Robert Toews report in Ste. Mary's, Ontario was a real good report. I was impressed with the response and commitment needed to help Haiti in the time to come. Haiti's economy is based on Port-au-Prince. Now in a sense the Port is no more, so the whole country's collapse is relative to the Ports collapse. As the Port's citizens rely on free food from abroad the country's farmers- already on fringe survival and reliant on the Port's trade- are going to go over the edge. Let's not be depressing but that country consists of all the odds and is Murphy's Laws biggest patron. You try to correct one evil only to create another. I really wonder how Jacmel is faring in the south. Robert touched on that as well. Sounds like our Church may be looking for the areas that are falling through the cracks. Here is Kevin Bronson's most recent letter.
Time for a general report to send to the group:
Since my last update, we have found a Mennonite group called IFM that has
set up medical triage areas in vacant compounds that have reasonable
security. They have a few doctors, nurses, and medical students, and seem to
have a good amount of supplies. Wounded come flooding in from the
surrounding area, mostly with homemade bandages, which means that they have
not known where to find help. The bandages are from every type of cloth, and
much of it must have been filthy before it was used for bandaging. The
people are being carried, drug, or wheelbarrowed in, generally with not much
of what we would call correct procedures. I saw one lady being carried, held
in a choke hold with arms wrapped around her chest, and somebody else
carrying her feet. She hung in a half circle between them.
The wounds we are seeing, from simple head wounds to multiple compound
fractures, are 5 to 6 days old, and we see decomposition, gangrene, septic
shock, infections, and nasty conditions of all kinds. These wounds would not
have been that serious if they could have been properly cleaned and bandaged
right away. Many that are decomposing have the accompanying smells. I
thought a few days ago that a rotting body was the worst smell possible, but
now I think it is somehow worse when it is attached to a living body. The
medical team dresses the wounds, hands out antibiotics and painkillers, and
decides who needs hospital care. We haul those that need care in the beds of
pickups about two hours or more into the DR over bumpy roads. They are
amazingly stoic, although hitting a speed bump or big set of ruts too fast
usually brings a chorus of screams and groans. The supply seems undimishing.
Yesterday we hauled a man who had been dug out just a few hours, having been
buried for 5 days. One load I had 3 patients on IV, so that kept us hopping.
Last night we heard that IFM had found a parking lot near a hospital with
2000 untreated patients. The guys headed that way this morning to see if it
really so. Many of the patients we transport will receive amputations for
treatable conditions if they were the only ones, but the magnitude of the
workload makes it so they can't take the time required.
Today the young men are still hauling, but us old guys are out doing recon,
both for areas that need work, and for a place to house workers and stage
materials.
Through a round about way, we heard about an orphanage in a hard hit area
of town that was supposedly in dire straits. A prospective american adoptive
mother was spreading the word. It took me a couple days to find it, but
yesterday I took infant formula, bottled water, charcoal, cooking oil, and
rice. I was able to find the little 3 year old girl named Nephtalie and give
her a hug and kiss from her mom. As we were working, a CNN crew saw what we
were doing, and got some of it on tape. If it was a slow news day, it should
have aired last night or this morning.
The aid convoys roll in all day long, making travel difficult. The UN has
been here for several years, but are now out in force. Many intersections
have some form of police directing traffic and / or watching over things.
Search and rescue teams and medical teams are here from many countries. The
is enough cargo planes, military planes, executive jets with media, and
helicopters in the air to have an almost continuous drone. With as many
trucks and airplane loads that must have come, there seems to be little
actual aid on the ground. Very few major stores have reopened since the
quake, so the little that the boutiques had is all that is available. Many
things are in short supply.
The many homeless and displaced are sleeping out on the streets, sometimes
literally, and in open spaces such as school yards. Our plans are not
finalized, but we think that we could build a framework from rebar, and
cover it in tarps, to end up with a 10 X 20 shelter with one closed end and
a curtain wire on the other. This would help get them through the coming
rainy season, and the rebar could be recycled into their house rebuilding.
A big future problem is that the rubble of their house needs to be removed
so they can rebuild. The houses are packed in tightly along narrow little
streets, that are too narrow for equipment. We are scratching our heads over
that one for now.
It looks like logistics will be a major issue for the future. We were
fortunate to be on the ground and working, with vehicles, houses, some
personnel, and knowledge of the area and language. Many aid groups are
struggling to get going.
Till next time
Kevin
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T
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