Crisis evolving in Haiti – Update 05/26/10

The situation in Haiti is reaching a critical level with the Haitian people.  This week there have been and will be protests because they want their president gone.  They want a new government.  They want the leaders to give a damn about them and help them get out of the situation they are in.  On Monday there was a large protest in the area just out front of the Plaza Hotel.  We saw the UN and HNP (Haitian National Police) lined up in full riot gear and shields.  The people started their protest and it soon turned to them throwing rubble at the cops.  We were inside the plaza talking with some of the teams from IMC and then all of a sudden it sounded like a huge shotgun going off.  We ran up to the balconies that overlook the tent cities and we saw a UN armored personnel carrier firing rubber bullets into the crowd from it’s vehicle mounted canon.  Are you for real?  The people throw rocks and you immediately go to throwing rubber bullets.  How about water or something that will deter them more effectively.  No, instead they choose to shoot them with hard rubber bullets that if you catch one to the head it could mean lights out.  Anyway, within a few minutes of the overuse of force, the General received 5 trauma patients.  If I’m not mistaken one of the guys still had the thing lodged in his leg.  Way to go UN.  I thought they were peace keepers, not peace makers.

I also found out that the HNP arrested 2 of the protestors and then killed them in the jail cell.  The HNP has direct orders from the government here to dramatically increase their use of force if anyone protests against the president.

Throughout most of PAP the people are all in agreement that their current president has to go.  A few entries ago I stated that nothing was being done to clean up the area, but over the last 2 weeks they have been making some significant headway.  The heavy equipment comes in at night and picks up the piles of rubble that the people put in the streets, which there is a lot of.  The next day, the people move more rubble into the streets.  Right by our house they had a massive pile that must have taken 6-7 truckloads to move out.  We were so happy the next day when we saw it gone.  4 hours later we drove past it and guess what, they had started to refill the street.  The people here are very hard working and it would be nice to see their government get off their butts and do something.  But I guess that will never happen when your own government doesn’t even consider you to be human.

Don’t worry, I’m almost done venting.  I am so proud of the international community and their ability to COMPLETELY FORGET ABOUT HAITI!!!!!!!  Sure the pictures were devastating and sad and the networks rating went through the roof thanks to the helplessness of the people here, but now that the acute stage is over it’s back to “piss on you Haiti”.  I wish one of the major networks would have the guts to stay down here and show what is really happening.  If the world were to see what is truly happening here that network would have the best viewership ever.  I see them coming and going, reporting on a tent city that’s 20 yards from their nice hotel room and full bar, but that’s about it.  I know they’ll be back when the riots go full force, when the rains cause major mud slides, or even better, when the hurricanes wipe out entire tent cities that have been there for months.  Then they’ll have some great new pictures and video of what’s going on here.  Forget about the malnourished, the sick, the homeless, the desperate people here.  Oh, and let’s not even talk about the volunteers here who are actually making a difference.  Let’s report on the huge NGO’s that raise millions of dollars that never make it here.  that’s all I have to say about that.

Now, on to what we are doing here………

I want to send a very special thank you to the Mission of Hope.  They have given us another 24ft box truck loaded with supplies that can actually be used in PAP.  We went through their surplus yesterday and loaded up our truck.  It will probably take us about 5 days to clear all of this stuff out and get it to the teams that need it.  We have about 5 pallets of OR supplies (drapes, gowns, gloves,etc…) so if you are in country and reading this please let me know.

I also want to thank IMC.  They are giving us 2600 pairs of shoes, 1200 blankets, a pallet of baby food and a pallet of oatmeal.  That’s probably going to be gone in about 4 days.  Mike, Kelly, Erika, Andy, Dave, Gabe, Hannah, Heather, and anyone else that is here working on the admin/supply side THANK YOU SO MUCH.

We are also working with Medishare to help move out a ton of the Gatorade Ensure they have.  There are so many patients here that can use the extra calories to get better.  Let’s see what we can do on this one.

So aside from the re-allocation of supplies, we’ve done a few patient transfers.  Josh Payne was with us for 5 days and he was a blessing.  Aside from his always cheery disposition, he always had me rolling with perfectly timed movie quotes.  We hope to have him back here soon.  When we first met the guy he was waiting for us at Medishare.  He had been there for a few hours hanging out and I see this stocky red headed dude that is way to white and way to clean to have been here for very long.  By the time he left he had a nice Haitian sunburn and had soiled every one of his white T-shirts to the point that bleach doesn’t stand a chance.  The kids loved him and so did we.  he was willing to do anything to help, even if that meant falling for a practical joke that involved him hoping out of bed at 1am to go due a critical transfer that didn’t exist.  Josh if you read this, get done with your schooling already and get back out here.

Last Sunday we actually took an afternoon off.  IMC, Medishare, JP/HRO and ourselves got together at the Medishare compound and played kickball.  While Mike was home for a week he had the ingenious idea to bring a kickball.  So there we are, playing kickball, in a muddy field, sweating terribly, and having a great time.  Some of the local joined in and it was hilarious to try and teach them the rules of running the bases.  At one point we had an Englishman, a Haitian, and an American all on second base, and they were all on the same team.  The Haitians would kick the ball and then run.  Not always to first.  Not always to a base.  They would just run.  Some of them don’t speak English so us yelling for them to go to first base was pretty useless.  And then the kids came in.  There was one little boy in particular.  He has a major heart problem and can’t run so after he kicked the ball I escorted him to first base.  Mike and I knew he was going to try and run so Mike says, “Hey BP, put him on your shoulders.”  I turn the kid around and sit him on my shoulders.  I leaned my head back and feel a plastic lump by my right ear.  At this point I am only hoping and praying that it is not what I think it is.  We get around all the bases and then I go to over to Jen and ask what it is.  Her response, a colostomy bag.  Yep, I’ve got a bag of poop right by my ear and i can just visualize it popping on me.  Mike came over and I told him that it was his turn to give the boy a shoulder ride.  We did the transfer and then I informed him of the bag.  The kid was so happy to be up above everyone and I was so happy to have my head further away from a potential poop bomb.

We ended up going swimming afterwards and started a cannonball contest.  I think Toby was the winner when he smacked himself in the face with his knee and broke his nose.  Thanks for killing the fun Toby.  I saw him yesterday and it’s looking pretty good.  We also have a few nurses that have returned, Kennedy, Jeanet and Erica.  These girls are great and working with them again will be so much fun.

On Monday we got to have dinner with Jessica, Matt, Liz and some of the other people that we met with our first time here.  I love this group and a special thanks goes to Matt for introducing me to Ragaman on my first day back.

Aside from everything going on here we do love what we are doing here.  The people need us.  The Organizations need us.  We need us.  Our group is small but very tight.  Pigpen is taking a month off to go home and work and she will be back in July.  Christina has joined our team and has proven herself to have what it takes.  The poor girl takes a lot of grief from us but it’s because we care about her and actually like her.  She’s the girl that hitched a ride with me from up North and then had to go back for 3 days.  Well that lasted 18 hours until she was back down here.  Ya. she’ll fit right in with us.

I know it’s been a while since I’ve updated photos but now I have a ton of them.  these were taken by LP, Lauren, Ralph (our resident photographer), Christina, and myself.   I know some of these are repeats but I had to dump all of them on at once.

I hope you enjoy them.  I love all of you very much even if we have never met.  We still need help financially so please send what you can.  We desperately need to stay here.

Here are the photos.  I want to thank Alan Statts, Ralph, Lauren. LP, Christina, and everyone else who took photos for us.