The Virginian-Pilot
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Their plane landed in Port-au-Prince around 4 p.m. Tuesday. They picked up their luggage and texted loved ones in Hampton Roads that they got into Haiti fine.
The eight missionaries from Gateway Free Will Baptist Church in Virginia Beach got into a truck at the airport. They were on their way to drop off medical supplies at a clinic before going on to the purpose of this mission - religious instruction for Baptist Haitian pastors.
After driving a few minutes, the earthquake struck. At 5:30, they texted that they were watching walls tumbling down.
"The mission changed within a matter of moments," Pastor Karl Sexton said.
Everything changed in Haiti - and for many in Hampton Roads - just before dark Tuesday.
Raynald David, a 57-year-old car salesman who lives in Chesapeake, said Wednesday that he's been unable to reach his mother, sister and several cousins, all of whom live in the country's south.
"I know from watching the news and reading the Internet that it's been affected very terribly where they are," said David, who moved to the United States from Haiti in 1975. "I spent all night and all morning trying to call, but the phone just rings and rings and rings. All I can do is pray and keep trying."
Cell-phone service has been out since the quake. Most information has gotten out through the Internet.
Twelve Hampton Roads doctors who went to Haiti on Sunday also saw their mission change. The group, which includes Dr. Alfred Abuhamad, chairman of the Obstetrics and Gynecology Department at Eastern Virginia Medical School, was at a hospital in Cange, about 50 miles from Port-au-Prince, training Haitian doctors and nurses on new ultrasound equipment.
In an e-mail late Wednesday, Dr. Lisbet Hanson, an OB-GYN from Virginia Beach, said the patients were coming to the hospital on foot, on stretchers and in vehicles from Port-au-Prince.
"So much trauma, unreal," she wrote. "Setting bones, stitching, delivered twins, in OR to assist with amputations, hip dislocations, the list goes on. Everyone shell shocked. Need orthopedic docs and supplies."
Many in Hampton Roads have been struggling with how best to help. The urge to go immediately is strong, but well-meaning people could get in the way of a difficult rescue effort.
"I think we need to leave it to the people who know what they're doing. They've got the relationships and the capacity," said Patrice Schwermer, regional coordinator in the Office of Justice and Peace for Commonwealth Catholic Charities.
Schwermer said there are no plans for special relief missions to Haiti and that the best way to help is to donate money, which can be used as it's needed.
One of the eight missionaries from Gateway Baptist is a nurse. They made it to the medical clinic Tuesday in Port-au-Prince. Now helping the wounded has become the mission.
"They sew and stitch and help with pain," said Sexton, the Gateway pastor.
They were at it until 3 a.m. Wednesday. A few hours later, the clinic was full again.
"It's divine timing - it really is," Sexton said. "Some people would say it's bad timing, but our mission team sees it as good timing and are grateful they are there to help."
Pilot writer Corinne Reilly contributed to this story.
Nancy Young, 757-222-5559, nancy.young@pilotonline.com
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Haiti Update (Conclusion)
... Our facility is not equipped to handle cases like compound fractures, deep wounds exposing bones and muscle, and lacerations with the risk of high infection. Another problem we are facing is the need for radiology (x-ray machinery) to adequately assess internal damage and fractures, and the need for surgeons and orthopedic doctors and supplies. The
majority of our haitian staff is missing and we are unable to locate them...leaving just the two of us to assess, treat, suture, and brace wounds.
In a country that struggles daily to get a head, or simply struggle to meet their basic needs, this is beyond a tragedy..."
Haiti Update from R.N. (Continued)
... While assesing this little boy we had a woman carried in by six men, to find her fibula bone completly severed above the ankle, and protruding. At the time she had adequate perfusion to her foot, unfortunatly we were only able to clean and dress the wound and prayerfully send her searching for a Doctor to correct the bone...at
two am a mother brought her 18 month old baby with a deep laceration starting at the hairline and spanding about 5 cm to the opposite eyelid. His frontal bone was exposed, and rocks embedded in his skin. We were able to successfully clean and suture the wound, all the while mom is weeping and he is screaming and being held down.
Story after story could be shared of the devestation and pain we are experiencing in haiti.
Our work began within minutes of the earthquake at 5 pm and we left the clinic the next morning at 330am to soon return in the morning finding the yard full of patients needing care. Haitians from all over the Port au Prince region have traveled to find hospitals and clinics either demolished or has run out of supplies.
Our facility is not equipped to handle cases like compound fractures, deep wounds exposing bones and muscle, and l
Haiti Update from Registered Nurse from Gateway Baptist Church
Recently, a registered nurse who is part of the team from Gateway Free Will Baptist Church in VA Beach that are now in Haiti, provided the following update:
"Thru the eyes of a long term christian missionary and a visiting nurse. Within minutes of the earthquake our little clinic was flooded with haitians seeking medical attention. With most of the building being made out of block one can imagine the impact and force on the human body. Our first patient was our neighbor who is an 8 year old female was covered with blocks that fell from our compound wall. Multiple children with weeping wounds and rocks embedded in their skin brought in by family; while other family member left in the rubble...many dead. Andrew is a three year old little boy, who was brought in by his mother who's first question was, is my baby going to live. After removing his clothes we discovered, a ten inch laceration on the abdomen with his stomach protruding from his wound. We were only able to stich up half of the
laceration and have used sterile technique to cover the exposed wound in hope for a surgeon to come operate or for him to be taken stateside to be treated. While assesing this little boy we had a
Exact location for Mission Team from Hampton Roads in Haiti
I'm a Dominican OBGYN and I live in Santo Domingo. I trained @ Riverside Regional Medical Center and I personally know Dr Abuhammad from EVMS, who I read is among those in this mission team. I'm collecting medical supplies to treat the victims. I need to find out the exact location where this clinic is in Haiti. Is it near the border and can it be reached through roads that do not pass through Port-au-Prince? Do you have an email address for any of the members in the mission team so I can get in touch with them? Does Dr Lisbet Hanson have a working cell-phone or email address where she can be reached?
Be prepared for more Katrina type images
All the aid has to first be collected here and loaded for millions of people. We don't have millions of bottles of water sitting in a single warehouse. 1000's yes maybe. Things have to be gathered or produced, packaged, and positioned.
Then we have to get it there mostly by ship and it takes time to get to the island and with little to no port facilities. By aircraft is just a trickle.
Then they have to distribute it across impassable roads and rivers to many communities with no communications to know where its needed and in what quantity.
You need equipment (bulldozers, etc) to clear the roads and distribute it- and that's if there is a road to certain areas.
And finally the assistance has to be "sustained" usually until infrastructure is repaired. Sadly, here, there's NO infrastructure to fix - sewer, water and power plants and lines were never built. I fear that many horrific scenes are coming with desperate people fighting to survive.
Danger to our military
As my heart goes out to those suffering in Haiti, I can’t help but be deathly concerned for our military members that have/will be ordered to go on land. I was in Haiti in 1994 and I’m telling you, the suffering and diseases were everywhere. If you weren’t protected from the diseases you didn’t go over the wire. This administration is going to send unprotected military members, albeit humanitarian mission, across the wire and they will be exposed to some of the most ferocious diseases that country has to offer. We need to pray for our military members as for those that are suffering. The sad part about it is we will pump millions of money we don’t have into that country and things wil not change other than a new Presidential Palace will be built.
Military is prepared
Our military receives numerous innoculations before they leave the U.S. They are well prepared for this type of work. They still need your prayers because the destruction and human suffering they will see will stay with them for the rest of their lives.
questions????
Can anyone tell me where we found 100 million to send to Haiti. I thought we had no money. I thought we had to cut cost and programs here in our country, yet we found money? I will say it again, it was terrible what happened over there. And if people want to donate money and help fine. But not our country, not when we have problems of our own not when you have homeless and people searching for jobs and health insurance. We have no money for our own people but we found money to send a corrupt country!?!?
crazy
america has send all there food to haiti in the last years for low money! the project for water, farms, etc. was stop by the world bank for more delivery about the us food! so the people has no chance to build here own life in here country - the price for the food from america is lower than the price by there own haiti production. and now i find it is more than ride that people became help from the us! the us has so win 1000billions of $ from haiti in the last years. and now the win the next millions of $ for the help and the reinstratctions for the money in the us contry. wer dose the food come? where dose it bulid? ...it is a wonderfol business word.. with life and no life ...
really?
NO country is as corrupt as Afganistan.