"...Their arms and legs were crushed, their bones sticking out of their bodies, their heads gashed open. Some crying in pain, some barely alive. 5, 6, 7, people per truck.
After a few minutes I left the gate and security took over letting them all in and I rushed back to the hospital. For the next 33 hours straight we worked on the traumatic cases that lie before us. It looked like war. We did not know the integrity of the clinic yet so we could not go inside. The aftershocks started to come and were frequent but less in intensity. We had to get supplies in side but ran back out every aftershock we got. The injured were lying all over our outside walk way. Grant, our visiting nurses and myself worked on triaging the worst patients. We are not a full service hospital, we are just a clinic.....we started to get reports that the biggest hospital in PAP, General hospital had crashed down, Doctors without Borders had crashed (the only 2 main ER's in the entire city!). We got further reports that other hospitals were down. We started to realize, that we were all there was for miles and miles and miles.
At the 20th hour, we told the gate we could not accept anymore patients as we still had to get through many many more. We sent our nurses (except for a few) and our helpers to work in shifts and Grant and I worked on. We reduced (tractioned bones back in place) open compound fractures.......putting tibia bones, back into people's legs that were sticking out. We reduced and set many many femur fractures, lower leg fractures, arm fractures. We sutured arms, legs, heads. We put scalps back together and we cleaned concrete out of wounds for hours. We stabilized pelvic fractures and we helped babies with head trauma breath on oxygen.
We had 3 die. 1 baby, 1 two year old and 1 ten year old. We had 4 others on the brink of death. We saved a lot. Because we had no other choice (as there was no where to send them), at the end of 33 hours, we had discharged all but 5 to follow up. The last few we attempted to take to hospitals. 3 refused and wanted to go home to die.
The other 2 Grant and Laurens tried to find somewhere that would take them in Port Au Prince. It was true, most hospital's were not functioning and those that were, were full of bodies, inside and out. Everywhere, some alive and some dead. Bodies were pilled up in the parking lots as there was no where to put them. Most of the doctors that used to work at the hospital's were dead or not heard of. Families had no where to take their loved one's bodies because their houses were crashed down, they still were missing family members or the funeral homes were destroyed....so they left them.
We went home and slept 6 hours. Then opened the clinic again. We worked another 10 hours, seeing the same things. Finally it stopped. There were no more tap tap's running as there was no more diesel for their vehicles.
That same night, our president of Mission of Hope arrived. We started into disaster relief planing with some partner organizations. By this time reports of what the damage in the country looked like were becoming clear. We had US and CAN doctors start to come in through the dominican to help. We have had doctors coming now since Sat. We have been coordinating a grand scale disaster relief plan for the 100's of thousands of people that have not yet got into the hospital and for food distribution. It is to say the least, no small task.
We have hardly slept, we have not been able to communicate with you. Tonight it was time.
The capital is devastated. The national palace is on the ground (white house), the ministry of transportation is on the ground, the huge justice palace (the whole judicial system) is on the ground, the ministry of health is on the ground, the ministry of finance is not down but destroyed, the entire downtown core has almost every building down to rubble, the insurance bureau is on the ground, every national bank headquarters are crashed to the ground except one that stands severely damaged, the head police headquarters is in rubble, the hospital that Laurens was in after his accident (the best in the country) is severely damaged and non functional, the building that has all the adoption papers in the country is destroyed, the only grocery store that all the missionaries shop at (that I almost was at that day) is rubble on the ground killing and trapping everyone inside, the Montana hotel where we had lunch not so long ago is completely rubble killing everyone inside, many collages and schools and crashed down, Digicel world headquarters (cell phone) and the tallest building in PAP is to the ground (hence we have no cell communications and on.....and on.....and on.
We have 160 staff on our mission and we already know of one that has died and we still have not heard from about 100 staff. Everyday that someone shows up is joyous to see that they are alive. Most everyone has a family member that has died. One security guard has 4 children that died. Many of our Haitian staff suffer severe post traumatic stress after what they have been through or seen. One of our friends was trapped in his school next to 50 of his classmates that were crushed by the building. He heard them screaming but could not save them. He watched them die, as he was trapped inside for 3 hours with a dead man on his chest. He was pulled out eventually..."
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Monday, January 18, 2010
A miracle amidst so much tragedy
An Oklahoma radio station interviewed Ruben, Cenea Sadrac's older brother, via skype. His school building collapsed while he was in it; only 8 of 60 students made it out alive and he was one of them. He was shielded by the dead body of one of his classmates. He says his mother was missing for a few days, but his family had been sleeping on the basketball hard-top at MOH. I'm assuming that this means that Cenea Sadrac is okay, although I have not heard from him directly. I've been in contact with both Sadrac Innocent and Wicky, they are in shock but thankful for their lives. It is a miracle that Ruben is alive, but the video interview reiterates the gravity of the situation...
http://www.news9.com/Global/category.asp?C=116601&autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=4461568&flvUri=&partnerclipid=
http://www.news9.com/Global/category.asp?C=116601&autoStart=true&topVideoCatNo=default&clipId=4461568&flvUri=&partnerclipid=
Heart for Haiti
Documentary about everything that Mission of Hope is. My experiences exactly. Meet Dr. Jennifer, Dr. Cheryl, Otis Garrison, Claudel, the twins, JR, Clifton...
http://vimeo.com/8727138
http://vimeo.com/8727138
Earthquake Update
To my family and friends,
Over the last 3 days I have been inundated with emails and calls regarding all that has been happening in Haiti. Most of you have been inquiring about the “characters” in my blog and the state of the mission. I’ve waited as long as possible, holding my breath for each and every one of my friends. There has been some good news, some bad news, and still a lot of unknowns. I’ve been kept up to date as best as possible through Diana (MOH teacher) and Rachel (whose place I stayed with the twins). Here is what I know :
Though the mission is located in the area of worst impact, its buildings are still standing, although the insides are completely destroyed; there have been injuries of course, but those who were on MOH at the time are all alive. The majority of the 150 employees, however, are Haitian and do not live on the mission. 85% of the surrounding villages are completely destroyed and they are still awaiting news on many of the employees and the over 1200 children who attended school on the mission. It is already known that one of the little girls, Farah, was killed. The Hope House kids are too terrified to be near anything, so they are huddled together in the grass with the animals; everyone is sleeping outside. Though the inside of the clinic was destroyed and many of the supplies ruined, there have been hundreds of patients flocking to the mission especially because of the other hospitals that had collapsed. I took the following from Diana’s blog:
Within half an hour, an emergency medical team was arranged by Grant and Cheryl, and all of the team doctors and nurses trekked down to the clinic to give care to the countless village people who could be seen from the top of the mission hill flocking to the mission gates. This initial medical aid ran all through Tuesday night and all day Wednesday. Medical professionals worked around the clock after just returning from a full day of work to assist the Haitian people with broken limbs, bleeding wounds, burns, and internal damages.
Yesterday, I was relieved to find out that Sadrac Innocent was okay. Apparently he was on his way to school by foot when it struck. Patris’ school building collapsed and he lost many of his classmates; fortunately he was not in school at the time either. I’ve been especially worried about Wicky, and just this evening I got some good news. He writes: praise the Lord, the almighty God that i am ok, my family. we really need your prayer for haiti. my house craks, but i am a life. psaums 46...
Another sigh of relief. Bildad’s (one of the Haitian employees)sister was in one of the Port-Au-Prince buildings when it collapsed and they were mourning her loss when they found out that she had been drug out and brought to a hospital. I am very worried about Cenea Sadrac and Dr. Jennifer. Dr. Jennifer lives in Petionville, one of the worst hit areas, and I have yet to hear news about her. I have been looking at pictures from the clinic and I keep hoping to see her or Dr. Alex or Blondy or Charlins in one, but I have not. I’ve kept in good touch with Cenea Sadrac (Cadrak) since I’ve been back, I really hope that I will hear from him again soon so I can breathe again. I have not heard about Venna, but I hope that she wasn’t home when it struck because I’m sure that her house could not withstand it (remember the pictures). I am anxiously awaiting any news about the Good Samaritan Orphanage kids. They had already been through so much with the hurricanes. I can’t help think of Gwendolyn and Carnesise (my favorite, who never smiled), and imagine how frightened they are. Or worse.
That is all I know for now. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your messages of concern and encouragement. I will try to put updates on the blog if I get any more news (http://haiti2009-brittsolar.blogspot.com/). Some of you have been asking about where to send donations. I’m sure that almost anywhere you pledge to would go to its best use, especially something like the Red Cross. I know that MOH is desperately in need of funds and medical supplies as they have absorbed hundreds of patients from the surrounding areas. The facilities are relatively small and the patients are lined up bloodied and dying outside of the partly destroyed clinic building. Many cannot be saved. I worked very closely with the founder and president Brad Johnson, and I can guarantee to you that your donations will be used in the best possible way if made through him. That website is http://www.mohhaiti.org/. There is a specific place for the Disaster Relief. I would not recommend it if I didn’t truly have confidence in the priorities and abilities of this organization.
I hope that this elucidated some of your concerns. I write this with a heavy heart, but with appreciation of all the prayers and thoughts that have been directed towards Haiti. I can’t help but feel helpless. Dr. Cheryl, after holding a dead 2 yr old in her arms, writes “…this child will no longer feel pain, will no longer cry, will no longer hunger. She will no longer want for anything, she will no longer be judged, she will no longer be lonely.” Has it come to that? How can a house fall on you when you sleep in a wheelbarrow? It is travesty just an hour and a half from Miami Beach and what I once thought could never be any worse, just got worse.
Thank you so much for your prayers and concerns, I love you all.
Britt
Sadrac Inocent January 17 at 12:57pm
Im okay my friend thank you for thinking about me i love u sadrac
Josaphat Noel January 18 at 5:33pm
i am ok, don't worry, God keep me safe. thank you for thinking of me. God bless you, wicky
Over the last 3 days I have been inundated with emails and calls regarding all that has been happening in Haiti. Most of you have been inquiring about the “characters” in my blog and the state of the mission. I’ve waited as long as possible, holding my breath for each and every one of my friends. There has been some good news, some bad news, and still a lot of unknowns. I’ve been kept up to date as best as possible through Diana (MOH teacher) and Rachel (whose place I stayed with the twins). Here is what I know :
Though the mission is located in the area of worst impact, its buildings are still standing, although the insides are completely destroyed; there have been injuries of course, but those who were on MOH at the time are all alive. The majority of the 150 employees, however, are Haitian and do not live on the mission. 85% of the surrounding villages are completely destroyed and they are still awaiting news on many of the employees and the over 1200 children who attended school on the mission. It is already known that one of the little girls, Farah, was killed. The Hope House kids are too terrified to be near anything, so they are huddled together in the grass with the animals; everyone is sleeping outside. Though the inside of the clinic was destroyed and many of the supplies ruined, there have been hundreds of patients flocking to the mission especially because of the other hospitals that had collapsed. I took the following from Diana’s blog:
Within half an hour, an emergency medical team was arranged by Grant and Cheryl, and all of the team doctors and nurses trekked down to the clinic to give care to the countless village people who could be seen from the top of the mission hill flocking to the mission gates. This initial medical aid ran all through Tuesday night and all day Wednesday. Medical professionals worked around the clock after just returning from a full day of work to assist the Haitian people with broken limbs, bleeding wounds, burns, and internal damages.
Yesterday, I was relieved to find out that Sadrac Innocent was okay. Apparently he was on his way to school by foot when it struck. Patris’ school building collapsed and he lost many of his classmates; fortunately he was not in school at the time either. I’ve been especially worried about Wicky, and just this evening I got some good news. He writes: praise the Lord, the almighty God that i am ok, my family. we really need your prayer for haiti. my house craks, but i am a life. psaums 46...
Another sigh of relief. Bildad’s (one of the Haitian employees)sister was in one of the Port-Au-Prince buildings when it collapsed and they were mourning her loss when they found out that she had been drug out and brought to a hospital. I am very worried about Cenea Sadrac and Dr. Jennifer. Dr. Jennifer lives in Petionville, one of the worst hit areas, and I have yet to hear news about her. I have been looking at pictures from the clinic and I keep hoping to see her or Dr. Alex or Blondy or Charlins in one, but I have not. I’ve kept in good touch with Cenea Sadrac (Cadrak) since I’ve been back, I really hope that I will hear from him again soon so I can breathe again. I have not heard about Venna, but I hope that she wasn’t home when it struck because I’m sure that her house could not withstand it (remember the pictures). I am anxiously awaiting any news about the Good Samaritan Orphanage kids. They had already been through so much with the hurricanes. I can’t help think of Gwendolyn and Carnesise (my favorite, who never smiled), and imagine how frightened they are. Or worse.
That is all I know for now. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your messages of concern and encouragement. I will try to put updates on the blog if I get any more news (http://haiti2009-brittsolar.blogspot.com/). Some of you have been asking about where to send donations. I’m sure that almost anywhere you pledge to would go to its best use, especially something like the Red Cross. I know that MOH is desperately in need of funds and medical supplies as they have absorbed hundreds of patients from the surrounding areas. The facilities are relatively small and the patients are lined up bloodied and dying outside of the partly destroyed clinic building. Many cannot be saved. I worked very closely with the founder and president Brad Johnson, and I can guarantee to you that your donations will be used in the best possible way if made through him. That website is http://www.mohhaiti.org/. There is a specific place for the Disaster Relief. I would not recommend it if I didn’t truly have confidence in the priorities and abilities of this organization.
I hope that this elucidated some of your concerns. I write this with a heavy heart, but with appreciation of all the prayers and thoughts that have been directed towards Haiti. I can’t help but feel helpless. Dr. Cheryl, after holding a dead 2 yr old in her arms, writes “…this child will no longer feel pain, will no longer cry, will no longer hunger. She will no longer want for anything, she will no longer be judged, she will no longer be lonely.” Has it come to that? How can a house fall on you when you sleep in a wheelbarrow? It is travesty just an hour and a half from Miami Beach and what I once thought could never be any worse, just got worse.
Thank you so much for your prayers and concerns, I love you all.
Britt
Sadrac Inocent January 17 at 12:57pm
Im okay my friend thank you for thinking about me i love u sadrac
Josaphat Noel January 18 at 5:33pm
i am ok, don't worry, God keep me safe. thank you for thinking of me. God bless you, wicky
Saturday, July 11, 2009
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Bonswa Ayiti...
oh my gosh it is my last night in Haiti! i don't even know what to begin to think.last night i had a scare bc when i was feeding hanna grace, all of the sudden her lips turned blue, and it was probably the single most frightening moment that i've had in my life. the color came back and her breathing resumed, but they are taking both the twins to the doctor tomorrow. when i saw her blue mouth there was sheer panic going through my head. she is so tiny and fragile, i doubt that she can handle much of anything right now. i seriously thought she was going to die right then and there in my arms and there was nothing i could do about it. it all of the sudden hit me just how fragile these early days actually are and how easily something could go wrong. the twins are extremely premature and had they been in the states, they'd be hooked up to all kinds of machines and no one would be able to touch them. here we have to make due with what we have...no fancy machines or lights, but plenty of people willing to do whatever it takes to help these babies defeat the odds. and lots of prayers.
church was extra nice today bc guess who i sat down right next to? gabby! i'd never seen him there before, but somehow this week we were side by side. quite a coincidence. the service was extra energetic today and at one point everyone started dancing down the aisles...the whole place was going wild, like one big party praising the Lord. it was really cool to see. the pastor mentioned the 4th of july and said how much he appreciated all their friends in America. there was a choir singing and they were amazing... their voices filled the entire church.
like every sunday we spent a lot of time with the kids, cute as ever in their church attire. i've acquired a little posse consisting of a couple kids f/ the hope house and two girls who play around the outside of the clinic. they really love the attention. we walked up the hill for lunch and then back down to the orphanage bc mal wanted to get her hair braided again (the medicine is really working, btw)... a couple of the older hope house kids are really good at it, and we can pay them in soda and candy. they did a really good job on mal's hair, kind of looked like a moh
awk in the back. some of the younger girls were playing with my hair...i had so many knots that i actually had to cut my hair a bit afterwards. dooney and meeslin are like my little sidekicks whenever i'm around the orphanage... they're both a little mischievious, so i always have to keep my eye on them. dooney always throws my purse over her shoulder and struts around saying "mwen rele bwittney" .... all the kids pronounce my name either bwitt or bwittney, i think they have a hard time with the r's, but it sounds really cute. along with carnesise, i will probably miss these two girls the most out of all the children.
awk in the back. some of the younger girls were playing with my hair...i had so many knots that i actually had to cut my hair a bit afterwards. dooney and meeslin are like my little sidekicks whenever i'm around the orphanage... they're both a little mischievious, so i always have to keep my eye on them. dooney always throws my purse over her shoulder and struts around saying "mwen rele bwittney" .... all the kids pronounce my name either bwitt or bwittney, i think they have a hard time with the r's, but it sounds really cute. along with carnesise, i will probably miss these two girls the most out of all the children. one of the baby turkeys died and one of the boys cut off the head with scissors and chased me around with it.
the other day when i was sorting through medical supplies in the warehouse, we came across some catheters that had been opened and were now un-usable. we were just going to throw them away but there were some boys hanging around and they said that they'd take them. long story short, there are now little boys running around the mission with sling shots made out of rubber catheters. apparently these kids are taught how to be resourceful at a young age!
normally we go out to lunch after church with wiki and cadrak, but today we couldn't bc diana needed to deliver some supplies to some of the victims of when the two school building collapsed in port au prince. wiki has his big national exam tomorrow, so i don't think i'll be able to say goodbye before i go...it definitely stinks, but we will have to stay in touch. cadrak might be able to take us to gwo papa poule tomorrow before i leave for the airport...i can get some haitian food and i wanted to hand out some toys and mushwas (bandanas) to some of the village kids. hopefully that will work out, but you can never tell around here! mal got special permission to get out of work for an hour so she can come with us...they know that the two of us have become really close since we've been here, so they made an exception. mal lives in ottowa but might try to drive her ninja down to NYC so we could meet up for a day or so. she is a crazy crazy girl...lots of hidden talents and very free-spirited. tough as nails but with a good heart.
i don't know if i've mentioned this, but it hasn't rained in a couple weeks...we've had lightning storms every night and it's been incredibly hot, but no rain. tonight we were all sitting around talking when there was a huge crack of thunder and it started pouring. we all were cheering and being as hot as we were, there was no question that we were gonna go out and run around in the rain. the kids were all running around trying to catch the rain in their mouths and buckets... there was a whole lot of squeeling going on! the boys were still shooting at a wasps nest with rocks and their new sling shots. one of them killed a hummingbird, i have no idea how. when the rain stopped there was a massive rainbow over the mountains....i wish i had my camera, it was so beautiful and such a little blessing to end my trip.
we had cheeseburgers and watermelon and chili for dinner...the interns did the dishes and we were all singing and joking around in the kitchen making a mess. mal finished cutting my hair and we all hung out outside for bit. i don't have to watch the babies tonight bc i'm leaving tomorrow. it's hard to think about never being able to hold them again...i've spent so much time and so many nights with them in my arms. then again there are so many relationships that i've made that have to come to an end, especially when it comes to the kids. but there's nothing i can do about it other than just appreciate the time that we were able to spend together... but that's easier said than done.
i'm pretty much doing all my packing in the morning. my flight leaves around 3 so i will probably leave the complex around noon. i have a lump in my throat just thinking about saying goodbye. i've become at home here so quickly, it will be weird to not sit outside while mal sneaks a cigarette on the rock pile or get a drink at midnight and see all the boys still up playing cards or dodge lizards in the shower or speak freole with the cooks or time my mornings just right so i can get a ride on the atv or sweat through all my clothes and sheets every night or check my shoes for tarantulas or argue with the interns about who has it worst or have those two hours between work and dinner every night when there is no relief from the heat and everyone sits outside sweating and talking together and guessing what's for dinner...
it helps to think about how exciting it is to finally go home and see my family which i haven't seen in nearly 7 months. everyone was so worried about me going to a 5th world country alone, but supported me nonetheless. as always, my parents trusted my discretion and, although they were nervous, they knew that it was something i was going to do. time and again i've found that it is the things that are a little risky or make me a little uncomfortable that are the ones which end up being the most valuable. it is my family and friends which have constantly given me the courage to delve into the unknown that has enabled me to have cumulative life experiences that have led me to where i am now. this experience was especially valuable bc it solidifies what i've always felt i was called to do with my life. whether in an inner city or overseas, this experience has made it impossible to ignore the limitations on healthcare when it is a victim of social structure. what is easily remedied in one country may be a death sentence in another. what may be easily affordable to one family may be the entire livelihood of another. what is thoroughly evaluated on one skin color may be perfunctorily examined on another. after witnessing the face
s of healthcare disparities i've been able to grasp the concept of farmer's that says that healthcare for the poor is something that should be done apologetically, not proudly. rather than thinking i am a doctor working in hostile conditions, look at the sacrifices i've made to serve you, one might choose to think i am a doctor and this is the least that i can do to rectify the disadvantages that our social structure has forced you into. it is not guilt, but rather a duty to restore balance in the gaping inequalities which have transformed good health into a commodity for those born into the right circumstances. it is so much more than medicine...it is anthropology, religion, politics, racism, superstition, etc.
s of healthcare disparities i've been able to grasp the concept of farmer's that says that healthcare for the poor is something that should be done apologetically, not proudly. rather than thinking i am a doctor working in hostile conditions, look at the sacrifices i've made to serve you, one might choose to think i am a doctor and this is the least that i can do to rectify the disadvantages that our social structure has forced you into. it is not guilt, but rather a duty to restore balance in the gaping inequalities which have transformed good health into a commodity for those born into the right circumstances. it is so much more than medicine...it is anthropology, religion, politics, racism, superstition, etc. as i leave haiti, i remember not so much the filth of the slums or the dangers of nighttime, but i recall rather the beautiful landscape, the pride of the country, the friendly smiles and "bonswa"s of the people, the children maintaining laughter even when they are hungry and hurting, the non-haitians who have given up their former lives to serve in the throes of destitution, the sense of hope 
and aspirations for change by the young people, the appreciation of all the little things by those who barely have anything. it is a beautiful country filled with generally good people. not to say that the danger and violence and backwards practices aren't real, but it is unfair to write-off an entire country bc of the iniquities of a few or because it is unfamiliar to almost everything we have ever known. fortunate are those who are able to know without seeing, but i only know what i have seen. names and faces and children... we are not so different, only lucky.
and aspirations for change by the young people, the appreciation of all the little things by those who barely have anything. it is a beautiful country filled with generally good people. not to say that the danger and violence and backwards practices aren't real, but it is unfair to write-off an entire country bc of the iniquities of a few or because it is unfamiliar to almost everything we have ever known. fortunate are those who are able to know without seeing, but i only know what i have seen. names and faces and children... we are not so different, only lucky.it's impossible to quantify the things that i've acquired and grappled with in this past month. there is no doubt that i will never look at things the same. i will not be able to ignore what i have seen, and that is the single most important aspect of this experience. haiti is no longer a tragedy on the news; it is the home of friends. if this concept of friend can transcend literal contacts, then i will not be able to push aside the plight of so many.
i am unbelievably grateful for the opportunity to have grown and learned so much this past month. i could not have anticipated the impact that it would have on me, but i can only hope that it is something that will stick with me forever.
peace, bonswa.
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