H.O.P.E. Earthquake Relief update
Mother and baby from Port-au-Prince
Good evening everyone/ Bonswa tout moun!
In the space of a minute, three weeks ago over 150,000 people died in Port-au-Prince and this event changed the “fortunes” of a nation and the lives of countless individuals… in Port-au-Prince, throughout Haiti, in Haitian communities abroad, and in communities across the globe. The tragedy brought so many people together, in ways that those of us who come from Haiti never imagined possible. Your empathy and sympathy ease the suffering and bring hope–hope for healing, recovery, and a better future. Mesi anpil pou sipo nou/thank you so much for your support, it means a lot to so many who need something to hang on to in these difficult times. I hear over and over again how grateful Haitians are knowing that there are friendly hands to help steady them on this journey.
To paraphrase the psalm, there is a time to mourn and a time to pay attention to the living! So what is happening in Borgne as we speak? When I got off my last phone call of the day this evening, the staff was waiting for five special patients. Dr. Xavier drove to Port-au-Prince to accompany two orphans (one 16 year old boy who lost his whole family and has just begun to talk again), and two very sick adults, the fifth patient was too ill to drive and was flown to Cap Haitian. The roads are atrocious even in good weather and hard on the body even for a healthy person, so I can’t even begin to imagine how these very sick people managed! All I know is that a warm welcome was being prepared for them, especially for the young ones… comfy beds, clean clothes and a warm meal.
Life is never easy for refugees and displaced persons, regardless of the circumstances that propel them from their home. As my friend and colleague Pierre Minn emphasized in a recent discussion, most people in Haiti depend on their social networks as a basic survival strategy. So, leaving the familiar and going to a place where one has no relatives and does not know anyone is like adding another layer of anguish to an already painful situation. The silver lining is that those refugees who make their way to Borgne will find plenty of people waiting to ease them into their new lives and shower them with attention and love… I hope they are not smothered; our staff can be very enthusiastic! Dr. Thony told me that the Mayor visits the patients and has gone out of his way to welcome them to the area. On our end though, H.O.P.E. is mindful that our commitment is for the long term… As Mike said, the need is both overwhelming and enduring… There are bodies and minds to heal but also homes to build, gardens to start, kids to send to school, jobs to create!!! This is a collective enterprise. We need help from all kinds of folks: doctors, nurses, therapists, counselors, social workers, builders, teachers, entrepreneurs, agronomists, artists, and many more … people who can envision a different future and help create it!
Our priorities in the field are becoming clearer, short and long term. We have made significant inroads in how to care for the health needs of displaced individuals and now must focus our attention to meeting their social needs… how to house them in a way that is both comfortable and safe and put in place social services… Thony told me that some of the refugees are still reluctant to sleep indoors; they fear that the earth will shake again. To accommodate refugees, we still need cots, inflatable mattresses (hopefully manual pump), single size, bedding, powerful flashlights (preferably solar or crank powered), basins, nightgowns/PJ, etc., to get them settled. We also have to confront the fact that we face increasing pressures on our system. Patient loads are increasing daily, we now provide to an average of 50 refugees daily in our out patients clinics (in addition to our regular patient load) and our 18-beds capacity is over its limit. We are housing those refugees who have no relatives or kin in the area in a high school but this is a stop gap measure. Eventually, rather soon actually, classes will resume and the school will reclaim the space. I can envision a “refugee village” sprouting around the hospital but for the long run, we all would prefer something more permanent and livable than tents, especially when the rains come. We will need to work with the community, the newcomers, local authorities and funding agencies to plan how to tackle this problem. H.O.P.E. cannot do this alone and welcomes ideas, suggestions, and donations to meet these challenges. We have always worked in solidarity with grassroots organizations to address the needs that the community presents to us. This should not be any different!
We are finding out that there are more refugees in the region than we first thought. Remember that Borgne is both the name of a region of 80,000 people dispersed in 250 villages/agglomerations and the name of the main population center, the town of Borgne, where a tenth of the population lives. Many people who had migrated to Port-au-Prince in search of some elusive jobs have rejoined families and native villages. They came back physically and emotionally scarred! We find them in our mobile clinics (a mobile clinic is a team of care providers who walk to outlying villages to bring health care to people who often have never seen a physician)! They come with infected wounds, malaria, typhoid, and emotional problems. Last Saturday, there were 300 patients waiting for the mobile clinic in Bassin Kayiman, the average for that area is 180!!!
A critical problem is that the hospital needs structural improvements to meet the increased volume, the current as well as the long term needs of patients. A wish list would include an operating room for minor surgery, improved water distribution and sanitation, and additional professional and support staff. Here again we need funding, technical support, and equipment. Please share this with people in your social and professional networks who might be able to lend a hand, contribute funds, and provide equipment.
I am confident that we will find the right answers to these problems, the energy to stay the course, the patience to deal with setbacks and challenges, and also the joy of a job well because we are not alone! We invite you to walk the path with us. Kenbe, pa lage! Stay with us, don’t give up!!!
In solidarity,
Rose-Marie Cassagnol Chierici
Executive Director
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