On Friday we left our guest house Hopital Saint Croix in Leogane and split into two groups. Joan Liverpool, Gwen Dean, Wendy Schwartz, and Steve Steinberg chose to spend the night in Port au Prince to be ready for early boarding at the airport. The rest of the group went on to a beachside location at Montrouis for their final night. Traveling in Port au Prince was difficult and time consuming. Along with the seemingly endless tent cities the goods for sale in the open markets did not seem very tempting. At one point we passed fruit sellers standing almost knee deep in muddy water. They actually used the dirty water to wash off their fruit.
Was the trip worth it? It is my hope that each and every one of our participants will post their own comments, detailing their personal experience and impressions. From this bloggers' point of view, it was a bit tougher to deal with than I had anticipated, but truly rewarding in many ways, most especially through meeting a really wonderful group of people, ready and willing to offer their time and efforts and professionalism to help people who are clearly in desperate need. If the occasion presents itself, I would be honored to join all of you for a similar effort at another time.
Dear Terry, Steve & Team,
ReplyDeleteYou departed about the same exact time as the first serious reports of cholera were pouring into the media. But you have done excellent work in your sojourn.
IMA's office is in St Marc and all hands to the deck as far as containing the outbreak is concerned. a few of our recent plans have been delayed, including the first distribution of the 500,000 pairs of new shoes by TOMS to IMA's neglected tropical disease integration program.
You have done magnificent work and should be very proud! Praise the Lord, both for the success of your mission and your safe return.
In thankfulness,
Charles Franzen
From: Steve Steinberg
ReplyDeleteThe following is an email letter I received from Dr. Richeme today, November 27, 2010, which I am posting here for those of you who may not have otherwise seen it. Because of it's length, I have divided it into two parts.
Dear friends
Many of you have been wondering what is happening with my family these
days and about my professional life and Haiti's update.
In a professional aspect first I have to say that we(the hospital
crew)have a blessed month in october where we performed 45 surgeries
including 24 successful ortho surgeries with an outstanding record of 21
cases in a week time frame done by Dr Shane Woolf and a great team effort
for the ER,OR ,clinic, wards and PT dueties.
The month of october brought up some good and bad news.The bad news is
with the cholera out break where we are counting already 2000 deaths on
28000 diagnosed and more to come since Haiti doesn't have any government
and medical structure to fight the problems adding to the major
devastatation of the earthquake.Hurricane Thomas caused deaths of around
50 peolple and thousands of more homeless people as we are talking about a
number of 1.5million people already with no home ,no clean water ,no
job,no electricity,no security ,no sanitation,no healthcare no, the no
goes on and on to no thanksgiving for Haiti,no future though 18 people are
running for president with an ironic message that they have solution to
Haiti's situation as the election day is this sunday and I don't think
that any Obama or Clinton-Bush or any other nation leader brain could have
made a difference. As I preached this morning at the devotion at the
hospital that Haiti is haunted by the devils and each haitian with me
included represents the devil himself by the way we think ,act and denying
God and only exit we have is to turn back to The Lord as he quotes in 2
chronicles7:14/ Ps 4 :3.
The good news in october was more for my family as opposite to the country
is the diagnosis of a new Richeme baby on the way due in june 2011.Myself
and wife are anxious to welcome this divine gift of God once again since
we thanked that Rudlens was going to be our unique child as he is the most
charming and handsome baby on earth.Happy thanksgiving.
(end of part one)
Here is the rest of Dr. Richeme's letter:
ReplyDeleteNovember month was less busy for us at the hospital though we have already
performed 28 surgeries as 15 to the account of ortho field though I had to
deal with family issues as my wife missaborted at 9 week-old-pregnancy,my
son hospitalized for a short period of time due to some acute vomitting
episodes in result of a bowel intoxication anything to do with the cholera
for Lord's sake,and a brother-in-law that had the same problem but from
drinking a water high concentrated with chlorox solution.
Happy thanksgiving,every body is stable and The Lord is once again at work
for us.
According to a few experience I have experimented with Thanksgiving day
celebration n the US,though Haiti is in a funeral mood where hundreds are
dieing everyday with no outcome, I would finish to say :
HAPPY THANKSGIVING to you that can eat or drink or can use the facilites
or can work or sleep in a house or in jail where your co-prisoners don't
have cholera or breathing a clean fresh air not polluted,or having good
roads ,electricity or basic infrastructures,health care assistance.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING for you that even with all of these assets that keep
complaining instead of thanking God for the daily breath of life unmerited
freely given.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING FOR KNOWING AND SERVING GOD if not this is not a happy
thanksgiving but a happy turkey day with a terrible digestion in hell.
Until we'll meet again on this failing earth ,let us look to rejoyce more
in Heaven together where there'll be no more deaths,no more coffins,no
sorrow,no disease,no natural disaster,no famine(starvation), no
hatry,enviness,selfishness no dysparities(difference)of class or color,
but an everlasting overdose of joy with our Saviour,Jesus, the Lord of
all.
Rudolph Richeme,MD