todd Shea was a great facilitator, and was very attentive to our needs.”

SHINE/CDRS’s efforts in Haiti also received a mention in a story on the State Department’s web site, at

http://www.america.gov/st/develop-english/2010/January/20100125092525smtotrob0.6124079.html

Our current fundraising total is in the excess of $58,541. Our thanks to each and everyone of you for your prayers and support. Looking ahead, we anticipate a six to eight week deployment in Haiti. At every stage, we need to be responsive to changing needs on the ground and do what it is that this small and nimble agency does best: fill the gaps in the system and work closely will all other agencies on the ground.

For the next week, we expect to continue to facilitate surgeries and trauma patients. There is a dire need for food and water for patients and their families. Following this, we expect to shift our focus to primary care, mother and child health, and aftercare. We are in the process of securing an additional four medical satellite facilities and hope to establish supportive relationships with four to five additional facilities led by other field agencies. The need for additional volunteers will continue to evolve with the changing ground realities. Right now, nurses are in short supply.

On a closing note, we wanted to highlight the effort of one of our youngest volunteers. Thirteen year-old Saanya Hassan Ali, of Washington D.C. designed beautiful "Hope Haiti" cards, and got her friends together to make over 100 cards. A couple of hours and e-mails later, there were so many orders and donations for almost $1,000 for SHINE/CDRS. Saanya, thank you!

A note of thanks also to all our volunteer teams and ground partners: AIMER Haiti, Destiny World Outreach, IMANA, NOAH NY, and NYC Medics. Without you all, none of this would have been possible.

Pictures:

• Saanya_card.jpg (JPG)

The days following the earthquake were a busy and stressful time for Lambi Fund. Contacting staff and partner organizations proved to be a difficult task given the lack of phone service, power, internet and destruction of major roads to rural communities.

On January 16, 2010 staff in the US finally heard from Lambi Fund’s country director in Haiti. While staff in Haiti have been struggling to survive in a city that has been demolished, we here overjoyed to hear that all Lambi Fund staff members were alive and suffered relatively minor injuries.

January 18, 2010: Lambi Fund Country Director Josette Perard finally made it through the debris and checkpoints to our office space located in downtown Port-au-Prince. It sustained damages but is still standing! Important documents and equipment were salvaged for the time being as it lacked electricity needed for the office to be functional.

January 19-24, 2010: Staff have been working out of our Field Coordinator’s house; one of the few houses still standing that has electricity. Lambi Fund’s office building is being used as shelter for those that have been displaced.

Several Lambi Fund led regional meetings have convened in rural communities outside, under trees throughout Haiti. These communities are currently experiencing tremendous rates of outmigration that are severely stressing already limited resources. The 1,000’s of refugees streaming into these villages daily desperately need immediate relief. As such our local partner organizations and Lambi Fund have begun distributing major essentials like food, water and medical supplies to displaced persons. Shelters are in the process of being built as well.

January 25, 2010: Staff finally managed to purchase gas for Lambi Fund’s generator. The office has electricity, is up and running and is fully operational! Continued discussions with grassroots organizations in rural communities have led to the development of a four-phase recovery plan that will be critical in Haiti’s long-term recovery:

1.   Distribute food and emergency essentials to those migrating from Port-au-Prince to rural areas.
2.   Repair damage in rural communities
3.   Expand sustainable agriculture programs to meet the increased demand for food in rural areas
4.   Increase opportunities for sustainable income for those displaced by the earthquake so that the influx of people migrating to countryside can start earning sustainable livelihoods

Play a major role in expanding resources, rebuilding, and providing refugees with the means for economic livelihoods in rural communities by supporting this important long-term recovery program in Haiti today.

Links:

• Project Homepage
• Step-by-Step Plans for Earthquake Recovery
• Lambi Fund Newsletter

Pictures:

• Haitians frantically board tap-tap to leave Port-au-Prince (JPG)
• Members of local organizations meet with Lambi Fund (JPG)

Our team is currently providing medical care via mobile clinics in nine geographic regions, including
Petit-Goâve, Grande Goave, Petionville, Boloise, Carrefour, Jacmal, and Gressier, Leogane, and Miragoane. We are also working in one hospital and two static clinics.

Hôpital de l'Université d'État d'Haiti

The team is providing medical care at the 700-bed general hospital near the Presidential Palace, the Hôpital de l'Université d'État d'Haiti. Our physicians and nurses are working together with other nongovernmental organizations that have joined us in the hospital. We have established eight basic emergency operating rooms, and are currently providing medical supplies for the hospital.

Doctors and nurses are currently performing 30-50 surgeries and treating approximately 250 patients at the hospital daily. By request of the hospital administration, International Medical Corps is organizing triage and acute treatment of new patients. The acute triage center has seen over 240 new patients in last three days, and is receiving patients from outside clinics via a newly-established ambulance service. The hospital is partially intact structurally and about half of the buildings are currently in use.

International Medical Corps physicians assisted in significant reorganization of the hospital including establishing the first inpatient/post-operative unit in Port-au-Prince post-earthquake. Under International Medical Corps’ guidance, patient management and flow has recently improved and the hospital is now able to accept referrals (and is perhaps the only hospital accepting referrals right now which can provide overnight care).

Other hospital wards opened including medical/surgical and post-operative, and the hospital now provides for 24-hour care with 45 patients in the in-patient ward and another in-patient ward opening shortly. Electricity and water are available in some areas of the hospital. However, there are no laboratory or x-ray services, and the hospital is in the process of establishing a cold chain. Ultimately, the hospital will need reconstruction and refurbishment.

International Medical Corps is prioritizing the return of national staff, as very few have returned. We have also led a tetanus immunization program on the hospital campus and vaccinated over 300 people.

At the Marcel Cline Psychiatric hospital attached to Hôpital de l'Université d'État d'Haiti, there are now 7 male and 3 female in-patients. Pre-earthquake, the hospital had 50 male and 30 female patients residing there. There is currently no food supply. Approximately 250 people are camping on the grounds, of which 30 are psychiatric patients. International Medical Corps delivered psychiatric drugs and distributed guidelines to the hospital and the Ministry of Public Health. We have deployed two psychiatrists, including our Senior Mental Health Advisor. International Medical Corps places a special emphasis on mental health during emergencies.

Mobile Clinics and Field Sites: Reaching the Underserved

•   Petit-Goâve: International Medical Corps is serving a population of 2,500 people in this area, where 100% of homes have been destroyed. Until now, no assistance has been delivered. People lack latrines and a safe water source. We are delivering basic health units to two clinics and a hospital. We are providing medical services at another hospital. Many people have fled the destroyed areas to settle with family in the mountains, placing additional strain on infrastructure and services.
•   Boloise: International Medical Corps has treated 100 patients for trauma, malaria and communicable diseases. Four camps of displaced people numbering approximately 20,000 lack any medical care and have limited access to latrines and sanitation.
•   Jacmel: We are supporting and treating patients at a local hospital. Despite access to emergency medical care, the area lacks general public health care.
•   Gressier: Operating out of a previously abandoned health clinic, the team has treated 80 people for trauma, malaria, and fractures, and immunized 100 people against tetanus. We see approximately 53 people per day. International Medical Corps is also identifying local health care workers.
•   Carrefour: International Medical Corps saw 70 patients and gave 150 tetanus vaccinations through the clinic. Approximately three-quarters of the community are homeless. We are working with a number of organizational partners to provide care and address the need for latrines. In addition, International Medical Corps liaising with local Haitian doctors and providing follow-up care for patients. The communities in camps have mobilized to support our team for logistics and security issues.
•   Country Club, Petionville: International Medical Corps is establishing a clinic for a spontaneous settlement of 20,000 people. We have also identified another four small clinics run by the local community where we will provide supplies and medical staff.

Building Capacity in the Midst of Emergencies

Going forward, International Medical Corps will build capacity in Haiti’s health care system through delivering medical services, training local health workers, providing administrative support to the health care system, and rehabilitating health facilities. Already the team has improved the management and administration of the Hopital De l’ Universite d'Etat d'Haiti, and local Haitian medical students were trained by our team to help triage incoming patients. International Medical Corps will continue to support health posts and clinics in underserved areas through rehabilitating,

Pictures:

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Save the Children staff plays with children refugees who's homes were destroyed during the earthquake at the Church of Ladder Day Saints, Port Au Prince, Haiti.

Save the Children is launching child-friendly space activites at the church in downtown Haiti.

Child-Friendly spaces provide safety, structure, and emotional healing to children who are suffering due to to the loss and devastation they have experienced.

Pictures:

• Photo Credit- Getty Images North America (JPG)

Overview of Save the Children’s response
• Number of beneficiaries we plan to reach: 600,000
• Number of total beneficiaries reached so far: *99,032
• Number of beneficiaries reached since last sitrep:   7,785
*number includes distributed medical supplies and medicines to support beneficiaries over 6 wk period

Overview of Activities by Sector:
Emergency Health Care
• As of January 22, Save the Children’s health interventions had reached approximately 85,000 children and adults.
• Our mobile clinic in Leogane is treating approximately 100 patients a day. The unit is staffed by 14 expatriate doctors.
• Four mobile health teams of one doctor and one nurse each are seeing patients in Jacmel.
• On January 19, 16.5 tons of medical supplies donated to the agency by AmeriCares were distributed in Leogane and at the general hospital in Port-au-Prince.
• Medical supplies were distributed by Save the Children’s response team and a partner agency to 14 hospitals and clinics throughout the Port-au-Prince region.

Food
• The World Food Program (WFP) will be providing Save the Children with high-energy biscuits for distribution. Save the Children is also coordinating a longer-term strategy with WFP for food distributions, which are scheduled to begin this week.
• On January 16, Save the Children distributed food for 2,000 people at the L’Hopital de l’Espoire (Hope Hospital), that focuses on pediatric medicine and helps support two orphanages.

Water
• Latrine construction and rehabilitation has benefited some 3,600 children and adults in both Port-au-Prince and Jacmel.
• Clean water is being provided to over 2,000 children and adults in camps in Port-au-Prince.
• Large quantities of bottled water are being received for distribution with our hygiene kits.

Shelter and Non-Food Relief Items
• 300 kits of hygiene and household supplies were distributed on January 21 at a makeshift camp in Port-au-Prince, benefitting 1,500 children and adults.
• 5,000 families in Jacmel have been targeted for our shelter and relief supplies.
• 2,500 household kits are being procured at Save the Children’s office in the Dominican Republic for rapid delivery by truck to Port-au-Prince.
• 1,000 family-size tents are being shipped by Save the Children from China, where the agency responded to that nation’s earthquake in 2008.
• 25,000 sheets of plastic for temporary shelter have arrived at Save the Children’s base in Miami.
• 100 semi-permanent structures for housing or other uses have been ordered and will arrive within a week.

Child Protection
• Eleven Child Friendly Spaces in Port-au-Prince and Jacmel have been opened. Over 3,500 children have benefited from access to structured, supportive activities to help them recover from what they’ve experienced. Kits for 77 other spaces are in Port-au-Prince; Save the Children plans to open hundreds of these essential sites for children.
• Save the Children has trained 50 social workers from other nongovernmental organizations to provide psychosocial support to children, including training in child protection policies and how to conduct activities at our Child Friendly Spaces.
• The agency has been requested by the UN to coordinate the reunification of separated children with their families. We are beginning to collect information and reports of separated and unaccompanied children for follow-up action.

Education
• Save the Children will be among the lead agencies to rapidly restore education for children to provide them with a structured, secure environment.

Over a week after the massive earthquake struck Haiti, the need for life-saving medical services remains overwhelming. Casualty estimates have risen. The death toll may be as high as 200,000 and the number of injured and homeless is in the millions.

MADRE is continuing our emergency efforts to get medicines and medical supplies to Haiti through the Dominican Republic. A shipment of supplies arrived Wednesday, January 20, and more supplies are expected in the coming days. Right now, the biggest concern is for replenishing stocks of antibiotics in order to fight off infection.

Operating Rooms Up and Running
Our partners on the ground are working day and night to meet the desperate need for medical treatment. They have set up field hospitals both inside and outside of Port-au-Prince and are performing surgeries to treat widespread bone injuries and infections. MADRE is working in support of Zanmi Lasante, a Haitian healthcare organization founded by Partners in Health.

At the general hospital in Port-au-Prince, there are now 12 functioning operating rooms, with surgeries being performed day and night in each. Outside of the city, in the Central Plateau and Artibonite regions, there are eight more operating rooms for the busloads of people fleeing the city each day.

Though the 6.1 aftershock quake that struck Haiti yesterday morning caused the evacuation of the general hospital in Port-au-Prince, no structural damage resulted, and the hospital was able to quickly restore order and continue operations.

MADRE is also supporting a delegation of midwives and maternal health practitioners. Four members of the first team of midwives and maternal health providers have arrived in the border town of Jimani, and three more are scheduled to arrive this weekend.

We just got off the phone with Leilani Johnson of Circle of Health International (COHI), the organization MADRE is partnering with in this initiative. Leilani told us that the minute the team arrived, they began providing crucial medical services to people seriously injured and displaced from Port-au-Prince.

Save the Children’s Response: Save the Children has worked in Haiti continuously since 1978 and launches immediate relief for children affected by the island’s frequent natural disasters. Local staff members in Port-au-Prince have been joined by our international disaster response experts and are working around the clock and in coordination with the Haitian government, donors, non-governmental organizations and communities to provide relief on a scale similar to our response to the epic Asia tsunami of 2004. Work is taking place in Port-au-Prince and in nearby communities; we are also monitoring the possible relocation of families away from Port-au-Prince.

Emergency Health Care
• As of January 22, Save the Children’s health interventions had reached approximately 85,000 children and adults.
• Our mobile clinic in Leogane is treating approximately 100 patients a day. The unit is staffed by 14 expatriate doctors.
• 70 health workers were trained in Leogane and another mobile clinic is operating there.
• Four mobile health teams of one doctor and one nurse each are seeing patients in Jacmel.
• On January 19, 16.5 tons of medical supplies donated to the agency by AmeriCares were distributed in Leogane and at the general hospital in Port-au-Prince.
• Medical supplies were distributed by Save the Children’s response team and a partner agency to 14 hospitals and clinics throughout the Port-au-Prince region.

Food
• The World Food Program (WFP) will be providing Save the Children with high-energy biscuits for distribution. Save the Children is also coordinating a longer-term strategy with WFP for food distribution.
• On January 16, Save the Children distributed food for 2,000 people at the L’Hopital de l’Espoire (Hope Hospital), that focuses on pediatric medicine and helps support two orphanages.

Water
• Save the Children has trained 24 staff in water and sanitation responses and healthy hygiene promotion. Teams will travel to informal settlements in Port-au-Prince to construct latrines and water points and encourage proper hygiene.
• Based on assessments in two other locations, Save the Children plans to deliver clean water to residents by tank trucks, construct latrines to prevent water contamination, distribute hygiene kits and promote proper hygiene to prevent the spread of diseases.
• Large quantities of bottled water are being received for distribution with our hygiene kits.

Shelter and Non-Food Relief Items
• 300 kits of hygiene and household supplies were distributed on January 21 at a makeshift camp in Port-au-Prince, benefitting 1,500 children and adults.
• 5,000 families in Jamal have been targeted for our shelter and relief supplies.
• 2,500 household kits are being procured at Save the Children’s office in the Dominican Republic for rapid delivery by truck to Port-au-Prince.
• 1,000 family-size tents are being shipped by Save the Children from China, where the agency responded to that nation’s earthquake in 2008.
• 25,000 sheets of plastic for temporary shelter have arrived at Save the Children’s base in Miami.
• 100 semi-permanent structures for housing or other uses have been ordered and will arrive within a week.

Child Protection
• Child Friendly Spaces in Port-au-Prince and Jamal have been opened. Over 200 children have access to structured, supportive activities to help them recover from what they’ve experienced. Kits for 77 other spaces are in Port-au-Prince; Save the Children plans to open hundreds of these essential sites for children.
• Save the Children has trained 50 social workers from other nongovernmental organizations to provide psychosocial support to children, how to conduct activities at our Child Friendly Spaces and child protection policies.
• The agency has been requested by the UN to coordinate the reunification of separated children with their families. We are beginning to collect information and reports of separated and unaccompanied children for follow-up action.

Education
• Save the Children will be among the lead agencies to rapidly restore education for children to provide them with a structured, secure environment.

Save the Children staff also continues to assess conditions in damaged communities west of Port-au-Prince and initiate relief operations and local partnerships. Our staff in the Dominican Republic is also alert to the possibility of relief that may be needed for Haitian earthquake victims who have moved to the border area.

The agency has committed to a five-year “build back better” initiative, which will take us from the relief and recovery phase to working with families to rebuild their communities. The strategy is similar to the five-year rebuilding initiative Save the Children launched in Aceh Province, Indonesia following the epic December 2004 tsunami.

An Internews team of media specialists and radio technicians has been in Haiti since the earthquake to assess damage to media infrastructure and support local media.

On Thursday, January 21st, 11 local radio stations in Haiti aired a Creole-language humanitarian information broadcast produced by Internews.

The program, Nouvelle-Utiles (News You Can Use) will be produced daily and distributed to local radio stations, which are eager to air it.

Thursday’s program included stories refuting rumors that there was an imposed curfew in Port-au-Prince, and notice of water distribution locations, bank re-openings, and waste management services. Information from the Red Cross discouraged hasty and uncoordinated disposal of bodies, and dispelled rumors that dead bodies cause disease.

Local journalists reported the stories in the broadcast, produced and distributed by Internews. More stations will be added to the distribution, as they return to broadcasting.

Stations airing the program include: Radio Signal, a popular Port-au-Prince station which never stopped broadcasting, even during the earthquake; Radio ONE, the only independent radio station with national reach; and Radio National, Haiti’s state broadcaster.

Thank you for your support – it is making a difference!

As reported this week by the Associated Press and others, news and information – on safety, food, shelter, water, and stability – are lifelines for victims of the earthquake in Haiti:

“The radio station is the people’s life right now,” said 56-year-old Roselaure Revil, a Haitian who runs a small church aid program that is out of food, water and clothing. “Without the radio station, the country is dead. Without the radio station, we can't communicate. We don’t have anything.”

Full article in The New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2010/01/20/world/AP-CB-Haiti-Radio.html

Links:

• Haiti Radio Fills Information Void in Disaster

Pictures:

• Journalists in front of the destroyed Radio Magic 9 (PNG)

Within 23 hours of the earthquake, International Medical Corps’ Emergency Response Team arrived in Port-au-Prince. Our current team of 40 on the ground includes 27 medical personnel, a mental health specialist, and logistics, financial, communications, security, and coordination officers.

The team is providing medical care outside the general hospital near the Presidential Palace, the Hopital De l’ Universite d'Etat d'Haiti. Our physicians and nurses are working together with other nongovernmental organizations that have joined us in the hospital. We have established eight basic emergency operating rooms, and are currently providing medical supplies for the hospital.

President Clinton met with International Medical Corps’ Emergency Response Team on January 18th. He spoke with our doctors, and noted our urgent needs:

•   Our field hospital had 1,500 patients seeking treatment -- 70% to 80% need surgery.
•   About 75 amputations were performed on January 17th alone; another 150+ were needed.
•   Through a partnership dating back to Hurricane Katrina, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU), the largest public service employee union, has offered International Medical Corps 400 volunteer nurses, many Creole speaking.
•   We delivered desperately needed medical supplies to the field hospital, and more supplies—including emergency medical kits and food—are arriving via caravan from across the border in the Dominican Republic.
•   Our team is treating crush injuries, basic wounds, trauma, shock and other critical cases – with the few available supplies.

International Medical Corps physicians assisted in significant reorganization of the hospital including establishing the first inpatient/post-operative unit in Port-au-Prince post-earthquake. Under International Medical Corps’ guidance, patient management and flow has recently improved and the hospital is now able to accept referrals (and is perhaps the only hospital accepting referrals right now which can provide overnight care).

Reaching the Underserved

The team is also supporting small medical posts near the Villa Creole Hotel in Port-au-Prince. We have also begun operating mobile units in Leogane (the epicenter) to reach those who are underserved. Leogane (population 134,000) is severely affected with 80-90% of the buildings damaged.

The team has conducted assessments in Carefour, Grassier, Leogane, and Jimani. In Grassier, we have established primary health care support for a community clinic that had previously been abandoned. International Medical Corps will continue to assist in coordination of public health assessments with the World Health Organization and other nongovernmental organizations in the affected areas.

International Medical Corps will expand emergency medical care to underserved populations through both static and mobile clinics, and will provide primary health care as needs dictate, including immunization and disease prevention. Furthermore, International Medical Corps will continue to support devastated public health facilities by providing supplies, medicine, and personnel to manage the increased caseload of patients due to the emergency.

Building Capacity in the Midst of Emergencies

International Medical Corps will build capacity in Haiti’s health care system and infrastructure through training, administrative support, and rehabilitation of health facilities. Already the team has improved the management and administration of the Hopital De l’ Universite d'Etat d'Haiti, and local Haitian students were trained by our team to help triage incoming patients.

Going forward, International Medical Corps will support health posts and clinics in underserved areas through rehabilitating, restocking, staffing, and training. We will continue to work with the Ministry of Health, the government of Haiti, and local communities to conduct needs assessments and establish leadership committees representative of all stakeholders, including women. In particular, International Medical Corps efforts will include water and sanitation efforts to drastically improve living conditions and general health, and prevent disease from spreading. A hallmark of International Medical Corps’ work is training local doctors, nurses, midwives, and community health workers to care for their own communities.

In addition, International Medical Corps is known for its technical expertise in both medical and health care administration in humanitarian emergencies. We will support the Ministry of Health and health facilities throughout Port-au-Prince and the surrounding area in hospital and clinic operation; administration, disease-monitoring, and record-keeping; personnel management, recruitment, training, and retention; and logistics of stocking medical equipment and supplies.

International Medical Corps firmly believes that the best way to create lasting change is to invest in long-term recovery at the outset – it begins in the midst of emergencies. This year International Medical Corps marks its 25th anniversary of providing critical, lifesaving care to millions, while bridging the divide between relief and recovery. International Medical Corps’ mission—to restore devastated medical systems by arriving quickly in crisis, then training local practitioners to care for their own communities, restore well-being and build self-reliance—has been and continues to be crucial. International Medical Corps has worked side-by side with local doctors, nurses, and health workers; it has delivered the highest standard of medical care and training; it has elevated the level of primary health care in developing countries to a level second to none. The knowledge and skills that International Medical Corps leaves behind remain the great measure of its strength and impact.

Pictures:

• 1.20.10_IMG_6935.jpg (JPG)

January 21, 2010, Los Angeles, Calif. – Sienna Miller, Global Ambassador for International Medical Corps, makes a passionate call to action in a public service announcement (PSA) to assist survivors of the 7.0 earthquake that struck Haiti last Tuesday.

“The need left by this earthquake is enormous,” says Sienna Miller. “Thousands need medical services and time is of the essence. If the injured do not receive medical care quickly, treatable ailments like fractures and open wounds can become life-threatening. The more people who come together and offer their support, the more lives we will be able to save.”

Funds raised through the PSA (http://www.imcworldwide.org/SiennaPSA) will directly support International Medical Corps’ emergency response in Haiti and save lives by helping acquire what is desperately needed on the ground, including medicines, medical equipment, food, clean water, and other emergency relief items.

International Medical Corps was on the ground in Haiti providing emergency medical care just 23 hours after the earthquake struck. “They are working around the clock to save as many lives as possible,” says Miller. “I hope this PSA will shed light on the incredible work they are doing in Haiti and encourage others to support it.”

In Port-au-Prince, International Medical Corps is working at the Hopital de l’Universite d’Etat d’Haiti, a 700-bed hospital, as well as supporting small health clinics throughout the city. An International Medical Corps mobile medical unit is also in Leogane, the epicenter of Tuesday’s earthquake, providing emergency medical care.

“We are so thankful to Sienna for speaking out for the people of Haiti,” says Rebecca Milner, VP of Institutional Advancement for International Medical Corps. “Every donation made as a result of this PSA will save lives on the ground in Haiti.”

Pictures:

• 1.20.10_IMG_6610.jpg (JPG)

A new truck load of nearly 4,500 WaterBricks are ready to ship, bound for Haiti. These contain 15,300 gallons of water that will be distributed to their two make-shift hospitals. They will be used for their patients and also in their orphanages. Thank you for your support of this project so far! We will continue to update you on progress as this project continues and will send photos soon.

Aftershocks felt in Haiti
More than a week after the devastating earthquake in Haiti, strong aftershocks were felt through the area, adding to the devastation. Over 200,000 may have perished in the last nine days; the dead have yet to be buried. But as one survivor said, "We need now to pray for the living".

Todd Shea, Executive Director of CDRS, reached Haiti on Jan 14th and has since then facilitated the deployment of close to 100 doctors and medical staff, set up a warehouse in Croix de Bouquets and opened an urgent care facility where we are seeing over 70 cases a day. Medical supplies are critically short, and patients are arriving everyday who have not yet received any medical treatment. Todd has pointed out two key problems - the limited number of supply lines that have been established and the lack of sharing of resources and intel by some of the larger agencies on the ground.

Our goal is to continue facilitating teams of the ground, and ramp up to 10 Urgent Care Centers over the projected six week deployment. Our supporters have reached deep and so far we have raised close to $40,000 in donations and pledges. Our goal is to raise $186,000, so there is a ways to go.

We need your help so that we can continue to deploy doctors where they are most needed, and help fill the gaps in availability of water, relief supplies and medical necessities. On the stateside, CDRS is joining hands with NYC Medics and IMANA to create an on-line registry of medical and non-medical volunteers, and with the use of GIS mapping, create an accurate match between demand for and supply of volunteers over the affected areas.

How to Volunteer
For those interested in volunteering in Haiti with CDRS, please fill out the electronic Volunteer Form, which can be found at:
http://spreadsheets.google.com/viewform?formkey=dFlNVGtzc1M1dXdpdkRjdDVTR3JrSmc6MA

We will get back to you as soon as we can. For more information, please contact Laila Karamally at lailakaramally@cdrspakistan.org or at 714-261-1044.

CHF continues to work at emergency response, lending our facilities, equipment and logistics to assist in the relief operations. In Petit Goave we are working closely with Swiss organization Medecins du Monde Suisse. Kits arrived for 1000 families that include shelters, kitchen sets, mosquito nets, jerry cans, and four large tents for emergency hospital rooms, which are set to be distributed.

We are continuing to prepare for the forthcoming weeks – and months - as we focus on transitional shelter and employing Haitian communities in the clean up of their neighborhoods. Part of this has involved surveying our existing infrastructure projects – over 100 across Haiti – that we have completed since 2006. We are glad to say that minimal damage has been sustained to our existing projects, which gives us the confidence to go ahead using construction techniques that have been truly tried and tested.

Pictures:

• Moment_of_Silence_19_Jan_006.jpg (JPG)

Food
• The World Food Program (WFP) will be providing Save the Children with high-energy biscuits for distribution. Save the Children is also coordinating a longer-term strategy with WFP for food distribution.
• On January 16, Save the Children distributed food for 2,000 people at the L’Hopital de l’Espoire (Hope Hospital), that focuses on pediatric medicine and helps support two orphanages.

Water
• Large quantities of bottled water have been received for distribution with our hygiene kits.
• Save the Children has trained 24 staff in water and sanitation responses and healthy hygiene promotion. Beginning January 22, teams will travel to 15 informal settlements in Port-au-Prince to begin constructing latrine and water points and encourage proper hygiene.
• Based on assessments in two other locations, Save the Children plans to deliver clean water to residents by tank trucks, construct latrines to prevent water contamination, distribute hygiene kits and promote proper hygiene to prevent the spread of diseases.

Shelter and Non-Food Relief Items
• 2,500 household kits are being procured at Save the Children’s office in the Dominican Republic for rapid delivery by truck to Port-au-Prince.
• 1,000 family-size tents are being shipped by Save the Children from China, where the agency responded to that nation’s earthquake in 2008.
• 25,000 sheets of plastic for temporary shelter have arrived at Save the Children’s base in Miami.
• 1,000 family hygiene kits (including soaps, rubbing alcohol, baby wipes, diapers, hand sanitizers and bleach), arrived in Port-au-Prince on January 19.

Emergency Health Care
• Our mobile health clinic in Leogane continues to see approximately 100 patients daily. The unit is staffed by 14 expatriate doctors.
• On January 19, 16.5 tons of medical supplies donated to the agency by AmeriCares were distributed in Leogane and at the general hospital in Port-au-Prince.
• Medical supplies were distributed by Save the Children’s response team and a partner agency to 14 hospitals and clinics throughout the Port-au-Prince region.

Child Protection
• Several Child Friendly Spaces are now open in temporary shelters so that children can take part in structured, supportive activities to help them recover from what they’ve experienced. Kits for 77 other spaces are in Port-au-Prince; Save the Children plans to open hundreds of these essential sites for children.
• Save the Children has trained 50 social workers in providing psychosocial support to children, activities at our Child Friendly Spaces and child protection policies.
• Three Child Friendly Spaces are scheduled to open January 22 in the community of Jacmel.
• The agency has been requested by the UN to coordinate the reunification of separated children with their families. We are beginning to collect information and reports of separated and unaccompanied children for follow-up action.

Education
• Save the Children will be among the lead agencies to rapidly restore education for children to provide them with a structured, secure environment.

Save the Children staff also continues to assess conditions in damaged communities west of Port-au-Prince and initiate relief operations and local partnerships. Our staff in the Dominican Republic is also alert to the possibility of relief that may be needed for Haitian earthquake victims who have moved to the border area.

The agency has committed to a five-year “build back better” initiative, which will take us from the relief and recovery phase to working with families to rebuild their communities. The strategy is similar to the five-year rebuilding initiative Save the Children launched in Aceh Province, Indonesia following the epic December 2004 tsunami.

We are happy to report that we received a payment of almost $22,000 from Global Giving – thanks so much to our donors!

RedR will be sending out an emergency team to evaluate what support aid agencies will need in the coming weeks and months. We then plan to set up an emergency programme to provide vital training in key areas, including water, sanitation, shelter, security, and coordination, to local and international aid agencies operating in the region.

We’ll continue to keep our donors posted – but for now it’s full steam ahead to raise more funds to run this project!

Tangibles: On January 19th, Michael Ritter and Jon Steele dropped off 600 buckets, 1,000 spigots, and 100 bottles of Klorfasil (a solid chlorine product) in Hopital Ste. Croix. These supplies will be the beginning of establishing safe water relief to the Leogane area. Leogane is about an hour from Port-au-Prince and was severely damaged by the quake.

The following supplies will be delivered by 10:30 Wednesday morning to a hanger at the Ft Lauderdale Executive airport for a flight on a private plane to Leogane.

9,700 spigots (20 large cartons)
2,000 bottle labels
8,100 bottle caps
1,900 8 oz bottles
5 Aquachlor AC100 generators
1 Aquachlor 25AC generator
The plane and the pilot time has been donated by David E. Lee, president of Air Shares Elite.

These materials will combine with 10,000 buckets produced in Port-au-Prince at a local bucket factory to provide systems that will provide clean water for thousands of Haitians.
Special thanks to Graham Huff for arranging for logistics and escorting the shipment to Leogane after just being airlifted from a mission trip to the island of La Gonave less than a week ago .

Pictures:

• Leogane Hospital (JPG)

Save the Children staff in Port-au-Prince, Haiti are assessing the impact of this morning’s strong 6.1 magnitude aftershock – even as they continue working nonstop to deliver lifesaving relief to children affected by the epic January 12 earthquake.

“Children and families are still sleeping in the open, among the rubble. They are very vulnerable – this aftershock would have terrified them. We are working flat out to assist them, bringing in supplies and rolling them out to the people who need them as fast as we can,” said Annie Foster, Save the Children’s team leader in Port-au-Prince.

Save the Children is undeterred by this latest aftershock. Essential relief we began within hours of the earthquake goes on and, day by day, is being expanded to reach more children in and around the rubble of Port-au-Prince and nearby communities.

Highlights of the past 48 hours in our efforts – made possible by our donors’ outpouring of support, include:

- Distribution of 16.5 tons of drugs and medical supplies provided by AmeriCare to health technicians in Leogane and to the general hospital in Port-au-Prince.

- Rolling out the first mobel health clinic yesterday.

- Opening the first of hundreds of Child Friendly Spaces planned so that children living in temporary camps have a respite from the tremendous stress and strain they are experiencing.

Attachments:

• Save the Children Fact Sheet: 1-20-2010 (PDF)
  

CHF International is continuing to undertake relief work both immediately and plan for the longer term. We have been able to survey many of our previous infratructure projects and we are glad to be able to report that most have survived the earthquake well, which means we can launch into new works with the knowledge that our construction techniques have been truly tried and tested. In the Petit Goave area, for example, all five schools built by CHF survived the earthquake intact. These schools are currently being used as shelters for displaced people.

In the meantime, CHF is providing logistical support to the Haitian Red Cross. Yesterday and today we transported 750 hygiene-kitchen kits from St. Marc (about 2 hours north of Port-au-Prince) as well as portable water treatment plants. As of today we also made available to the Red Cross two of our vehicles and drivers to help with the transportation of personnel and materials in Port-au- Prince.

A typical Haitian night is filled with a plethora of sounds – confused roosters, unsettled dogs, nightclub rhythms, to name a few. As I lay out on the damp grass (my new bedroom on the CHF Haiti office lawn), looking up at Orion and the other stars, there is one sound that I would not have expected to hear – at least not after what happened on Tuesday, 12 January 2010.

Singing. Above the hum of generators, sporadic gun fire and chirping cicadas, I hear a multitude of voices. Haitians are singing. In the wake of the worst disaster in the history of the UN, they are singing praises to God. I cannot quite make out the song or a specific tune, but it clearly a hymn.

Amid all the negative press about insecurity and violence, there are a multitude of stories of hope and unbelievable resilience. To be sure, security is a very valid concern today, as there are reports of isolated violent incidents. And as desperate mothers’ and fathers’ survival instincts kick in and they try to secure food and water for their families, more reports of violence can be expected. However, to portray the city as a warzone and its people as ruthless savages is neither accurate nor appropriate.

In all I have witnessed during my 9 years in Haiti, I am always astonished by the resilience of the Haitian people, their determination to survive, and their devotion and unwavering faith in God.

Not once have I heard anyone question why God would allow something like this to happen. Actually, it has been the exact opposite. I have heard people who have lost loved ones thanking God for saving those He did. Conversations are peppered with phrases like “thanks to God”, “by the grace of God” and “God is protecting us”.

Whether you are a believer or not, I believe it is impossible to question the strength of the Haitian people to overcome this tragedy. However, they cannot and should not have to do it alone. And as the CHF International team in Haiti, we are making sure that they don’t.

Pictures:

• Earthquake15_Jan__Place_St._Pierre_Camp.jpg (JPG)

Background
The January 12th earthquake that devastated Haiti is one of the largest humanitarian disasters in recent years, both in terms of numbers of people affected and the magnitude of damage. Current estimates are that one in three Haitians are affected (approximately 3 million people living in and around the capital city of Port-au-Prince). Some 80,000 people are confirmed dead, and this number is expected to increase significantly in the days and weeks to come.

CARE, which has worked in Haiti since 1954, launched an immediate response to help earthquake survivors. Thankfully, all of CARE’s 133 staff members are safe and accounted for, although many lost relatives, including children, as well as their homes. CARE’s staff in Haiti includes emergency personnel who were part of the response to the devastating Hurricane Hanna in 2008. In addition to our staff already in Haiti, we have deployed an experienced emergency team that has allowed us to start providing emergency assistance while planning for longer-term recovery.

The purpose of this update is to provide more details on CARE’s efforts to date.

Update from Haiti
General Emergency Response
· The scale of devastation caused by Tuesday’s earthquake in Haiti is horrifying. Aid workers on the ground say the extent of the damage to homes and infrastructure is reminiscent of the damage caused by the 2004 tsunami in South Asia.

· The situation poses a huge logistical challenge. Getting in enough aid supplies, equipment and staff is difficult, as the airport and port have been severely damaged. Electricity and water have been cut off, fuel supplies are low, and roads are impassable.

· Despite these challenges, aid is getting through, and more emergency workers and aid shipments are arriving. The port is expected to be operational in two days and the government plans to open 40 banks today. Western Union is waiving charges for remittances to Haiti, and T-Mobile is providing free text messaging between Haiti and the US through January.

· CARE has distributed clean water, water purification packets, emergency food rations, and basic hygiene kits, as described below. Soon we will begin distributing tents, mattresses and other relief items.

CARE’s Response
· CARE has given clean water and water purification packets to 25,000 people.

· We have started distributing:
– 10-tons of high-protein biscuits, enough for 60,000 emergency meals to people in need;
– 1,500 collapsible water containers; and
– 1,200 hygiene kits, with a special focus on the needs of women.

· We also have procured 5,000 mattresses, which will soon be distributed.

· There are 37,000 pregnant women in the disaster zone who are in urgent need of food, safe water and access to health care. CARE is working hard to support their needs.

· We are in the process of acquiring and bringing in more supplies, such as jerry cans, tents, temporary warehouse structures, generators and high-protein biscuits from places like Dubai, Karachi and Nairobi.

· The CARE Haiti team has begun planning for the longer-term response; in the near term, this could include activities such as rebuilding homes and implementing a cash-for-work program for people to help clear debris.

Gender Focus
· To help meet the specific needs of pregnant women, new mothers and children, CARE is focusing on the following as part of our immediate emergency response:
– distribution of water purification tablets to provide clean water, particularly for pregnant women and children who are particularly susceptible to water-borne illness such as diarrhea;
– distribution of emergency food rations;
– distribution of infant kits for mothers with newborns and young babies; and
– distribution of hygiene kits that include soap and toothpaste, sanitary napkins and undergarments for women.

· We know that in emergencies like this, women and girls are at increased risk of sexual violence, exploitation and abuse when seeking food and other services. CARE is deploying a gender-based violence specialist to enhance our ability to address these issues.

· After disasters, CARE normally provides delivery kits for women and health centers to facilitate safer, cleaner deliveries. We are working with partners to determine how to procure these items and distribute them as quickly as possible.

Health Focus
· Port-au-Prince lacks sewer infrastructure and the massive quake ruptured water lines. This creates a perfect formula for the spread of water-borne disease, particularly as those left homeless are forced into close quarters with limited options for sanitation.

· CARE is working quickly to distribute water purification packets along with basic hygiene kits to help prevent a secondary crisis: the outbreak of disease.

· Safe water is crucial for every survivor of last Tuesday’s quake – but especially for pregnant women, new mothers and small children. We are concerned that women may stop breastfeeding because they do not have enough food or water themselves, posing a huge risk to newborns.

· Mounting garbage adds to the risk of disease. Throughout Haiti, garbage trucks stand idle and the gutters are clogged with plastic bags, bottles and trash of all kinds. People tie handkerchiefs over their faces, desperately trying to stem the overwhelming stench. We urgently need to address the waste disposal issue. If garbage keeps accumulating, it will certainly spread disease.

Pictures:

• care.jpg (JPG)

Thank you for supporting GlobalGiving's Haiti Earthquake Relief Fund. Your donation will be used to provide medical supplies and care, food, water, shelter and other necessities to the survivors of last week's 7.0 Earthquake in Haiti. As of Monday, January 18th, more than $250,000 has been contributed from over 4,000 generous donors like you.

Donations to GlobalGiving's Fund will be allocated to the following organizations:

- *CHF International* to provide transportation and supplies including axes and shovels to rescue workers.

- *Comprehensive Disaster Response Services* to transport food, water, medicine, and volunteers to disaster areas.

- *Deep Springs International* to provide safe water to survivors.

- *International Medical Corps* for medical care and supplies.

- *Internews* to provide vital information about disaster services.

- *Lambi Fund of Haiti* to provide immediate and long-term assistance to earthquake-affected areas.

- *MADRE* to bring emergency medical assistance and supplies to Haiti.

- *Partners in Health* to coordinate medical teams and supply chains.

- *RedR* to provide necessary training for volunteers in the emergency area.

- *Save the Children* to support children and families affected by the earthquake.

- *Volunteers for Interamerican Development Assistance*
to bring surgical supplies and medical equipment to hospitals.

- *WaterBrick International* to bring clean water and food containers to the disaster area. *WaterBrick is a social enterprise, which has been fully vetted by GlobalGiving to ensure that all funds will be used for charitable activities.

Following are updates from these partners, all of whom are working on the ground. To see all updates, please visit http://www.globalgiving.org/haiti-earthquake-updates/ , which is being updated daily with the latest information.

January 19, 2010 – From Rebecca Bryant at Save the Children
“On January 18, Save the Children opened the first Child Friendly Space in a church serving as a temporary shelter. Child Friendly Spaces allow children to take part in structured, supportive activities and recover from what they’ve experienced. Kits for us to open 70 other spaces arrived in the Dominican Republic on January 18 for immediate transport to Port-au-Prince. Save the Children plans to open hundreds of these essential sites for children. Two mobile health clinics will begin serving the basic health needs of children and families right in their neighborhoods on January 19. Supplies of water and other materials arrived in the Dominican Republic on January 18 and are being forward to our Port-au-Prince office by truck. On January 17, we received as shipment of 16.5 tons of medical supplies from AmeriCares.”


***
January 18, 2010 - From Todd Shea of Comprehensive Disaster Response Services:
"Everyone needs to accelerate and better coordinate relief efforts to avoid conflict and a potentially dangerous escalation of tensions being felt by Hatians throughout the country, some of whom I found waiting and suffering without any outside help whatsoever so far.

The first team of four doctors from IMANA and a nurse from Destiny World Outreach is here. I came back from Haiti to pick them up and will deploy them and more medicines/supplies at 9 am Sunday, after picking up one more doctor. At least 5 more teams are planning to arrive in the next 7 days. The border is OPEN for our mission. Some rumors have led people to believe that the border is closed. The gate in shut and locked it at night, I have been coming and going at all times, including 2 am last night/morning."

***
January 17, 2010 - From Dr. Evan Lyons of Partners in Health:
"can't get through much now but beyond the horror, one very striking reality is that things are totally peaceful. we circulated in PAP (Port-Au-Prince) in the middle of everything until just now. everywhere. no UN. no police. no US marines and no violence or chaos or anything. just people helping each other. drove past the main central park in PAP where at least 50K people must be sleeping and it was almost silent.

people cooking, talking, some singing and crying. people are kind, calm, generous to us and others. even with hundreds lying on the ground, open fractures, massive injuries of all kinds.

there are few dead bodies on the street. stench is everywhere. the city is changed forever."

All four of CARE's missing staff have been located!

In Haiti, the government has encouraged migration from Port-au-Prince to reduce stress and tension in the capital, where even today, people are being rescued alive from under the rubble. The government has issued radio announcements that free bus transportation is available to people leaving Port-au-Prince. On Sunday alone, approximately 1,500 people arrived in Jeremie from Port-au-Prince. Many of them are wounded and in need of assistance by the local hospital.

Just outside of our Port-au-Prince office, hundreds – perhaps even thousands – of newly homeless people are camped out in the main square. At night, groups of people can be heard clapping and chanting. Some have hung banners, painted on bed sheets, with messages like "We need help!" in English and Creole. Many tie handkerchiefs over their faces, desperately trying to block the overwhelming stench of waste. We have arranged for a tanker truck to bring water to the square, along with a huge rubber "bladder" to store it.

Access to clean water and waste disposal remain critical issues. Mounting waste in the streets, overflowing idle garbage trucks and clogged gutters will soon lead to extensive disease. We are rapidly responding and working to resolve logistical challenges. In order to reach the largest number of people quickly, CARE in Haiti's health program coordinator, Dr. Franck Geneus, and his staff are training local volunteers in water purification through a simple method: small packets of powder are mixed with water. Each packet can purify 10 liters of water. The trained volunteers will teach others and will distribute the packets according to a careful inventory of families at sites, ensuring that we reach those most in need. We also have partnered with other organizations to meet the immediate needs of the more than 37,000 pregnant and lactating women in the disaster zone who are in desperate need of food, clean drinking water and access to health care.

The Haitian minister of the Interior estimates 250,000 people are in urgent need of assistance. In addition to the water purification packets, we will soon distribute food rations, tents, mattresses and basic hygiene kits. We are working to procure and distribute additional emergency aid, including ready-to-eat meals, tarps and plastic sheeting, blankets, mosquito nets, sleeping mats, jerry cans and kitchen kits, as quickly as possible.

Partnership: Deep Springs International (DSI) is working around the clock to respond to the devastating earthquake by creating access to clean water. Water, food, sanitation and medical care, are some of the most important essentials to address in the next few weeks as survivors seek to heal hearts and bodies. Deep Springs recognizes the critical need for partnership and organization between entities rushing to the scene. For this reason we are working with UNICEF, PSI (Population Service International) and Klorfasil to provide a solution to the need for safe water. Michael Ritter, DSI’s President and in-country director, has taken the lead for household water treatment technologies among these organizations, concentrating on areas surrounding Port-au-Prince.

Actions: Deep Springs has been acknowledged as part of the WASH Cluster, a WAter, Sanitation and Hygiene effort led by UNICEF which responds to disasters such as the earthquake with life giving solutions. Through the WASH Cluster, DSI has applied for funding through a Flash Appeal to serve 20,000 families (~100,000 people) with DSI water systems (modified 5-gallon bucket and Gadyen Dlo, a water disinfectant). This appeal gives organizations working on the ground today a chance to receive immediate and significant funding to bring in supplies and serve people in desperate need.
DSI has also appealed for donations of 5-gallon buckets and lids, bottles, spigots, and labels for the DSI systems to companies and our contact lists. In Haiti Deep Springs has commissioned its Gadyen Dlo production sites, such as Jolivert, to ramp up production of our liquid chlorine product. At least 4 drums (55 gallons each) are currently available for use with the bucket systems. We are focusing our efforts on the suburbs and rural areas surrounding Port-au-Prince due to the increased need for a potable water source and the influx of Haitians fleeing the city.

Tangibles:
DSI has received an overwhelming response in the form of monetary and tangible donations. LANXESS, an international specialty chemicals company, has donated an air shipment of Aquatabs, a solid chlorine product, to be flown into Haiti from Ireland. Aquatabs are compatible with the DSI systems. A Port-au-Prince bucket factory which is operational has agreed to supply 10,000 buckets for Deep Springs at a rate of 3,000 per day starting Monday, January 18th. Arrangements have been made for 10,000 spigots, bottles and labels and shipment to Haiti.

Needs:
Though we have received many generous donations, Deep Springs will need your ongoing support to be able to serve those affected by the earthquake today, tomorrow, and for the coming years. Specifically we ask for monetary donations to fill in the gaps and provide for needs such as shipping costs, additional bucket systems and training costs.

Save the Children staff is helping to distribute food, water and supplies at Hospital Espoire in Port-au-Prince.

Pictures:

• Save the Children-Safe Spaces for Children & Families (JPG)
• Save the Children-Child with clean water (JPG)

Save the Children has worked in Haiti continuously since 1978 and launches immediate relief for children affected by the island’s frequent natural disasters. Local staff members in Port-au-Prince have been joined by our international disaster response experts and are working around the clock and in coordination with the Haitian government, donors, nongovernmental
organizations and communities to provide relief.

Save the Children’s Response:

• On January 18, Save the Children opened the first Child Friendly Space in a church serving as a temporary shelter. Child Friendly Spaces allow children to take part in structured, supportive activities and recover from what they’ve experienced. Kits for us to
open 70 other spaces arrived in the Dominican Republic on January 18 for immediate transport to Port-au-Prince. Save the Children plans to open hundreds of these essential sites for children.

• Two mobile health clinics will begin serving the basic health needs of children and families right in their neighborhoods on January 19.

• Supplies of water and other materials arrived in the Dominican Republic on January 18 and are being forward to our Port-au-Prince office by truck.

• On January 17, we received as shipment of 16.5 tons of medical supplies from AmeriCares.

• On January 16, Save the Children distributed food and water to the L’Hopital de l’Espoire (Hope Hospital), that focuses on pediatric medicine and helps support two orphanages. The
food was enough for 2,000 people; 40 families taking refuge near the hospital also received hygiene kits (containing such items as rubbing alcohol, soap, towels, baby wipes, sanitary napkins, shampoo, toilet paper, toothbrushes, toothpaste, disinfectant gel, chlorine, diapers
and water). were distributed to vulnerable families taking refuge near the local hospital.

• Medical supplies were distributed by Save the Children’s response team
and a partner agency on January 15 to 14 hospitals and clinics throughout the
Port-au-Prince region.

• Our staff continues to assess the situation in Leogane and Petit Goave, both west of Portau- Prince and Jacmel, all of which have sustained heavy damage.

• In Jacmel, Save the Children staff is participating in coordination meetings, leading the coordination of the health relief effort and has been asked by UNICEF to work in two camps.

• Save the Children has committed to a five-year “build back better” initiative, which will take us from the relief and recovery phase to working with families to rebuild their communities. The strategy is similar to the five-year rebuilding initiative Save the Children launched in Aceh Province, Indonesia following the epic December 2004 tsunami.

Pictures:

• Save the Children CEO, Charles MacCormack, in Haiti (JPG)
• Save the Children emergency advisory, Ian Rodgers, in Haiti (JPG)

Our dedicated staff and local volunteers have spent the first week post the earthquake collecting, sorting and stacking donated medical supplies - delivering today - MLK DAY - the first 30 pallets destined for Haiti.

An approximate estimate of $550,000 value of the surgical supplies the doctors and nurses are so desperately in need of.

THANK YOU volunteers - your energy is amazing. Here on this sixth day we are hearing of survivors being pulled from the rubble. Our hearts and hopes go out to all those in Haiti - survivors and volunteers!

And a HUGE thank you to over 160 Global Giving philanthropists who have given to VIDA so far! Please feel free to give us feedback!

For every person lost in the Haiti earthquake there is a personal tragedy that we can hardly begin to understand, even when we hear the bald and terrible numbers of casualties repeated every day in the media.

Our staff in Haiti were surveying the damage in Port-au-Prince when they passed a house that had been completely flattened. Despite the destruction they realized it was the house of one of CHF’s community mobilizers, Cedanor St. Vil.

Cedanor told our people that he had come home early from work on Tuesday. Normally he would be home later, but had got a ride home early and got home just before 5pm – when the earthquake struck. His little four-year-old girl was napping, as was his middle child, a boy. He, his wife and his oldest son were in the bedroom together. Then the earthquake struck.

The walls caved in. Cedanor, his wife and son were trapped for 1 ½ hours in the rubble, but managed to dig themselves out. Cedanor went back in to the house to get his other two children. He managed to get his middle son, but, although he could hear his little daughter crying out for help, crying to her parents and to God, he couldn’t get through to her. Four hours after the earthquake struck, he finally managed to get her out from amongst the rubble – but she had already died.

Cedanor’s house has been completely destroyed. The surviving children are traumatized by the experience, especially the older boy.

Since the earthquake Cedanor has been staying with friends in another neighborhood, but when he returned to his house to collect his belongings, he found and it had been looted by thieves.

There are countless stories like those of Cedanor’s, of lives struck tragically. Please give generously to help in the reconstruction of Haiti.

CHF received a huge amount of information on areas beyond Port-au-Prince from our Field Director Bob Fagen. Bob and his entirely Haitian team based in Petit Goave have been supporting the Boy Scouts and Red Cross with a donation of tools such as wheelbarrows and shovels, plus loads of facemasks, shirts, hats, and gloves. The Boy Scouts have been key to rescue efforts in the city and showed an impressively organized response to the earthquake in Petit Goave. CHF is proud to be partnering with them.

Bob was able to travel beyond Petit Goave to Grand Goave and Legoane. Some of his observations are below.

Grand Goave

* The main Catholic Church on the Place Publique in the center of town and its rectory were both destroyed. We were able to speak to the priest who had survived and he is in good spirits, in spite of the destruction
* A tent city has been erected on the Place Publique. At night it swells to 5,000 people. There are 5-6 similar tent cities throughout Grand Goave, each with 3,000-5,000 people at night.
* Grand Goave, while battered by the earthquake, is not as visibly devastated as either Petit-Goave or Leogane. However, Grand Goave depended on Petit Goave for much of its potable water, and the shortages in Petit Goave have significantly affected Grand Goave. Considering the tent city phenomenon and the lack of water, it is only a matter of time before disease becomes an issue in Grand Goave.

Leogane

* MINUSTAH (UN mission in Haiti) were undertakni g a protein cookie distribution in front of Leogane City Hall to mostly women and children.
* Much of Leogane, both downtown and the surrounding area, was flattened by the quake and unconfirmed estimates put the death toll as high as 100,000. We sincerely hope this is far higher than the reality.
* Between Leogane and L'Acul we passed a destroyed water pump that is indicative of the below-the-surface damage that has crippled many wells and reservoirs in the region. Potable water is and will continue to be a major issue for the region until water supplies can be repaired or replaced.
* The Ecole National Anna Karina, a high school in the city center of Leogane, was flattened completely. Tragically class was in session at the time.
* Churches appear to have suffered extraordinary damage from the quake, with most crumbling, especially the larger structures.
* The financial system in affected cities has been paralyzed by the earthquake. While some supplies are available, prices have skyrocketed and people simply do not have access to what little money they have in the bank.
* We saw collapsed wooden houses on stilts, common in historic Leogane, a city of approximately 134,000. Many of the multi-level Leogane homes fell to the ground after the stilts and supporting beams collapsed underneath them. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) estimates that 80-90% of Leogane was destroyed by the earthquake.

CHF plans to work with relief agencies in these hard hit areas and wants to draw attention to the plight of the Haitian people outside of Port-au-Prince, who are suffering the same privations and tragedies. T

CHF International is working closely with other local and international relief agencies and helping with the immediate relief effort. As well as giving supplies to rescue workers such as gloves, face masks, pick axes, shovels and sledge hammers, tomorrow we will be transporting 750 hygiene/kitchen kits from St. Marcs to Port-au-Prince to be distributed to homeless families, needing shelter in the capital.

Current updates:
* The water trucks are delivering water – many companies open for private delivery (to homes and such); smaller trucks along the road giving free water to Internally Displaced People (IDP)
* There is a lot of “agua gratis” – Dominican company – stopping at random places giving free water
* Small water distribution centers are open for business
* Transportation to the Dominican Republic (DR) is running
* Not a lot of traffic on the road – public transport is running as usual
* Market ladies on the street on the street cooking and selling
* Haitian National Police out in larger numbers today than before
* People on the street – people still in shock; blank stares; – going about daily business
* Rescue efforts by private citizens still ongoing
* Many people at US and Canadian embassy gates
* Another observation: one of our staff hear said that he observed a distribution of essential items by UN soldiers on Place Boyer – one of the public squares in Petion Ville turned into an IDP camp. He said he has never seen such an orderly distribution in Haiti. Everyone in lines. No hostility. No violence. No fighting.

We are all encouraged to hear that there is food and water reaching an increasing number of people, and that the private sector is still functioning on both the formal and informal level to some degree – a key to getting Haiti back up and running. Also incredibly encouraging, in spite of media reports of violence, are reports of quiet and orderly aid distributions.

Please continue to help both the immediate relief efforts and also the longer term by donating what you can.

Yesterday CHF International received the good news that CHF Haiti had been able to account for all 170 staff members. No one was hurt in the earthquake. But please keep our staff’s family members and friends in your thoughts and prayers as we find out about them. We are establishing a supply line from Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic and our emergency response experts have been able to meet with our existing staff so we can begin responding.

CHF has been assisting immediate relief efforts throughout earthquake afflicted regions by giving supplies to rescue workers such as gloves, face masks, pick axes, shovels and sledge hammers; and we will soon be providing logistical support in the form of vehicles and drivers.

CHF’s main focus in an emergency is on transitional shelter and cash-for-work livelihoods work. This means creating sanitary, safe temporary homes for those whose houses have been destroyed that they can live in while reconstruction occurs, and also employing earthquake affected communities in the clean-up of their area, removing debris, taking down unsafe constructions and repairing those that are still able to function. This way the people can earn money, keep busy, learn some useful skills for future work, and be a part of their own development – they become empowered in their own relief and play the key role in securing their future. So please don’t forget about Haiti when it leaves the headlines, because the Haitian people will face challenges from this for years to come.

Most of the media focuses on Port-au-Prince the stricken capital, but we have received images and news from Petit-Goave, a coastal town of 12,000 people 40 miles from Port-au-Prince, where CHF has been undertaking school rehabilitations and rural work. Our Field Office Director, Robert Fagen, reported the following:

Petit Goave was hit hard, and so was the whole region including Grand Goave and Leogane. The road to Port-au-Prince is back open as of Wednesday. Some preliminary statistics and information includes:

* About 1,000 dead so far (cadavers still being discovered)
* 1,813 confirmed injuries
* Petite Guinee completely destroyed (built on rubbery land not rock)
* Downtown roughly 5-10% destroyed instantly, especially old brick buildings and churches without iron reinforcements
* Public buildings and hospital damaged or destroyed.
* Virtually everyone is living in the streets
* Most water pumps were electrical rather than manual pumps, so much water is inaccessible
* Very limited gas/diesel supplies
* Very limited potable water options
* No outside aid has reached Petit Goave yet

CHF is assisting the following organizations:

* Red Cross/Boy Scouts – we have given tools like wheelbarrows and shovels, plus loads of facemasks, shirts, hats, and gloves
* The local Mayor – we gave some gloves and facemasks
* And we are partnering with more local Haitian organizations during their relief efforts

We plan to try to clear a path from the Route National to the Port, with a few backups to the biggest tent cities (at the Football Field in particular).

All five of the schools CHF built are intact and are being used as emergency shelters, complete with latrines and basic water supplies.

Dear Friends,

We are working very hard to ramp up to minimize the loss of life from a second wave. Things are very dire. CDRS is coordinating with multiple agencies on the ground and in the US to identify the system bottlenecks and put people and resources where they are most needed. Please help put the word out - we need all the volunteers and funds we can get. Todd's latest report from the ground is posted below:


"I'm sad to report that the situation in Haiti is acute and worsening-people are beginning to get even more desperate and frustrated. The leadership of the Government of the U.S. and its partner nations are "forming up" great things that will take shape in a week or so down the road, but they really need to quickly work through the current paralyzing logistical challenges Many large agencies are failing to think selflessly and share their financial, operational resources with smaller but super-effective agencies. This attitude is is not helping anyone. Quite frankly, I would have though some of them would have learned an important lesson from other disasters where some of the same mistakes were made.

Here's the bottom line: If things don't start improving very rapidly, then life and limb-threatening infections and deadly dehydration and unnecessary conflict will likely emerge on a scale that has the potential of becoming rampant and widespread. The correct option would be to stage multiple and overwhelmingly robust and well managed multi-national supply lines and helicopter sorties using locations and bases other than Port Au Prince Airport, particularly from the Dominican Republic through the border near Jumani. It's a darn good road compared to the roads in the Pakistan earthquake affected areas that I've been traveling on for the past four years. Distributing aid from several points over a more widespread area can reach far more people far more quickly.

Everyone needs to accelerate and better coordinate relief efforts to avoid conflict and a potentially dangerous escalation of tensions being felt by Hatians throughout the country, some of whom I found waiting and suffering without any outside help whatsoever so far.

The first team of four doctors from IMANA and a nurse from Destiny World Outreach is here. I came back from Haiti to pick them up and will deploy them and more medicines/supplies at 9 am Sunday, after picking up one more doctor. At least 5 more teams are planning to arrive in the next 7 days. The border is OPEN for our mission. Some rumors have led people to believe that the border is closed. The gate in shut and locked it at night, I have been coming and going at all times, including 2 am last night/morning.

Photos of our mission will be provided when I come back to Santo Domingo to deploy more volunteers (Tuesday). VOLUNTEERS: PLease contact Laila Karamally at lailakaramally@cdrspakistan.org (or call at 714-261 1044) for further information.

Our needs at the moment: a steady supply line of syringes, I/V Fliuds and lines, anti-inflammatory pain medication, Oral Rehydration Salts, first line anti- biotics, Pediatric Medicines and supplies, ob/gyn medicines and supplies, surgical gloves, alcohol swabs, Q-tips, baby formula, baby wipes, tents, clothes, cash for renting more trucks and purchasing fuel and critical field supplies AND as much water (and water purification systems) as can be procured through donations or government distribution. These can be mailed directly from the US or procured with funds here (please contact Laila Karamally for further information).

Sincerely,
Todd Shea

Sent on January 17, 2010, 3:34AM, General Hospital in Port-au-Prince (HUEH) by Dr. Evan Lyon of Partners In Health:

can't get through much now but beyond the horror, one very striking reality is that things are totally peaceful. we circulated in PAP in the middle of everything until just now. everywhere. no UN. no police. no US marines and no violence or chaos or anything. just people helping each other. drove past the main central park in PAP where at least 50K people must be sleeping and it was almost silent.

people cooking, talking, some singing and crying. people are kind, calm, generous to us and others. even with hundreds lying on the ground, open fractures, massive injuries of all kinds.

there are few dead bodies on the street. stench is everywhere. the city is changed forever.

we had a late day opportunity to evacuate 4 patients to the US. these may be the first haitian nationals allowed to leave for the US. but martinique has taken over 200. the DR has taken many many more. so we circulated in PAP looking for urgent cases. found hundreds but picked up the 4 to get out, hopefully to philadelphia. open fractures, gangrene, one 4 year old boy with a leg broken in 3 places, a minor head wound, and now 4 days of sleeping outside with IV fluid and maybe some pain meds. probably none.

at the airport, we drove onto the tarmac to meet the air ambulance. surrounded by marines and UN, massive weapons. a humvee with a gunner turret at the top drove by. the noise from the large transport planes was deafening. us citizens and haitian american citizens leaving by the hundreds on US planes. and our small team of haitian and american docs evacuating a drop in the bucket. my ears are still ringing from the noise of it all.

in contrast, port au prince is silent. no current. no car traffic. people sleeping in the streets but little else. beside the impossible weight and tragedy of this city completely devastated, one lasting impression was the stillness of the city. in shock, tragically sad, but quiet. so good to get away from the airport.

sleeping tonight in the house of a dear PIH friend and doctor. attending to neighbors here and able to rest. safety and the work is with our sisters and brothers in this beautiful, proud, and strong nation.

the safest and best way to be here and help is with our colleagues and friends. wonderful to be in the city, away from the airplanes, and working shoulder to shoulder with people we know and love and will continue work with to mourn, assist, and rebuild this special country.

in the photo you see the first time operating of any kind possible at the main general and academic center.

for press / outreach strategy, we might highlight the generosity and getting it done kindness of the air ambulance team. they also left us all the supplies they had on board - water, meds, IV material, blankets, food.

goodnight everyone. love. evan.

Pictures:

• An operating room in the General Hospital (HUEH), Port-au-Prince (JPG)

1/18/2010

• From Dr. Evan Lyon, 7:00pm, from the General Hospital (HUEH) in Port-au-Prince: “Incredible progress in our capacity here. 7 ORs running. 10-12 by tomorrow night. We have electricity and will be operating overnight tonight for the first time.”

• Surgical services are ramping up rapidly at the central hospital in Port-au-Prince, where PIH has been assigned by the World Health Organization to coordinate the response of seven other non-governmental organizations from around the world. Five operating rooms are now staffed and performing surgeries around the clock. But they have a desperate need for all the resources required to run a hospital: surgical equipment—anesthesia machines, sterilizers, autoclaves; surgical consumables—alcohol, suture; surgical instruments—scalpels, saws; and the essentials of life—water, food, and fuel. PIH has managed to deliver some essential supplies. With more than 1,000 patients awaiting surgery, large-scale shipments from larger governmental and charitable organizations are urgently needed.

• Hundreds of thousands of earthquake victims need food, water, and shelter NOW. While scattered incidents of violence have made the headlines, they are no excuse for delaying delivery of humanitarian assistance. Our team on the ground, which has been criss-crossing Port-au-Prince at all hours, reports that the city is remarkably calm and quiet amidst the devastation. While security must be a concern wherever and whenever people are desperate to provide for themselves and their families, the most effective response is not military intervention but massive, well-organized, and equitable humanitarian assistance.

• Paul Farmer, PIH co-founder, is in Port-au-Prince today meeting with government officials and international relief organizations to assist in the coordination of the relief efforts.

1/17/2010

• Yesterday, a PIH team of 25 medical professionals (surgical teams, anesthesiologists, emergency room physicians and nurses) arrived in Haiti and were operating and caring for patients within hours after they touched down. Many of the patient they are seeing are very serious cases (mostly amputations). There remains a great need for additional medicines (anesthesia and narcotics), medical equipment (anesthesia machines and x-rays), medical supplies (IV’s, tubing, irrigating saline), and water. PIH will be sending additional planes with medical teams and supplies into Haiti in the course of the next 48 hours.

• Yesterday, PIH succeeded in transporting four very critical patients and one guardian out of Haiti on a MedEvac plane to Philadelphia, where they landed in the early morning hours today. All four patients desperately needed surgical and post-op care not possible under current conditions in Haiti. To the best of our knowledge these are among the first patients evacuated to the US since the earthquake. All four patients survived the trip to Philadelphia and are already receiving the urgent care they need.

WESTPORT, Conn., (Jan.15, 2010) — Save the Children staff in Haiti gave emergency medical attention to a baby girl pulled from the rubble Friday afternoon, nearly three days after an earthquake flattened much of Port-au-Prince.

Winnie, not yet 2 years old, was pulled from the rubble with help from an Australian news crew filming near Save the Children’s offices. Save the Children medical experts determined the girl to be dehydrated, but expect her to recover well. Unfortunately, Winnie’s parents were killed in the collapse of the family’s home. Her uncle, Frantz Tilin, arrived to find her after losing his own wife in the earthquake.

Throughout Haiti’s capital city, earthquake survivors in need of attention are lying on the streets outside of hospitals. Save the Children emergency responders are on the ground, distributing medical supplies to hospitals and clinics that have been left with almost nothing. Several Save the Children teams are also assessing health needs in temporary camps in the most devastated neighborhoods.
“We are seeing dazed, dehydrated parents walking the streets with their children, searching for clean water, food, and shelter” said Annie Foster, Save the Children’s emergency team leader.

“Many are starting to congregate in open spaces, setting up makeshift camps. They are particularly fearful of being in or near buildings, as strong aftershocks are continuing.”

“Save the Children will be starting safe space areas for children in these camps, and also beginning child tracing programs to reconnect children who were separated from their families during the emergency,” Foster said.

Additional emergency staff are en route to Port-au-Prince, including a team of logisticians and experts ready to provide support on education, livelihoods, child protection needs.

In the Dominican Republic, Save the Children staff have mounted a staging ground for relief supplies they are sending in overland to Haiti. Household kits and hygiene kits include essentials like blankets, soap, and Jerry cans to hold water.

Save the Children is partnering with AmeriCares, which is shipping 15 metric tons of medical supplies to Haiti and 40,000 liters of water, expected to arrive soon.

Save the Children has accounted for 52 of its 59 local staff members in Port-au-Prince, many of whom are doing whatever they can to aid the emergency effort, even while their own families and lives have been upended. Save the Children has been working in Haiti since 1978 and has provided emergency relief and assistance to Haitian children and families following various recent disasters, including hurricanes and floods.

Pictures:

• Baby Winnie (JPG)

Partners In Health: Sat. 1/16 Report from Haiti

Partners In Health (PIH) has been providing vital health care services in Haiti for more than 20 years and has over 100 doctors, 600 nurses and 4,000 employees on the ground in Haiti working from 10 existing PIH hospitals to provide relief services to those affected by Tuesday’s earthquake.

PIH surgical teams are currently located in: Port-au-Prince, St Marc, Cange, Hinche, and Belladere and medical teams located elsewhere.

“We find that years of patient investment in building a strong local partner organization mean that we are again in the position of responding effectively to a natural disaster. We are very proud of our team.” – Paul Farmer on Partners In Health and Zanmi Lasante

Here are the latest on-the-ground developments as reported by the PIH team in Haiti:

• The PIH team in Port-au-Prince has been designated by the World Health Organization to serve as coordinators at University Hospital (HUEH). In that role, PIH is supporting the administration and staff in restoring services at the city's central hospital, which will also serve as the base of operations for our emergency triage and surgical teams in Port-au-Prince and for referring patients who need more advanced care for transport to our facilities in the Central Plateau and Lower Artibonite.

• Today, PIH is sending 25 medical professionals (surgical teams, anesthesiologists, emergency room physicians and nurses) to support ongoing efforts. The doctors and nurses are from Partners Health Care and Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center and many speak Haitian Creole. PIH has also sent engineers to assess structural damage and safety at HUEH and PIH facilities. Additionally, PIH is sending over 300,000 bottles of potable water and well as approximately 1,500 lbs of critically needed medicines, medical supplies and equipment. The medical teams and supplies are being transported via four separate planes and set to arrive on the ground in Haiti by later this afternoon/evening.

• PIH teams located in the Central Plateau are reporting a wave of massive reverse urban migration among more able bodied Haitians fleeing the devastated and chaotic capital looking for safety, shelter and medical care. PIH experts believe these migration trends will have long-lasting impacts on the settlement patterns across Haiti with profound impact on the public health system and social services. PIH was built in partnership with the Ministry in Health for more than 20 years.

• PIH co-founder Paul Farmer flew into Haiti on Friday (1/15). He witnessed the devastation, met with Haitian government officials and reviewed the situation at the University Hospital, confirming the importance of restoring its capacity to serve as the hub of the medical response in the capital. In his capacity as the UN’s Deputy Special Envoy for Haiti, he also met with staff from the UN mission that lost its headquarters and over 100 colleagues in the earthquake to offer his solace and support.

Pictures:

• Treating a patient in the Ministry of Health/ZL Hinche Hospital (JPG)
• Red Cross workers bringing a patient to Hinche Hospital (JPG)
• Complicated, compound fractures being examined (JPG)

The catastrophe in Haiti spared the country’s largest – and, I believe, most effective – rural health care provider, Partners In Health. The organization’s principal founder, Dr. Paul Farmer, is on his way to Haiti now with a surgical team. The staff already in Haiti will welcome his arrival, but they have been at work for days now. Indeed, they were some of the first medical personnel to respond to the crisis. This is a large, highly skilled group of about 2000 community health workers, 500 nurses, and 120 doctors. All but a few of them are Haitian. They are spread out now. Thousands of injured people have been traveling from the capital to the hospitals that PIH operates, along with the Ministry of Health, in the Central Plateau – 10 hospitals, all well-equipped and fully functional. Others of the PIH-Haiti team are in the capital Port-au-Prince, where they have set up mobile clinics and where they are now establishing a central base of operations. The plan is to provide emergency care to all comers and to stabilize patients who need higher levels of care and arrange to get them to the PIH hospitals.

Personally, I take hope from the example that PIH has set and is setting again. I think it is one excellent model for the reconstruction of Haiti to come: an endeavor that employs and trains Haitians every step of the way, that builds infrastructure while attending to the basic needs of the poor, that does all it can to strengthen the public sector.

Many people have been writing to ask what they can do. Paul reports, “I just talked to some of my Haitian coworkers who are in Port-au-Prince in the general hospital, and they’ve reported to work. [But] they don't have electricity yet. They don't have the supplies that they need. But there's a lot of Haitian health professionals, doctors, nurses, aides who would like to [do their job], but to do that you need the supplies. You have to have the basics. Gauze, plaster, or other casts. You have to have the equipment that you need. Anesthesia, pain medications, antibiotics. And that's what some of my medical colleagues are asking us for, supplies."

PIH is purchasing and procuring donated supplies around the clock. To aid in these efforts, please consider making a donation to their efforts today.

- Tracy Kidder

Links:

• The transcript from Paul Farmer's interview with Campbell Brown
• Tracy Kidder's interview on the Rachel Maddow Show

Tremors from Tuesday’s massive earthquake were still being felt in Port-au-Prince this morning. “Little earthquake passed this morning, it’s not done yet,” wrote Dr. Fernet Leandre, a physician at PIH’s sister organization Zanmi Lasante. “[People are] crying, yelling… some are still alive under houses’ debris or ruins.”

Like our facilities in Hinche and Cange, the St. Marc Hospital where Fernet sent his message from, is handling many cases from Port-au-Prince. "The crowd of injured continues to arrive at St. Marc, and there's no surgeon," he said. He and Zanmi Lasante staff are working to bring in a surgeon to handle the many orthopedic cases facing the facility.

Thank you so very much for your generous support of our efforts in Haiti!

As of January 15th 2010:
The Haitian Red Cross says it believes 45,000 to 50,000 people died and 3 million more hurt or left homeless. Today, many people are still trapped alive in the rubble and Haitians are wandering the streets of Port-au-Prince searching for water, food and medical help, with thousands of bodies lying on the roadsides.
The International Medical Corps Emergency Response Team (ERT) which arrived in Port-au-Prince via Santa Domingo on Wednesday afternoon less than 24 hours after the earthquake described their late afternoon drive from the airport as surreal. Most of the town does not have electricity, yet random traffic lights were operational. The streets they drive down were strewn with rubble and fallen cables and littered with vehicles and buses that had crashed as the quake struck. People lined the streets - standing away from buildings and quietly sitting in a daze, exhausted and scared of the next aftershock. Many injured people were helpless in the crowds and many dead bodies were stacked up along the side of the road.
The seaport is damaged (cranes collapsed). The Port-au-Prince airport is damaged and planes full of supplies arrived yesterday more quickly than ground crews could unload them. This led to such congestion that the airport is now closed to commercial air traffic, probably until tomorrow.
We do not still have any idea of who survived. Local doctors and nurses are missing; many believed dead. One International Medical Corps ERT member told a CNN interviewer: "The problem is that unlike traditional disaster situations we have few local partners to work with, because most of them have had their buildings destroyed and are looking for their own dead and missing."
We have all seen the dreadful images that are coming to us from Haiti. We all now understand that Haitians are now entirely dependent on what the outside world can do.
At International Medical Corps, we immediately responded to this huge shock by deploying an Emergency Response Team within hours. It comprised an Emergency Coordinator, 2 Emergency Physicians with backgrounds in disaster medicine, a former WHO-Medical Officer experienced in public health in emergencies, a Security Officer and a Finance Officer. They are all relief experts and have substantial experience of natural disasters as well as of working in recovery programs in fragile or low income countries.
The International Medical Corps team is staying outside of the Villa Creole Hotel and sleeping in tents. The hotel is also being used as a makeshift hospital and our physicians delivered services there Wednesday evening and last night.
By day – yesterday and today – the ERT is operating in the downtown General Hospital across from the palace – the Hospitelier de'l Universite d'etat d'Haiti. Three more emergency physicians will arrive with supplies and equipment today on a charter flight from Santo Domingo. Three additional emergency medical teams composed of 16 nurses/doctors are also being deployed today from the U.S.
The ERT is treating crush victims, trauma, basic wound care, shock and other critical cases with the few available supplies. A lot of patients with broken bones, fractures and ruptures.
International Medical Corps has also reached out to partners and donors to procure materials and supplies for its relief efforts. It is has finalized shipments of donated medicines and medical supplies from Heart to Heart, the Bridge Foundation, Project Hope and the UK’s International Health Partners. We have always worked closely with Operation USA and enjoyed the benefit of its relief flights into natural disasters in Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Pakistan to name but just a few countries. Cash donations – the lifeblood of rapid response to sudden onset disasters – have enabled International Medical Corps to also procure urgent supplies in the Dominican Republic.
We have Emergency Medical Kits arriving today from the Dominican Republic – each kit is designed to treat 30,000 people/month and the contents have been designed by WHO and international working groups, based on emergencies. International Medical Corps also has shipments that were scheduled to arrive directly in Port-au-Prince from Miami today, but with the airport’s closure to commercial traffic it doesn’t look as if they will arrive tomorrow.
International Medical Corps is currently finalizing a partnership with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) for the between 90-120 of its Creole-speaking nurse members to join in International Medical Corps’ response as surge capacity – this will have a significant multiplier effect on both current activities and the foundations we lay for health system recovery and development.
We will work with communities to identify and prioritize their needs and their most vulnerable members through the networks of Haitian community organizations and activists on the ground. All activities will support national capacity in responding to emergency medical cases and mass casualties.

The January 12 earthquake and multiple aftershocks created enormous devastation and loss of life in the heavily populated city of Port-au-Prince, one of the centers for programming for Save the Children in Haiti. While staff safety and security are of immediate paramount concern, we have begun on-the- ground assessments and are designing a vigorous response strategy.

Save the Children has its main office in Port-au-Prince and sub offices in Jacmel, Massaide and Gonaives. While the main office in Port-au-Prince sustained damage and flooding from ruptured water lines, as well as damage to the perimeter wall, its condition relative to heavily damaged nearby buildings allow the property to serve as a center of activity and coordination. The three sub-offices were largely unaffected by the earthquake, most of the severe damage occurring in the actual city of Port-au-Prince.

46 out of 59 Port-au-Prince staff are accounted for as of today. Today we had teams of staff going to the areas where the unaccounted staff live to look for them.

“The destruction is everywhere and it’s still hard for emergency responders to reach many injured people at this point. Countless children and
families need safe places to stay as well as basic household items to help them meet their immediate needs,” said Ian Rodgers, Save the
Children’s emergency response adviser, who is currently in Haiti. “This is a major disaster that will require an intensive long-term response.”

Pictures:

• Save_the_ChildrenHaiti_1.jpg (JPG)
• Save_the_ChildrenHaiti_2.JPG (JPG)

January 14, 2010, Los Angeles, Calif. – International Medical Corps’ Emergency Response Team is in Port-au-Prince assisting survivors of the 7.0-magnitude earthquake that hit Haiti Tuesday. The team is providing medical care outside the general hospital near the Presidential Palace where hundreds of people have congregated for help.

“People are afraid to go indoors because of aftershocks, so most of the care is being provided outside,” says Margaret Aguirre, Director of Global Communications for International Medical Corps. “We are working with the few Haitian health workers that are here. The goal is to provide triage and basic treatment with the limited staffing and supplies that we have.”

“Most patients that we have seen are suffering from broken bones, but some are in more serious condition and there is no hospital to refer them to. Medical supplies, such as IVs, pain medicines, and bandages, are extremely limited,” continued Aguirre.

Other members of the Emergency Response Team are conducting a rapid needs assessment and visiting hospitals around the city to explore their condition. In addition to emergency medical care, survivors of the earthquake are likely to be in immediate need of food and water, as well as non-food items like blankets, tents, stoves, and water purification equipment. Public health is a major concern as well. International Medical Corps will also focus on providing emergency shelter and other essential items in its relief effort.

“International Medical Corps is prepared to respond to all levels of medical assistance depending on what the most pressing needs are,” says Dina Prior, the Team Leader for the response. “Emergency health care will be our primary focus, both in the form of hands-on care and medical supplies and drugs.”

Trip to Port-au-Prince reveals more of the tragedy:

A report from Cate Oswald, one of our staff in Haiti, reveals a tragedy more dire than we could have ever expected. Yesterday, she traveled through the Central Plateau to Port-au-Prince and back with our two trucks of meds and supplies. She described the scene:

"We started seeing destruction from Mt. Cabrit (where big rocks lie in the middle of the road) through Croix de Bouquets where it doesn't seem as bad but lots of walls down. Then the scene gets much, much worse. Tonight, everywhere throughout the city, as we drove by the national plaza, there are thousands of people sleeping outside. While I was in Port-au-Prince, there were still aftershocks being felt. I didn't venture into other parts of the city, but as you all know, koze sa pa jwet menm [Haitian saying literally translated as 'this is not a game']."

The trucks met up with PIH staff, including Dr. Louise Ivers in Port-au-Prince, at the UN’s Log Base in Port-au-Prince. Louise was one of two doctors attending at the time, and they had nothing but aspirin until our trucks showed up. The conditions are horrific and people are dying, but in Cate’s report she was hopeful that the supplies will help those at Log Base for the time being. Tomorrow, we plan to move PIH/Zanmi Lasante’s base of operations to the public hospital in the capital city. Some of our colleagues are at the public hospital today assessing the needs and are organizing the next steps of getting supplies, equipment, and additional staff there.

Importantly, given the patients already flowing out of Port-au-Prince to St. Marc and our other facilities outside the city, we cannot leave our hospitals understaffed. So we are recruiting surgeons, anesthetists, nurses, and other medical professionals to go down in the next couple of days to help with staffing, particularly as many of our staff have lost family members and friends.

There are still a handful of our colleagues unaccounted for – we continue to have every hope that it is due to lack of ability to communicate via telephone and the lack of electricity for computers, but we do not know.

Our staff has more or less been working around the clock in Boston and Haiti. We will be paying close attention to our team in Haiti and hope that the volunteer medical groups will help give some of them time to rest, particularly those who have just experience the trauma of being in Port au Prince for the worst of the earthquake’s wreckage.

First of all thank you so much to everyone who has supported International Medical Corps and our efforts in Haiti. For current information you can visit our site at: http://www.imcworldwide.org/Page.aspx?pid=801

Here is an update from our Emergency Team Leader.
International Medical Corps Deploys Emergency Response Team to Haiti

January 13, 2010, Los Angeles, Calif. – International Medical Corps’ Emergency Response Team is now travelling to Haiti to assist survivors of the 7.0-magnitude earthquake that struck just 10 miles off the coast of the capital, Port-au-Prince, yesterday. The International Medical Corps team is made up of many relief experts, including an emergency response team leader, medical officer, logistics officer, and emergency physicians.

“International Medical Corps is prepared to respond to all levels of medical assistance depending on what the most pressing needs are,” says Dina Prior, the Team Leader for the response. “Emergency health care will be our primary focus, both in the form of hands-on care and medical supplies and drugs.”

In addition to emergency medical care, survivors of the earthquake are likely to be in immediate need of non-food items like blankets, tents, stoves, and water purification equipment. Public health is a major concern as well. The International Medical Corps Emergency Response Team also plans to focus on providing emergency shelter and other essential items in its relief effort.

“We have a larger Emergency Response Team on standby ready to be deployed depending on the level of need,” says Prior. “When we arrive in Haiti, we will conduct a rapid needs assessment to determine what the greatest needs are and if we need additional assistance and expertise on the ground.”

An estimated 2.5 to 3 million people are expected to be affected by the earthquake. Blocked roads and power outages in the greater Port-au-Prince area have hindered needs assessments, but injuries and loss of life are expected to be substantial given the area’s high population density. People are reportedly trapped under the rubble and Port-au-Prince is largely destroyed. Aftershocks reached as high as 5.9, triggering additional destruction and mudslides.

Already the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, Haiti has been hit by a series of disasters recently and was battered by hurricanes in 2008. An estimated 70 percent of its population lives on less than two dollars a day. International Medical Corps’ Emergency Response draws on 25 years of experience in emergency settings, including last September’s earthquake in Sumatra, Indonesia, and the massive 2005 earthquake in Pakistan.

Since its inception nearly 25 years ago, International Medical Corps’ mission has been consistent: relieve the suffering of those impacted by war, natural disaster and disease, by delivering vital health care services that focus on training. This approach of helping people help themselves is critical to returning devastated populations to self-reliance. For more information visit our website at www.imcworldwide.org.

Thank you!