They are on a plane to Atlanta

I did not get much in the way of details, they were running to get on the plane as we spoke.  I believe it may be a commercial Delta flight, but I don't know for sure and I don't know when it will be arriving.  They will call me when they get there and we'll figure out if we can get them home from Atlanta today or tomorrow.

Apparently they were just sitting on the tarmac, waiting for flight options, there is no terminal, everything is outdoors. 

Video from Alden Ho at one of the clinics being run today

Here's a video that Alden Ho posted on Facebook showing one of the clinics in operation today.

Chris at Port au Prince Airport

Chris called this morning around 6 AM PST to let me know they made it to the airport and are now trying to figure out how to get out.  They are waiting for military transports that have seats available (if you carry a US Passport you can get on one of these).  There are some commercial flights going out but they come at a cost of $600 p/seat.  So they will wait and she will call once she hears more information.

Part of the team coming home Tuesday!

I spoke with Chris this evening.  As time goes on over there it sounds like things are becoming more and more political unfortunately.  Getting supplies out is becoming a real challenge, the reports are that there are a lot of supplies at the airport but getting them out is becoming political and problematic.

The other challenge as well is getting out of there.  To leave, they will need to go to the airport and wait for a transport flight they can get on, so total standby.  ChrisP, Chris and Victoria are going to the airport on Tuesday morning with about 9 other folks from another team to see if they can get out of Haiti to Miami.  We'll know more tomorrow, she said she would call when she makes it to the airport and learns more.

I was asked in the comments if any of them over there have seen Mateo, the answer is no.  He came over earlier and was not with this organization, so they don't believe he was ever at that camp where they are at.  Hopefully he has been heard from since the comment was posted.  Was he due back into work and did not show up?

Chris, Tricia and Michelle on Monday

Waiting for their assignments this morning....

Sunday call from Chris, frustration is setting in....

Sunday call with Chris, looks like Wednesday is the target day for coming back still, so three more days.  Frustration is setting in I can tell, they have no supplies and it feels to her like they are not doing anything, almost lieing to the patients. 

They have drugs like Tums, Ibuprofen, Aspirin, some ointments, but not a lot of what they really need.  They are being told to treat the well because the sick will likely not survive.  Everyone seems to have lice, scabies, intestinal worms, or a combination of the three, all are very sick.  The next waves of disaster will include thousands dieing from disease, malnutrition, dehydration, etc.  Then after that, hurricane season, this will not be pretty.

She says the streets are full of makeshift tents (bed sheets) because all the buildings are collapsed, the street is the only place to set things up.  They are doing what they can to stay positive and do everything they can to make people well, but they have little they can do.  Hopefully this improves with future teams (more teams and hopefully supplies coming in this next week).

And during all of this, there are births occurring.  I saw pictures from Alden of a baby being delivered just the other day, what a world to be born into.

There was an earthquake yesterday that they all felt, at this point though most everyone is outside and most buildings are already collapsed.

Chris is trying to get on a surgical team, she has been talking with an orthopedic surgeon and may be going to help them.  She is hoping that she can get somewhere where she can actually provide some meaningful care as right now she is not feeling that way.

Apparently the French Military & Fire Personnel arrived as well, and it's a welcome site to many of the women over there!  They are all fresh and still clean I guess, but apparently very handsome too!
 

Alden Ho Photos

I've included some Alden Ho photos in the Flickr photo slide show I posted yesterday.  There are some new ones today, I will add them to the slide show but I thought I would include some here as well so you can see them directly.  All photos © Alden J. Ho Photography, aldenho.com and used with permission. You can find Alden on Facebook too and see all of his pictures, warning though, there are some graphic pictures of amputations there as well.

This is Michelle and Chris Gonzales getting prepped to head out for the day

Here are two of the three clinic teams in the back of a panel van getting ready to head out for the day

Clinics setup seeing patients, this is Tricia and a translator working with a patient.  They saw over 300 patients per team in about 5 hours time.

Clinic setup, lines of people waiting to be seen

I think this is Nitti working with a boy.  Lots of scabies and lice.

Here's my Chris with a patient

Jan 31 photos from Michelle Cabasaan

I've added these photos to the Flickr slide show.  Michelle posted these on Facebook this morning, showing them heading out to the clinic and some shots of the clinic itself.

Nightly call from Chris

Another day of working with patients, it is good to hear that they have a little bit of levity amongst the team going on (I heard rumblings of a messy, near food fight, spaghetti dinner) to help them get through all of this.  Chris did say things are a little frustrating because there is not a lot they can do, they are really short on supplies and/or do not have the right supplies to treat what is going on.  Lots of infections, scabies, rashes and things like that and all they can really do is hand out vitamins.

It sounds like they may be coming home on Wednesday instead of Thursday, just because of availability of trips out of there.  She'll know more as they get closer.

I asked her about the reports I have seen where people can hear the Haitians singing at night, she said it's every night, all night long.  There is pretty much no power anywhere, so the singing is probably what keeps them going and busy all night. 

She also mentioned that she was impressed by the translators that are assigned to them.  The one she had today was a lawyer, well educated, spoke four languages.  They are in high demand so they get good treatment.

Chris felt this was the tip of the iceberg too, as far as the disaster is concerned.  With the amount of disease going on, more will die.  And they have good weather now, but she hears in 3-4 months it will be heavy rains, hurricane season, and nobody has any place to live.  This story is far from over.

Photos on Flickr - Slide Show

I've taken many of the images that I've posted on this blog and added some photos that Alden Ho has taken to a Flickr set and included a slide show below.  Alden Ho is a photographer that is with the team, he said I could share these photos, most show some of the devastation around the area where they are located.  Alden Ho has a website, AldenHo.com.

You can look at the slide show here, within the blog.  There is a button you can press to make it full screen as well.  In full screen mode you will be able to see any descriptions that are with the pictures, including who took the pictures.

A couple of reference web sites

Here are a couple of websites my brother Bill found that show information about the Adventist Hospital (pre-quake) and other facilities the organization runs.

This site (click here) is not in English, so the link will take you through the Yahoo Translation service.  It is for the Adventist University which the hospital is part of.

This site (click here) is a blog, it only has pictures though.  You will see the UNAH (Universite Adventist de'Haiti) on the lawn that is in one of the Google Satellite images I posted the other day.

Apparently they have a computer with some Internet access at base camp

Chris made a posting on Facebook a little while ago, apparently she can't sleep as it is late.  She called again earlier tonight, she mentioned it was really muggy.  She was actually able to take two "showers" today as they got running water and it helps with the muggy-ness.  She mentioned they had a computer setup but there was a really long line and she didn't think she'd be getting on it, but apparently that was not the case.  I asked her to post on here if she gets a chance again to say hello to everyone. 

This is what she wrote on her Facebook page;

Hey all, snuck on computer at basecamp. AMAZING experience, found my calling! Words cannot describe the devastation we are seeing. We are practically treated like celebrities! I hope we are making at a small dent in helping these folks. Lots to share. Thank you Honey Bunny for your encouragement and love! Will give updates when I can!

Today's call from Chris, some questions answered....

I just got off the phone with Chris, she sounded very excited and had a lot to say in a short period of time. In a Blog post last night I asked people to post comments if they have any questions and I received some from Caroline and have some answers to those plus more.

Today was their first day of seeing patients.  The hospital they are at (Adventist) is known as Base Camp and that is where they head out from each day to treat patients.  There are several teams of medical personnel working out of there and they organize in the morning into teams, get supplies and then head out to treat patients.  Base Camp received power and running water today, so that is good news.

The headed out around 11:15 and came back after 4 PM.  They want them all back by 5 PM, it is not safe for them all to be out after that time. 

Chris said that everyone there is basically homeless at this point, everything is destroyed.  It is as if she was dropped into the middle of a bombed out war zone.  Yet she said everyone is very nice and friendly.  She said she was walking with supplies and a little boy just came up and held her hand, smiled at her and walked with her to where she was going.  She was very touched by that.

She said the team she was on today treated about 300 people.  Infections, cuts, amputations, whatever comes they deal with it.  Everyone is working like they are doctors, we didn't talk for a long time but it sounds like whatever someone is comfortable doing they just do.  She seemed terrifically happy to be able to do what she did today, she said it felt like a calling.

She did mention that when they were organizing this morning they were looking for a nurse volunteer to go out with a search and rescue team because the other day someone was still pulled out alive.  Victoria volunteered to do that and apparently it was grueling and sad.  They were digging through rubble and all they recovered were 3 victims and it was hard to deal with.

They are providing them with one meal in the evening, she said she was very hungry after a long day of constant patient traffic.  The rest of the day they are on their own for food, and of course she has 200 bars so she should be fine!  I also sent her with a water chlorination and filtration kit so if they are not providing bottled water for them during the day she can make her own and keep it in a bottle for herself.

She did sleep very well last night after the long journey so she was well rested for the day.  The base camp is secure and she feels relatively safe in the environment where they are.  I reminded her to be vigilant on the mosquito protection, even though she is in a tent, hopefully she is.

Sounds like around 3:30 - 4:00 PM PST is when I'll hear from her through out the duration of her working in the clinics.  If she's able to charge more frequently now that the base camp has power, we may talk more. 

She said people are taking lots of pictures, so upon their return we'll try to get them up here or send links to them to share.  As I come across them (like Michelle's from her cell phone) I will post them.

I'm going to try to give Michelle direct access to post photos to the blog as Chris from her phone, we'll see if that works.

And if there are more questions, please leave them in the comments and I'll do what I can to get answers.

What do you want to know?

I've been learning a lot and posting up information that I can find that is helpful for me.  Over the next few days I'll be speaking with Chris, short phone calls, but I should be able to ask some questions about what is going on, what she and the team are experiencing, etc.  What types of things would you like to know?  Please post your comments with questions and I'll do my best to get them answered for you.

At this point, it's a go....

I went shopping this evening to try and get what Chris will need on this trip while she was working and trying to sort out the details of the trip.  At this point, things are a go.  No return flights are booked, but the group is committed to getting the team back on the 4th, even if that means they have to leave the Haiti area a little early to accomplish that.  Her coworkers are all on board so the team is intact, which is good.  In fact, I met her coworker Chris at REI tonight, we happened to be there at the same time.

So we'll know more about the return once she leaves, but the plan is to be back by the 4th.  She is off to Chicago tomorrow at lunchtime, flight leaves for Haiti @ 7 AM on Thursday.