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What We Know - Earthquake Updates
Posted Sunday, 17 January 2010
Call to Action from FHM Chairman, David Walmer - DONATIONS NEEDED IMMEDIATELY by Tuesday
Friends,
There has been a clamoring for people who want to help. We now have an opportunity but need to move quickly.
The CDC is going to coordinate the public health response. They are very concerned that the efforts are all directed at Port-au-Prince and other affected areas are being neglected. Leogane is a much smaller community and as you can see from the article has huge needs - 5,000-10,000 dead and 90% of the town destroyed.
( http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/World/Story/STIStory_478230.html)
This is the community where we are planning to build our hospital so we have many friends and are vested in helping them respond. The bypass is OK & we have had planes donated to us to fly medical supplies in and land on the bypass. Leogane is in a perfect location to serve as a staging place for points west of PaP.
What we need:
- antibiotics
- analgesics
- sedatives
- orthopedic supplies (casting, etc.)
- surgical supplies (gloves, gowns, masks, scrub brushes, suture, etc.)
- anything for anesthesia
- water treatment materials
- IV fluids, dressing materials, betadine, etc.
- tents
- anything else useful for trauma
Please spread the word to anyone who might be able to help.
Wave two of support will include food & water. Stay tuned...
Contact the FHM office on Monday, January 18th, to bring in donated supplies, tel 382-5500, between 10 am and 4 pm.
JAMALYN AND TEAM IN US
Jamalyn Williamson and her team have arrived safely at Homestead air force base in Florida Saturday evening. They will fly home on their scheduled flight Sunday afternoon on American Airlines. After this week, it is hard to believe that they are actually catching up with their scheduled flight.
Jamalyn reports that they were at the Orphanage Tuesday evening when the earthquake hit. The Orphanage sustained damage, but remains standing. All of the children are accounted for except of course baby Jude. The guesthouse and the school are a loss.
Haiti Fund Update
We were able to "ping" HaitiFund's mission compound satellite last night which indicated that at least things were still upright, then today Peirre managed to get out to L'Acul and reports that apart from a small perimeter wall collapse the mission compound was unharmed. The same for "our" church across the road ,The Church of the Ephiphany. Although only 9 miles from the epicentre of the quake the steel and concrete we built things from seems to have stood the test. Our custodians clement and Paul were safe and unharmed but have not been a ble to contact their families in the mountains. We remain concerned for our schools at Silhoe and St. Johns but have no news although todays news gives us hope.
Keep us in your prayers
Mike Mc Carthy, Haiti Fund and All Saints Episcopal
Earthquake intensity maps
 
Saturday evening update from Jaque Labrom
Hi there folks - sorry I'm very late in sending this but my poor housekeeper Gariel, has been out for the past 8+ hours standing in line and trying to get gas to run my generator in order for me to write my emails!!!
The gas and the telephone situation are the worst things that are bothering me personally!!! Digicel gave everyone 200 gourdes on their phones to apologise, I presume for no service since the quake, and then there was a little touch of service but now none!! and the worst thing too now is that Voila, the only one of the 3 cellphone services that was working now is having problems with their signal, so we're left without a phone service.
I hired a chauffeur today to take me down to see Felix, my chauffeur and his family in order to see how they were doing - you remember their house collapsed and his wife was hurt. It was also a chance for me to get out and see stuff on the streets.
There were people just aimlessly walking here and there on the streets as though they were searching for who knows hat - probably water, food, their friends, their family members whom they can't get in touch with. Many people were carrying suitcases or their goods on their heads etc. and presumably having lost their houses, were now looking for a new place to stay, or a friend's house to stop at.
Most people were wearing either proper masks or scarves over their faces as the smell on the streets with rotting garbage and dead bodies was terrible. I took some Vicks to smear under my nose (having seen ths on CSI etc!!) and gave the driver some too.
Round where Felix lives, which is in a very built up area called Ruelle Nazon, so many houses had collapsed. As in so many other areas we passed all the neigbourhood were sitting out in chairs and just being together and supporting each other. Felix was surprised but glad to see me, as was the family and Mme Felix's arm was broken (not her foot as I thought!) and also she had a piece of metal which pierced her other upper arm. She was bruised around the eyes and looking in pain, but they said she was alright. There was a local doctor looking after her for which I was glad. I went to see his house and because he was on the bottom of a two storey house, the top one had fallen on top of his and it was totally crushed. Thank God no-one was inside - Mme Felix suffered her injuries from another house falling at the back. I took back with me his little daughter Christina to stay at my house and offered to bring Mme Felix too, but they said no, as the Doc was there, needed to look after her.
So we left and decided to go downtown to see what all had happened.
The beautiful buildings had collapsed such as the Catholic Cathedral, St Trinity's, although it looked at a glance like the front of the church was still standing so maybe the native art murals will be saved. Wonderful if that is so. The Palace was in a terrible state. The Central part, whch is the ceremonial part was completely caved in and the sides right and left of it, were also badly damaged. But amazingly the HEROES were still standing - yes Jean Jacques Dessalnes, Toussaint Louverture, Henry Christophe and Alexander Petion - all their statues were intact!! Amazing. But every empty space - parks, open spaces of ground, were completely filled with impromptu camping grounds, some even with little tents, but most with pieces of plastic or sheets to protect people from the beating sun.
I was glad that I personally didn't see many dead bodies. I was prepared for it but was glad not to have seen it. Some guy was digging a hole on the sidewalk to bury someone so the situation for all the people who died is awful, although the Minister of Feminine Affairs I think it was. was telling everyone to take the dead to the cemeteries so they could be buried.
I came up thru Canape Vert and I believe that the big private hospital, although damaged, was treating people.
But two schools nearby had collapsed. We saw signs of people still searching thru rubble, as though there were still people buried below!!
The shantytowns on the way up Canape Vert were very badly hit - so many of their houses had collapsed and as they are built so close to the next one, then they hit the one next door and it's like a domino effect.
In Petion-Ville I didn't see much as we just cut through, but the digicel building has cracks in it and the European Union and the Brazilian Embassy have moved out for a while.
Going down Delmas - a mixed bag. But Caribbean market was dreadful and there were people there - still trying to get people/bodies out - I know they got a lot out on Weds. and many were alive, so I suspect they are still trying.
Sad news about the Montana owner - she was alive on Weds. but by the time they got her out on Thursd she was dead. Terrible.
I heard the US Ambassador on the radio yesterday and he said they were working very hard to help Haiti. They had a big boat which was in Haiti now and it had helicopters which could go to places where vehicles couldn't get to to give out food and water. In fact in several places downtown we saw trucks of water with foreigners, whether aid workers or Minustah giving out water to people.
Interestingly a reporter on the Radio was saying that what Haiti needed was the Marshall plan, the plan where was it the US? rebuilt Europe after the war!! Everyone is saying that without the aid workers coming in and the donations Haiti would be finished. Many many countries are donating money - and the Haitians were surprised as it's countries we don't even do business with like Gabon, Philippines I believe, Portugal, even my home country was sending 6 million euros and many many specialist aid workers and equipment etc. But the Haitian ministers and journalists are encouraging Haitians to do things themselves too and not leave things for the foreigners (the blancs!) to do it for them.
I lost a good friend Emmanuel, a Haitian French guy - whose wedding to an NZ girl I had organised in 2002, and then they came back to Haiti as she was working for Minustah - but fortunately not in the Christopher HQ. But a friend wrote me from the DR to say she had met Emily at the Sto. Domingo airport with her youngest chld and she had lost Emmanuel, the husband and their 2 older daughters - horrible horrible news. They had only just come back to Haiti in April!! They were at a dinner party I gave just last week - and Ann my friend from Minustah was also at it. So I'm in shock.
We've still had some more aftershocks - I hate them!! we had 1 in the night and then two this morning. The experts say that if you don't have afterschocks for 2/3 days then things are on the up and up!! Guess not yet.
I was pleased however to see that here was plenty of fruit and vegetables and food supplies on the street markets in PVille, so this is good. None of the supermarkets have yet opened and neither have the banks, which is going to be a worrying factor if this doesn't happen by Monday!!!! No ice of course!!
That's about it friends. Keep praying hard for Haiti. I'm just fine though and thank you all for your concern and your thoughts. If I dont write back to you individually you'll understand!! I've got over 500 emails waiting for me, but a lot of those are news reports!!
Take care.
Jacqui Labrom
Note from Pastor Profaite at Cite Soleil written Saturday afternoon
Dear friend,
We thank you very much for your moral suppport. Yes, it is a hard time for Haiti. But, we believe that God is still in control. Thank be to God, My relatives, parents and I are safe.
Unfortunately, as far as we know, we lost one church member at C/S church and another one at Blc church as well as some of our church members' families, and several injured.
Cite Soleil Church and Repatriote church are crack everywhere and we cannot use them. We plan to do worship service in open air until we can do something different.
I hope to send some pictures over this weekend.
Please keep praying for us and Haiti as a whole so that we may use the consequences of this dark event for good and to rebuild a better Haiti.
Profaite
"Nous faisons les fonctions d'ambassadeurs pour Christ, comme si Dieu exhortait par nous; nous vous en supplions au nom de Christ: soyez reconcilies avec Dieu. (2 Corinthiens 5:20)"
Profaite Medeus, BTH, MAR
Pasteur de l'Eglise Chretienne des Cites
Economiste
Tel. (509) 3495 2863; (509) 3565 6348
Update from Bill Glass re: Pastor Leon and Pastor Luc in PAP - Saturday
It has been a busy day and we had to leave our office and computers
for a while. Before we left we spoke with Leon and Luc on Skype.
Today Leon and Luc were meeting with the church leaders of the various
churches. This is a first step in a corporate assessment of where the
community is and what the needs are. We know the general info - the
level of destruction and damage in the communities and that there have
been some deaths. We know that some relief has been provided from the
ministry areas. We know that food and medical attention are most
critical, though cover will become a priority whenever rains arrive.
We learned this AM that Profaite is ok - I don't think that this was
in question, just that he has checked in directly with us and the
other concerns had submerged queries about specific individuals. Leon
will try to check back in this evening via Skype. For those who know
Nadege, Dieu merci for her skills in achieveing connectivity. We were
able to talk to her today, as well.
Our friends in Christ and missions at Mission of Hope (near Ibo Beach
in Haiti) have a med team that they have offered plus the better part
of the last container of rice rations that had cleared customs before
the earthquake. We have asked MOH to move the food, some tents they
have and the med team to Blanchard in order to step up the relief
efforts.
A med team from Richmond is trying to get down immediately in order to
carry supplies and provide care plus help deal with sanitation at the
refugee areas in the compounds. We are too aware that we are racing
the clock to forestall disease following the earthquake.
I have given Leon a list of questions, with priority to knowing
exactly what we have and what we can use for immediate relief and near
term support of the teams that will be coming.
CNN has expressed interest in talking with Leon Monday AM. We are
trying to make that happen.
Connectivity is sketchy. A few years ago we made the decision to
focus on internet connectivity rather than a satellite phone. While
this is still the best decision, I can tell you that I wish Leon had a
satphone in hand.
Donations are arriving. We have received enough $ in a single gift to
buy one of the circus-size (10,000 sq ft) tents that Leon has said are
a priority. A partner in ministry in Florida is pursuing other leads
on more of these large tents. We are focusing efforts on the
immediate needs - food, shelter and meds - while prepping plans for
picking up some reconstruction effort.
shalom - Bill Glass
UPDATE from Pastor Leon to Kathy, Saturday Afternoon
Hi Kathy,
I finally could get to you. It's been very hectic. The situation in Haiti is at its worst. Thank God the medical clinic building is the least affected of all of the buildings that we have in the compound. There is not even one crack in that building; all other buildings suffered some kind of damages one way or the other except the FHM medical building.
Leogane is greatly affected, maybe that's why you haven't heard from Delson yet.
Mme Moise, the cleaning lady at the clinic at Blanchard lost her house totally. She has no place to stay; other staff members suffered some minor damages but not as much as Mme Moise Esterne. Her house is completely destroyed by the quake. I recommend that FHM help her in any way that they could. I could send you pictures of the damaged house if that would help.
Jeanette, the nurse at the clinic, lost her mother. She buried her Mom two days ago. Lots of people in Blanchard area suffered great loss. Boselor, known as Bosy,one of our long time interpreter, died and buried two days ago also. The list goes on and on. So far in our immediate church family , we registered 7 deaths, 24 injured and 40 + damaged houses.
Your brothers and sisters in Haiti need your love, care and sympathy.
Happy to serve Christ with you in Haiti.
Leon & Jacky
For those of you who love the city of Jacmel - from Jacqui Labrom
I heard from Jean, the Manager of the florita and he is fine as his family, but one staff member was killed. The hotel is in a precarious state and one of the walls is leaning over and if it goes down it will collapse onto the bar and the restaurant.
The good block at Cyvadier Plage is down - the one above the restaurant - all of our favorite parts of the hotel. Haven't heard from Christophe out there but can imagine the work he has to cope with.
Luv Jacqui
Posted on Sat, Jan. 16, 2010
Shattered and forgotten, the port city of Jacmel waits
BY TRENTON DANIEL AND ANDRES VIGLUCCI
aviglucci@MiamiHerald.com
The roads to Jacmel are blocked and the only way to travel is by foot or motorcycle.
While the world's attention focused on earthquake-ravaged Port-au-Prince, a catastrophe of parallel magnitude has been unfolding in isolation on the country's southern coast, which the quake left littered with smashed buildings and extensive casualties.
Stranded and increasingly desperate residents of Jacmel, a quaint, historic Caribbean port city that suffered widespread damage and has been cut off from Port-au-Prince to the north, complain they have been forgotten. Four days after the quake struck Jacmel with equal force, they say they are still awaiting food, water, medical supplies and relief workers.
``We need so much help because there are a lot of people injured at the hospital, because there are a lot of bodies under the buildings,'' said Phen Lafondse, 34, an electrician.
In scene after scene that eerily echoes the destruction seen the world over in Port-au-Prince, two-story buildings throughout downtown Jacmel -- a tourism center of some 40,000 people known for its art, French Colonial architecture and a spellbinding carnival -- have been reduced to concrete rubble. Residents walk through the streets with bandannas covering their faces because of the pervasive odor of decomposition that hangs over the city.
A vocational and auto-repair school, the Eunasmoh Institute, points to the severity of the local disaster: At least 100 students were crushed when the building collapsed in the quake, neighbors said. The trapped bodies of the victims could still be seen Friday, crushed arms and stiff legs protruding from the ruins.
But piles of dirt and fallen boulders block the narrow, winding road through the mountains from Port-au-Prince to Jacmel, and residents say help has yet to make it through. They wonder if the outside world is even aware of what happened here.
Miami Herald journalists who provided the first news accounts out of Jacmel traveled to the city Friday from Port-au-Prince partway by car, briefly hiked closer to the city on foot and entered on motorcycle taxis Jacmel is known for. Before dusk fell Friday, a government bulldozer had begun working to clear the road.
The epicenter of Tuesday's quake was located between Jacmel and Port-au-Prince, which are about 25 miles apart. The destruction in Jacmel may have initially escaped outside notice because of U.N. briefings that said damage from the quake appeared mostly restricted to Port-au-Prince.
RUNNING ON EMPTY
The desperation in Jacmel is perhaps nowhere more evident than at a makeshift medical treatment facility in the city center. Forced here after the adjacent hospital suffered severe damage, doctors and local relief workers scrambled to treat more than 100 victims.
``Tomorrow, the medicine, everything we have, is going to be gone,'' said Jean Prophete Baptichon, a hospital administrator.
Doctors and relief workers say they've seen about 300 patients since the quake. Six people, including two children, died from injuries, they said.
As they wrap bandages on broken arms and legs, doctors resort to improvisation -- an ophthalmologist, for example, treats fractured bones and concocts splints with what he can.
And they worry that the hospital next door could collapse at any moment. Tremors from an aftershock rattled Jacmel for a few seconds Friday afternoon and sent people dashing away from buildings still standing.
They worry about the generator running out of fuel. And they worry about running empty on medical supplies, medicine and antibiotics.
There is a small relief presence in Jacmel -- many of them here since before the earthquake -- but it in no way matches the size of that in Port-au-Prince.
UNICEF workers are trying to coordinate with authorities in the neighboring Dominican Republic to helicopter in medicine and other supplies. They also may evacuate patients to the Dominican Republic.
`It's almost impossible to send people to Port-au-Prince,'' said Tameka Donatien, a UNICEF coordinator from Cameroon. ``It's a complete mess and we don't want to complicate things.''
In fact, some injured residents of Port-au-Prince fled the city for treatment in Jacmel. Brothers Vladimir and Stanley Desir opted to bear hours of agony and took motorcycle taxis to Jacmel, where they have family, after their Port-au-Prince home came down on them. Two sisters died.
``The hospitals in Port-au-Prince couldn't help us,'' said Vladimir, 24, a student.
HALTED PROGRESS
The city's near-destruction may prove especially troubling for Haiti's future because it was widely seen as one of the impoverished nation's few bright spots. Picturesque and long regarded as the safest city in Haiti, Jacmel had managed to keep a steady tourism trade going even as international visitors avoided the rest of the country -- enough to establish annual film and music festivals.
Just this month, the announcement that Choice Hotels International, owners of Comfort Inn, would be franchising its brand to two hotels in Jacmel was hailed as a sign of optimism and growing foreign investment interest.
But at least one of the city's leading small inns, The Florita Hotel, a New Orleans-style house built of brick in 1888, was heavily damaged, with half of the structure lying in a heap. It was one of several surviving period homes in Jacmel.
``It survived a lot of hurricanes, including some bad storms last year, but this earthquake did it in,'' said owner Joe Cross by phone from New Jersey, where he was when the quake hit. ``Jacmel was by far the nicest town in Haiti, and this was one of the sturdiest of the old houses -- but I don't know how charming it is now.''
Five resident staff members have been sleeping outside the hotel for fear the rest would collapse, though neither workers nor some 15 guests suffered any serious injuries, Cross said.
``Jacmel is going to require a lot of time before it comes back to normal,'' said Jean-Ruid Senatus, La Florita's manager, outside the shattered inn.
Stranded tourists and missionaries, meanwhile, were trying to map exit plans amid a growing and worrisome shortage of food, water and fuel.
At the 32-room Hotel Cap Lamandou -- one of the hotels slated to become a Comfort Inn -- some 30 church-group workers and a few Haitian tourists were holed up until they could find a safe way out.
Melanie Piard, a graphic designer from Montreal, came to Haiti to bury her mother and headed to Jacmel afterward for some respite from bereavement. But then the earthquake happened. Piard said she and her family learned of relief efforts under way in Port-au-Prince on the Internet.
``But what about us?'' asked Piard, 30. ``We're stuck here.''
Daniel reported from Jacmel and Viglucci from Miami.
Staff News (updated Sunday, 17 January 2010)
Posted Saturday, 16 January 2010
Posted Friday, 15 January 2010
Posted Thursday, 14 January 2010
Posted Wednesday, 13 January 2010
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