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31 December 2010

Rose Charities Cambodia Surgical Center  ( RC CSC )

It is hard to be in need of surgery in Cambodia if you are poor.  Surgical services are limited and can be far beyond the means of many of the population.  The Rose Charities Cambodia Surgical Center  (RC CSC)  has been meeting this need since its founding at the Kien Khleang National Rehabiliation Center, in 1998 and has since treated thousands needing life saving, or quality of life enhancing surgical procedures.   It is amazing how a relatively simple procedure like the release of an arm fused to the body from an  burn, can turn a life around.

The center was started initially as an offshoot of an eye surgery program, Project IRIS both founded by the same Canadian physician.  One of the  most pressing initial needs was a  facility which would provide a surgical service to prepare the limbs of land mine victims for artificial limbs.   The founder - Dr William Grut - saw that, although there were several excellent prosthetic organizations in Cambodia in the early 1990’s the surgical facilities were not adequate to match the demands. It is almost impossible to simply fit an artificial limb onto a stump which has not been surgically prepared.

In addition there was recognition of  a host of relatively simple surgical procedures which if carried out  would give a huge benefit in terms of quality of life, income generation  and self esteem to both the recipient as well as her / his family and community.  Examples of such were cleft lip and palate operations,  burns, congenital and acquired deformities and even slow growing tumors.

Cleft lip and palate for example will, if untreated  ‘sentence’ the sufferer to a life of marginalization, possible malnutrition, low income, no education and loneliness.    Rose Charities Cambodia Surgical Centre  has over its 12 years in existence operated on hundreds of cases. In addition the center links with the  organizations Smile Train and Operation Rainbow (which specialize in this area) and its staff contribute their time also to Operation Smile missions within both Cambodia, Thailand, Laos and Vietnam.  Between these organizations, thousands have been given 'new lives' again.


Rose Charities was one of the first organizations in Cambodia to recognize and act to assist victims of deliberate acid burns.   Both local and international expertise has, and continues to be employed for  the surgical assistance of these tragic victims who can be of almost any age,  from children (many of whom are caught in-between acid throwing incidents) to adults.  The cases can be very severe and can require many different levels and types of surgery.   Rose Charities USA assists local groups in Cambodia who try to provide employment and training for the victims once medical / surgical procedures are completed.

Apart from the more routine procedures, over the years more unusual sad cases have been identified and treated.  One such of these is a condition known as meningo-encephalocoele where there is an out-pouching of the brain and brain covering out through the front of the skull of the patient albeit still covered by skin. It is seen as a lump on the face of varying degree. The surgery needed will vary according to severity: one tiny baby ’Loy’  with an extremely severe case was sent by Rose Charities to Toronto  where surgery was generously donated for his cure.  Others though have been successfully treated by Rose Charities Surgeons in Cambodia itself.

Another condition often requiring graft and plastic surgery is that of ‘Noma’. This is a type slowly progressive infection which has a slow ‘flesh eating’ manifestation.   Once the infection is halted and eliminated, then surgery must be used to replace or repair the damage which the victim has suffered.

Recently a little 5 year old boy was discovered far out in the country side  by another organization  Village Health Development  who has a completely fused jaw. The birth attendant who helped deliver him drilled a small hole in his gums through which he has been taking in liquid food. He had never seen a doctor.   Little ‘Tot’ is scheduled for operation and rehab follow up in early 2011.  Such is the variation of patient conditions, child to adult,  that are seen at RC CSC

The Rose Charities Cambodia Surgical Center  is a  member project of the Rose Charities International Network .  This network  has active programs in 14 countries and member or interest groups in 22.  Focus areas are not only health but span education, micro-credit and other poverty reduction programs,  disability assistance,  and emergency relief. 

 Within Cambodia, Rose Charities now runs four project centers.  1)  Eye surgery / sight restoration  (Rose Charities Sight Center) ,   2)  Cambodia  Surgery  Center,  3) Physical and Holistic Rehabiliation Center   and 4)  Education Support Program.   All programs are aimed at assisting the poor and/or those in need of medical/surgical/rehabilitative assitance.    In  2002 , following a major theft and looting,  the main surgery component of the project was shifted from its ‘medically risky’  site to a proper Ministry of Health Hospital (Chea Chumneas)  under a new name of Operation FIRST,    and  linked properly into the evolving Cambodian health system.  The eye unit, which has assisted around 90,000 patients since 2002 (the looting affected this component also) remained in its original site.    The Rose Rehabilitation (physiotherapy and holistic rehab center) was founded early 2010 by Rose Charities Australia  and supports  the surgical serviced with both international and local expertise as well as running an outreach program.

The Rose Charities network is a group of organizations which cover a wide span of project types.  One thing though that they have in common is the philosophy of  transparency,  ground level effectiveness,  minimum or zero administration costs, and person-to-person assistance.    Many of the Rose Charities organizers have come from ‘field work’ and know well the gap between reality on the ground and glossy promotions in donor countries.  Rose Charities projects are all locally run and, apart from assisting the poor, are focused on helping develop the Cambodian health system.  Some  projects employ  highly paid expatriates who unfortunately often do very to create health projects sustainable into the future by Cambodia. 

The Rose Charities Cambodia 'CSC'  (Cambodia Surgical Center and Cambodia Sight Center) projects , along with RRC (Rose Rehabiltation Cambodia) and the Rose Education  / Disability assistance programs rely very heavily on the generosity of donors world wide.  Please see   www.RoseCharities.Org   to donate - and thank you.

13 December 2010

From orphans to photocpopiers.....


Here is an excerpt from a message from Marylee Banyard, who is now in Zambia. On a recent trip into the nearby town of Monze, she encounters both old and new, from technology to polygamy to children orphaned by AIDS:

"We have laminating facilities in Monze now. It sort of works, but is a little gimpy. Photocopying too… the page comes out with a dark mass at the top.

"The man there gave me a big lecture about, “Why is it always women and orphans? What about the MEN!” He said he is a grandfather supporting an orphan at Zimba school. He also said that he was born in a hut, not a hospital, and BaTonga culture has good midwives. We foreigners don’t understand Tonga culture.

"I said we should go have a cup of coffee, as he was continually being interrupted and dealing with all sorts of people with issues while he was arguing with me and trying to laminate.

"He also said women bring it on themselves because they don’t have to be second and third wives. They have choice. [ed: Polygamy is still legal in Zambia.]

"From him I went to see Sister Lontia at the St Vincent de Paul Community School in Monze. We discussed many things. Concerning second and third wives, she pointed out their usual circumstances of poverty and insecurity. The children they bring with them into the marriages are often not accepted by the new husband, and the real father has probably died or vanished.

"She has 204 children in the school, of which 123 are orphans, and 77 are “vulnerable”. Sometimes the economic pressure is too great for families and children are abandoned. Although the school tries to charge K5,000 ($1.25 Canadian) per term (3 terms a year ) the school accepts all, even if they can’t pay. They are Catholic Mission funded."

"A student from St Vincent de Paul Community School paints a mural on the school walls. The Zambian flag flies high above."[/caption]

01 December 2010

Reflection on Haitian Paediatric Nurses




Karen Schafer doing classroom instruction


Berni assisting with CPR practice


Teaching neonatal resuscitation

Fernande Charles presenting completion certificates
The following post was written by Berni Koppe:
From October 9th – 24th I had the privilege of going to Haiti as part of the 3 person team whose goal was to provide neonatal nursing education in Port au Prince. Here are some thoughts I would like to share about this amazing experience.
The nurses work under extremely difficult conditions. They care for as many as 15 children in different rooms. There is virtually no functioning equipment to assist the nurses in caring for severely ill neonates.They never wilted in the heat nor complained of being tired or overwhelmed.  Despite these challenging conditions these nurses have not lost their sense of humour and their ability to laugh.
These nurses were very grateful for this seminar as there is little opportunity for continuing education after graduation. They were totally engaged in the teaching.  Many of them came to class with questions about the previous days teaching which to me demonstrated critical thinking on the content. One nurse attended the teaching at 9:00 a.m after completing her night shift at 6:00 that morning.
If I could use one sentence to describe this amazing group of nurses it would “dignified and with grace under extreme pressure”.
Their parting words were “please don’t forget us and please come back”.
Berni

15 October 2010

Trish Gribben visits an eye clinic in Cambodia with ties to New Zealand where sight has been restored for thousands of patients.

It is Monday morning at the Rose Eye Clinic in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The first of maybe 100 patients for the day have arrived and are sitting patiently lined up on long stools, in the shade of a few straggly mango trees. Incense wisps up from a little temple nearby. None of the patients has an appointment. Many a mother, with a few possessions tied in a cloth bundle on her back, is brought to the clinic by a young child, perhaps a 10-year-old son, holding a bamboo stick between them to lead the way because mother is blind. They may have spent two days to get to the Rose clinic, walking or taking a bus.
After assessment and cataract surgery that very same day, mother’s sight miraculously restored, the pair set off side by side. When they return to their village the seeing-eye son can return to school for the first time since his mother’s sight faded completely two years before. This is a typical story from Cambodia. It also involves three Good Kiwi Blokes (GKBs); hands that have restored sight to thousands of blind eyes; a looting; a mix of microscopes, money and mates.
The three GKBs are all mates: John Veal, optometrist from Christchurch, Dr David Sabiston, ophthalmologist from Hawkes Bay and Mike Webber, OMNZ, optometrist from Whanganui. Together, over the last eight years, these GKBs, as trustees of Rose Charities NZ, have worked with a local Cambodian doctor and nurses to set up an eye clinic in Phnom Penh for the very poorest people. The three GKBs, between them, have made 14 trips to Cambodia since 2002. Every time they go they have taken up microscopes and equipment generously donated by the optometry community in New Zealand.
“The donating of good quality second hand instruments from eye surgeons and wholesalers in New Zealand has been way beyond expectations,” says Mike Webber. “I get a real buzz from being at the eye clinic in Phnom Penh. So little effort and money by our standards goes such a long way, for such a lot of people. They have absolutely nothing. We can improve their lives without interfering with local customs or communities. Why not just do it?”
In Cambodia there are 16 ophthalmologists for 14 million people. Eye problems are so commonly left unchecked that people go blind when a simple procedure could have saved their sight. (In the Auckland phone book there are 16 ophthalmologists within less than a kilometre on the medical strip along Remuera Road.)
The medical director of the Phnom Penh eye clinic is Dr Hang Vra, a Cambodian who trained as a doctor in Moscow. On holiday in the Ukraine as a student he met his wife, Natalie, who is now the senior nurse at the clinic.
Dr Vra, who is completing post-graduate ophthalmology training paid for through Rose Charities NZ, has what David Sabiston calls “some of the most beautiful surgical hands I have seen in my career.” In the last eight years Dr Vra and his team have seen more than 88,500 patients at the clinic; nearly 18,000 have received surgery and the others have been fitted with glasses. Last year nearly 2500 people had surgery.
In March this year Mike Webber was as excited as a boy with a new i-Gadget when he went to set up the most sophisticated microscope donated to the clinic so far — a $65,000 Moller-Wedel operating microscope cast-off from the Whanganui Health Board. Thanks to Agility Logistics’ benign freight bill and two of Webber’s mates in Wanganui paying the airfares for him and a technician, Neville Wood, to travel to Phnom Penh to assemble the instrument, the cost to Rose Charity was only $350. There are plenty of GKBs out there.
Within a day of the new microscope arriving Dr Vra had mastered the auto-adjustable instrument. He is beaming about his job becoming easier and more precise. But this story is not just about expertise and equipment. It is about lives given light in a country that has endured the horrors of the dark era of the Khmer Rouge when hardly a doctor was left alive
after the purges of all educated people in the 1970s and ‘80s.
I visited the Rose clinic in Phnom Penh recently, as chairperson of Rose Charities NZ. To see the transformation when a life is changed in the instant when bandages are removed after a cataract operation is magical.
On my first visit, there was one old lady sitting stoically behind her dark glasses; not a smile, not a muscle moved. Her daughter, dressed in her best street wear, Miss Kitty yellow and white pyjamas, did her best to fan her mother in the heat. Next day this old lady (probably years younger than me) sat like a stone while her bandages were taken off. Suddenly, she grabbed my hand and hugged and hugged it. Her smile was as wide as it could be. For the first time in a decade she could see. Her world looked bright.
The clinic has a turbulent story, typical of many in Cambodia. S**t has definitely hit the fan. In 2002 the entire Rose clinic was looted — chairs, operating table, microscopes, clock, stock and barrels of patient records. But Cambodians have had to cope with far greater horrors than that, of course, and in the Buddhist spirit of acceptance and resilience, Dr Vra and Nurse Natalie, simply kept going. They acted like heroes, comforting the patients as they kept turning up. Rose New Zealand followed their lead and renewed efforts to get equipment and professional support for Dr Vra as often as possible. That eye clinic is now regarded as doing the best eye surgery in Cambodia. It is not in any way “competing” with a Fred Hollows clinic—the two Fred Hollows clinics in  Cambodia are deep in the countryside.
The clinic is still so basic that Dr Vra’s current ‘wishlist’ reads like
this:
  1. materials for a cupboard for brooms, buckets and mops so the blind patients don’t trip over them.
  2. a swing door into an operating room so that sterile hands do not have to wrestle with the door handle.
  3. a sterilising room moved closer to the surgery room, to reduce the risk of infections, always a crucial factor with eye operations.
  4. a second-hand washing/drying machine, to help out in the rainy season.
  5. a mended ceiling in the recovery “ward” where patients rest immediately after surgery on woven mats on iron beds, patiently attended by a wife, husband, daughter, son.
Food is brought to them from the stalls lining the dusty street nearby. A towel or cotton scarf is used as a fan. No bathroom exits; a cool sponge-down in the sticky heat is not an option. No bathroom is on the wish-list—such luxury is unthinkable.
Dame Silvia Cartwright, New Zealand’s former Governor General who is currently in Phnom Penh as a member of the international war crimes tribunal there, is a patron of Rose Charities NZ. She has visited the eye clinic and been greatly impressed at what the Kiwi-Cambodian co-operative effort has achieved.
“I know that all around the world the same help is being given to people in need,” said Dame Silvia, “but I know Cambodia best and this country has so much to offer. Its people are clever, welcoming and generous. Equally, it lacks some of the most fundamental health care of any country in the world. The Cambodian people deserve our support in improving their skills and knowledge. It is a privilege to see highly skilled New Zealanders such as Mike Webber come regularly to work with local specialist ophthalmologists so Cambodian people can have the best care possible.”
Rose Charities is an network of “helping hands” that operates out of 9 countries — Canada, USA, New Zealand, Australia, Vietnam, UK, Sri Lanka, Cambodia, Malaysia.
It has current projects from Madagascar, where it runs a school, to Nepal, where women volunteer health workers are being trained to identify and prevent eye problems, to Sri Lanka where children orphaned in the 2004 tsunami are being given on-going help.
Rose likes to keep things simple. Kindness is its raison d’etre. It was founded by a doctor, William Grut, whose mother, Rothes Grut (nee Neville) was a New Zealander. Will was born in Malaysia, educated partly in Christchurch and now lives in Vancouver. There is an umbrella Rose International Council but there are no grand plans for super-sizing up. At an international gathering in Phnom Penh for Rose recently, the treasurer’s report was brief: “Zero dollars IN. Zero dollars OUT. The council has no money, no budget.” Individual Rose groups raise money for the projects they support by a variety of means ranging from cooking lessons to fashion shows or theatre nights. Volunteers provide all the support, with practically no money being spent on administration.
As well as its on-going commitment to the Cambodian eye clinic, Rose Charities NZ has plans for medical-aid projects in Nepal and the Pacific. It has helped a trauma and grief counsellor, Liese Groot, to work with medical professionals in the Philippines, Malaysia and Samoa and is giving support within the refugee community here.
–In the set-up days of the fledgling Rose Eye Clinic in Phnom Penh, a weight was needed to apply post-operative pressure to patients’ eyes. Nothing, no instrument, was on hand. One of the doctors looked around the make-shift structure (as it was then). On the floor were some old bolts. Quickly he picked them up, wrapped bandages around them and rested them on the patient’s eyes. Job done.
Now a beautifully-balanced weight is used at the clinic. It was designed by Dr Basant Sharma, an ophthalmologist from Nepal, who is currently vice-chairman of Rose International and who has worked alongside the Cambodian medical team in Phnom Penh to offer his expertise. Rose NZ brought Dr Sharma to New Zealand two years ago for his own professional development.
– There was a time when Dr Will Grut was in the Cambodian countryside for an eye camp with Dr Vra. Patients were lined up for surgery in a thatched hut. Down came a deluge of rain, dripping through a hole in the roof. “That will be the end of surgery today,” thought Dr Grut. “But no. Someone took a syringe, siphoned some petrol out of a nearby vehicle, injected it in to a polyfoam material and we all watched while it foamed up. It was used to patch the hole in the roof – and the surgery went on.”

27 August 2010

WAS MOZART DISABLED ?

Who can define 'disability'. All we can compare with is a general 'norm' . But this too is inaccurate. Were Mozart, Einstein or Marie Curie then disabled ? In some way or other we all have aspects away from the norm. We are all thus, in some way or other 'disabled'

Definitions then are of little use. What is important is quality, enjoyment and sense of fulfillment of life. While physical abilities are very much part of this, they are not the only factors. Inability to move in the same way as the majority does not necessarily define happiness. A healthy child for example, starved mentally and emotionally is in a far worse condition than those one loved, educated and cherished albeit with one with dysfunctional limb movement.

The organizers of Rose Charites see assistance for 'disability' as being far more than physical, medical or surgical treatment. Rose Rehabilitation Cambodia has the ultimate goal of assisting disabled children and adults in all areas. These include education, community activities (arts etc), vocational training and income generation.

'Social symbiosis' is a key concept of Rose Charities and Holistic Rehabilitation is a fundamental part of this. Rose Rehabilitation Cambodia is moving forward in this area with an education sponsorship program as well as building the children's rehabilitation playground described elsewhere in this site. Funding is being sought also to directly help challenged individuals directly in improving quality of in their homes and a cooperation with Epic Arts - an organization involving Cambodian communities in the Kampot area in art/drama programs is planned

28 July 2010

The star of the Auckland theatre scene, Jennifer Ward-Lealand, welcomed guests to a Rose Charities NZ fundraising night with Silo Theatre during their season of Stephen Sondheim's Assassins. She is pictured with Rose NZ chairperson, Trish Gribben.

The musical black comedy, which received rave reviews, was followed by a soiree where hand-woven silk scarves from Cambodia were sold to raise money for the Rose Eye Clinic in Phnom Penh. By a stroke of lucky timing, Jennifer herself had visited Cambodia with her family, returning only four days before the event. "I couldn't believe the poverty we saw there," she told the 100 people gathered.

Rose Charities NZ's patron, Dame Silvia Cartwright, was also in the news the same week, as a member of the international war crimes tribunal which announced its first verdict on Dutch, the notorious torturer and killer of Tuol Sleng prison.

Around 60 scarves were sold from a table which carried a photograph of patients waiting at the clinic and a sign saying: Buy a scarf and give a stranger in Phnom Penh an eye operation. $40 -- the scarves have been donated; all proceeds go to the clinic.

The event raised nearly $4000 which is sufficient to restore sight to 160 poor blind Cambodians

03 July 2010



Images from the Cambodian Ophthalmological Society Clinical Seminar. Fri June 25 2010.
'INNOVATION OF OPHTHALMOLOGY IN CAMBODIA' .
(This was known within Rose as the 'COS-ROS Meeting''. However it was also sponsored by the Fred Hollows Association and several equipment companies)














Location was in the conference rooms of the Naga World Center.

Grateful appreciation to Dr Do Seiha, and Dr Ngy Meng and the Cambodian Ophthalmological Society for organizing such a successful conference.

03 June 2010

Interview with Rose Charities USA founder Noot Seear before Haiti Relief Photo-Exhibition Milk Gallery New York

05 April 2010

ETAT+ TRAINING IN KENYA
Irimu G, Wamae A, English M.
(On behalf of colleagues in the Ministry of Health1, University of Nairobi2 and KEMRI Wellcome Trust3.)

Abstract
The under-5 mortality rate in most developing countries remains high yet many deaths could be averted if available knowledge was put into practice. For seriously ill children in hospital investigations in low-income countries commonly demonstrate incorrect diagnosis and treatment and frequent prescribing errors. Most of these deaths occur in the first 48hours of admission. Any intervention to reduce the mortality must therefore target the emergency triage assessment and treatment plus the initial admission care (ETAT+). To help improve hospital management of the major causes of inpatient childhood mortality we developed simple clinical practice guidelines (CPGs) for use in Kenya, a low-income setting. These guidelines were adapted from existing WHO materials by participatory process. To facilitate dissemination and implementation of the guidelines we developed a 5.5 days training programme. We attempted to base our training on modern theories around adult learning and deliberately attempted to train a ‘critical mass’ of health workers within each institution at low cost. Our experience suggests that with sustained effort it is possible to develop locally owned, appropriate clinical practice guidelines for emergency and initial hospital care for seriously ill children with involvement of pertinent stake holders throughout. To ensure sustainability of such innovation it is fundamental to incorporate the training in the pre-service training and the medical teaching institutions. We hereby describe the progress in pre-service and in-service ETAT+ training in public institutions in Kenya. To our knowledge the process described in Kenya is among a handful of attempts globally to implement inpatient or referral care components of WHO / UNICEF’s Integrated Management of Childhood Illness approach. However, whether guideline dissemination and implementation result in improved quality of care in our environment remains to be seen.

1Wamae A, Santau M, Mogoa W, Ngwiri T.
2 Irimu G, Wasunna A, Were F, Mbori-Ngacha.
3English M, Ntoburi S.

A Rose Charities article about ETAT+ is at:
http://www.rosecharities.net/kenya-emerg-course.pdf

Some reviews on the HIFA (Healthcare Information For All) website:
http://www.hifa2015.org/knowledge-base/health-care/triage/what-hifa2015-members-say/

There is some ETAT+ info on Mike English's bio site:
http://www.kemri-wellcome.org/people/researchers/mike-english
A BMJ article about it (needs subscription to see more than an extract):
http://adc.bmj.com/content/93/9/799.extract

04 March 2010

Dr Pargat Bhurji: Leader 1st Rose Charities Pediatric team. Haiti. Feb 2010

  
 

 

30 January 2010

THE SARI SOIREE. ROSE CHARITIES FUND-RAISER FOR HAITI AND SRI LANKA: JAN 27 2010

(click on any images to enlarge)

 






29 January 2010

CECI (Centre d'edude et cooperation international )  has been pivotal in the past 2 weeks emergency relief efforts in Haiti by facilitating  AMDA and Rose Charities personnel.  Their organization is efficient, highly functional and has a very strong network of very experienced personnel in Haiti.  CECI, like Rose Charities has a very open policy of working and coordinating with any other group to achieve the same benefits to those in need. It a world where where so many organizations are highly 'territorial' about their names,  CECI  exhibits a very refreshing difference.   CECI has projects worldwide  We strongly recommend supporting this excellent organization for anyone who wishes to support Haiti relief efforts. 
 It is interesting that, while many of the larger organizations  efforts became gridlocked at Haiti International Airport, many other (often the smaller) organizations, poorly reported by the press quickly and efficiently entered in via the Dominican Republic.  CECI was one of these.  AMDA and Rose Charities owe considerable thanks to CECI and hope that contacts may be preserved into the future

The Children's Surgical Center, Cambodia, does some valuable  work for Cambodia.  The facility was  founded by Rose Charities Canada in 1998 as its surgical rehab center,  its use of  many thousand dollars of Rose Charities  Canada's equipment and vehicles commenced in 2002.   The Rose Charities Eye Center carries out around 1500 sight restorations per year from its Kien Khleang Center, and cleft palate, burns (often acid burn) and other rehabilitative surgery from its  Ministry of Health hospital.  Rose Charities continues to run the leading all Cambodian managed eye surgery centers for the Cambodia's poor.   Rose Charities is grateful for donations for its Cambodian surgery projects.  www.RoseCharities.org .  Rose Charities rehabilitation surgery center at the Ministry of Health 'Chea Chumneas'' Hospital on the outskirts of Phnom Penh is a multi-group unit where excellent  international organizations like Smile Train, Operation Rainbow, Impact and individual surgical experts are able to train and implement surgeries in  proper Ministry of Health Premises. By supporting the Ministry of Health, future health sustainability is ensured in Cambodia. It is unfortunate that some organizations neither support the National Eye sub-committee (SCPBL) nor operate out of proper Ministry of Heatlh premises.  Donors who support such organizations are doing considerable long term disservice to Cambodia.

28 January 2010



The Rose Charities Sari Soiree, Bollywood dance party fundraiser held in Vancouver on Wed 27th January 2010 was a very great success.  Around 200 persons attended and almost everyone ended up dancing. Sari fittings were a star attraction. 

20 January 2010

From Port-au-prince, Haiti, 19-Jan-2010



Hi there folks.  Well I did my stint yesterday for 9 hours or more interpreting for US, Korean and Hungarian doctors at the Haitian community hospital.  What a sight when one arrives  =- bodies everyone - searching for treatment, relatives camped outside on the grass and inside a hive of activity.  They seemed to have received plenty of volunteers but I soon found my niche.
 
One of the doctors said that none of them had seen, in all their lives, the amount of amputations as they have in Haiti - mostly feet and legs - trapped under buildings etc.  So this means that in the future there's going to be a HUGE need for prosthetics and physical handicap support for these people, in a country where the handicapped are way down the list of those being helped already!!
 
I was in the Triage area and the US Docs had got it very organised - with Zones all marked out and one doc per zone with a nurse and a translator (interpreter!). I was in Zone 1 but frankly I ran around from zones 1-4 and anywhere else I was needed. there were a lot of young Haitian guys acting as translators, not sure how good their English was. I was the go to person by all the patients in those whole areas and they called me DOC!! I said no not a Doc but what do you need, and then I'd go off and channel one of the docs to go and see to them. You know how bossy I am!! It was exhausting work as so much of the time I was on my feet, and the old knees don't do too well!!! but I grabbed a seat when ever they were physically treating the patients.
 
The patients with open wounds/fractures were treated in the hospital and hundreds of Xrays were being ordered - each time meaning I had to go to the Haitian staff to get a proper form and approval. They always put a price down on the form but as they only had their name and no address, plus they didn't do the usual Haitian thing of asking for money upfront I presume the Aid organisations are going to pay for them! The ones with closed wounds/fractures were being sent, many of them to the DR!! by bus I presume which cannot have been an easy ride. I've heard reports and I don't know if it's true, that people are complaining that the Dominicans are amputating too quickly and their limbs could be saved. I hope it's not true. The docs came in loaded with medical supplies and medicines etc. so they could send people out with pain pills and antibiotics which helped the patients financially!!
 
The Docs and I got on very well and I looked after my various patients and the Docs said it was great to have someone who could think for themselves and not just translate, as I would often woudl say Doc - do you need to give them an antibiotic shot, do you need to do this or that!! Thank GOd for some nursing experience that I had had.
 
In the middle of the day I tell you, we would have killed for a cold Prestige beer!! but only lukewarm water and some crackers available. Frankly didn't feel like eating anyway.
 
I organised different forms of transport systems and also for the XRay system as one guy who said he was organising everything hadn't set up a system for XRays - so I told him to Delegate!!
 
 
didn't go out today as my team of  docs were on nite shift and they won't be back on until tomorrow so took the liberty of catching up with my emails and rest!!
 
We;re still suffering from lack of gas although they're giving more out now, but poor G... is still standing in line in order for me to communicate with you all - I hope you appreciate that!!! Cellphones - Ditgicel is being back to terrible again, mainly due to overloaded circuits!! and Banks and supermarkets have yet to open so people are running out of money.
 
 
The road to Jacmel has seemingly been just about fixed which will help enormously in getting desperate help thru to them.
 
The amazing news is that N...,  is alive!!! Alive, then dead, then alive then dead, now definitely alive!! Amazing - I wonder which she feels more traumatised from - her kidnapping many years ago or this.  Probablyboth on a par!!
They're still not listing my friend A.... on an official list of people dead, but I can't think that her partner  would have said she had died if he didn't have proof, but it would be wonderful if she was still alive.
 
And I think I may have mentioned about another friend - a Frenchwoman who had lost her two daughters? well amazingly it wasn't true and she managed to get the 2 girls and their nanny out from under the rubble. Praise God!!
 
they reckon 4000 houses were destroyed inPauP - it doesn't seem like its enough. I would have thought more, but who knows. 70,000 dead have already been buried and they reckon the final tally will be between 150 and 200,000!!
43 international teams of emergency people have arrive plus millions  of dollars; marines and soldiers etc. to help. 280 emergency centres to open. British Red Cross and others have opened Field hospitals.
 
Dutch and French govts have fasttracked vis for hundreds of adopted children to go their countries, but it seems the US is not being very forthcoming yet!!
 
Airport has started to work properly and they are receiving 100 planes a day with aid and aid workers.
 
DR president came in personally to the surprise of Pres. Preval and his own DR consul!! and sent people to help Digicel (doesn't seem to be working!!) as well as the electricity company and the many police stations.
 
Clinton said came in that he will continue to work with Haiti on:
1) Food water, medicine and housing
2) help to get support to rebuild buildings and economy, schools stc.
3) to help rebuild Haiti for a better future.
 
Rich and poor he said need to put their heads together to rebuild.
 
Min. of Culture said the General hospital where most people would go is without Electricity - they have 1500 aid people working therre and theybe happy to work around thenite but can't cos of lack of electricity. Plus they need food and water to feed these people as well as patients.
 
They've set up a Health Commission to co-ordinate the health problems.
 
The Govt. has asked for all Official vehicles to be brought back to their various offices so they can use them to help.
 
They are going to have meetings with the local mayors to co-ordinate disaster efforts.
 
 
Loads of people are fleeing PauP to go to the provinces even if they haven't got any families there - and they're begging local people to help take them in etc. They said eeveryone has someone in PauP affected, whether friend or family!!
 
Gas selling at 500 gourdes instead of a third of that!! outrageous.
 
A Christian academy behind the caribbean market is still showing life of people inside. Sent that off to a UN friend, hopefully they get to them - others are having the opposite - in that buildings have dead bodies inside and the smell is terrible. Unimaginable.
 
I am fine - still getting enough basic food on the streets -  still got a 5 gallon bottle of water, and hope before it runs out there will be some to be bought.
 
I think that's as much as I can say for now.  Keep us in your prayers and thoughts.
 
Thank you for all your supportive emails - can't reply to many as inundated - have over 500 still waiting for me to read, but most of those are news items. I have heard from so many people who are sending out this newsletter to their friends too - thanks for that.
 
Talk to you soon.
 
J........
 

15 January 2010


Letter (edited)from Port-au-Prince, Haiti                                                                   15th January 2010

….I have not been able to go out, as I don't want to drive myself on the streets in this terrible mess, and  my driver's house collapsed and his wife was hurt in it, so I'm sure he's looking after her - quite rightly. But am getting lots of information:

Sadly my best friend,  died in the UN HQ building collapse, as did A…. and D C…, the Head and Deputy Head of the UN here!! They were in a meeting on the 7th floor.

We are still having the aftershocks which are absolutely horrible, cos even tho they only last a nano second, you don't know if it is going to go on for longer. Everyone is sleeping outside - I managed to persuade my household to sleep in my car in my yard last nite - instead of out on a spare piece of ground in front of the house. Thousands and thousands are sleeping outside, scared of another quake. We're up to 41 aftershocks and I hate them - I think I will have ulcers after this as my stomach goes into knots each time. It's worse in the nite as you lie there waiting for the next one. So I usually end up getting up and reading to take my mind off it. I keep thinking we;re having another tremble, and then realise it's my own body's nerves which are trembling. I guess it's a reaction in the aftermath of the quake.

Have been contacted by hundreds and hundreds of people, many from this list, friends and friends of friends and clients. I am fine still - worried about the lack of gas as any moment now my inverter will run out and I won't be able to use my generator and keep in touch with you all.

Still horror stories about so many dead bodies piling up in the streets - no-one to look after them or bury them,which is going to cause epidemics.

Poor J…. in a terrible state - gather the Florita is gone, the good block of Cyvadier Plage has collapsed.
The Cathedral and St. trinity church with the wonderful paintings - all rubble!!! The National Palace has collapsed too -so sad these beautiful buildings.

And it has affected rich and poor alike. Was at dinner with friends from the …  embassy at a beautiful house and now they tell it's finished and they lost of their possessions but not their lives, thank God.

But the people's spirits are high - they're singing in the streets at nite and praying and there's a great feeling of solidarity.

I was listening to a radio broadcast interview with a Haitian seismology expert and he said they had predicted this since the last one 240 years ago!! It was of the same magnitude in 1770 - under the Colonials, but couldn't of course predict the exact date. It lasted nearly a minute and was 7.3 on the Richter scale which is very high.

One of the owners of the Montana is thought to be under the rubble of the hotel - not confirmed yet.
The epi centre was 22 kms outside of PauP on the SW - if you go along the road after Carrefour, going towards Leogane - off to the left, up in the mountains, (eg down from the Kenscoff range) that's where it was and thankl God not in the sea as they were predicting a Tsunami - but it was a rumour however people panicked - this is another problem, it panics people.

Desperately need basic first aid supplies - cos the hospitals don't have anything.

It seems there are still people alive in the Caribbean supermarket bldg which collapsed but I don't know if Minustah are working to get people out - I certainly hope so. Thank God one good friend who works there, was not in it.

People have written that there are too many journalists and not enough doctors coming in and ain't that the truth!!

Walls guesthouse - one of their buildings collapsed and 2 of their workers and 3 guests died in it.
St. Joseph's guesthouse on Delmas 91 is rubble and 2 of the guys were seriously hurt - BN.., the Director of the house was one of them, but I gather they're sending in some plane to evacuate them for medical help in NC - thank God for good friends.
.
If you want to give a donation to St. Jos - to help them and also Wings, the Handicapped kids home you can do it thru Hearts with Haiti - which you can contact thru their website. I'm pointing people who have asked me about donations to them, as I know them and their work and it's impossible to just give a blanket donation to Haiti !! It's so needy. My people are doing it in the name of BN. Makes it more personal but it's to help St. Jos.

Phones are not working at all - I gather one service may be, but haven;t got that one!!

Well will cut this off as I want to get it round to as many people as possible.
Take care and keep praying for Haiti. I was just being so positive about Tourism the other day and now have realised that I was 2 steps ahead and now we're like 16 steps back!!! It will take years and years to recover from this. Give me a hundred hurricanes any day over this!!

Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers and concern for me and for Haiti. …. 'J'

(picture at top right by Tallulah)

14 January 2010



Images from Haiti
(copied with kind permission of Tallulah Photo )