Rockbridge-Haiti Medical Alliance

Here is the reality: Haiti is a catastrophe.

Father Malherbe and Catholic Commonwealth Charities of VA have both reported a staggering influx of refugees from Port-au-Prince to the Central Plateau and both have asked that we continue to focus efforts on serving our twinning relationship with Fond Pierre.

We have been asked when we will be mounting something, but the answer is becoming more evidently complicated. Simple questions like "Where will we stay?" and "How will we get there?" and "How will we travel throughout the country?" are simply the beginning. Matthew 25 House, where we normally stay, is one of the few remaining guest houses in Port-au-Prince still standing, but only partially. Gas for vehicles? Food to eat and water to drink? All infrastructure in the country is gone. The CDC website reports that people returning from the scene are experiencing high levels of psychological distress. Disease is imminent. The UN called this one of the worst tragedies it has ever faced.

We understand the heartbreaks, the sorrow, and the want to help, but we actively encourage people and groups to not simply board the nearest possible plane, as the situation is too difficult for even the most seasoned relief workers to handle.

Stay home. Help plan. Send money. Pray.

We covet your prayers as we assess needs and figure out how to continue our mission. Please keep Haiti in heart and mind and encourage your local leaders to do the same. Haiti has already begun falling off the media radar.

To understand the complexity of the situation, we reprint this piece from the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship (with permission of their Communications Office):

Haiti Relief Work: A Cautionary Tale

Below is an excerpt from a report of a doctor from NY who attempted to take a skilled team into Haiti to provide medical assistance:

The issues we were unprepared for and witnessed were:

The amount of human devastation

The complete lack of a medical infrastructure in the country

The lack of support of the Haitian medical community

The complete lack of any organization on the ground. No one was in charge, we had the first functional up and running hospital in the P.O.P area yet no one and I mean NO ONE came to the hospital to assess what we were doing, what we were capable of doing and what we would need, to be more efficient. The fact that the military could not or would not protect the resupply equipment on Sunday or let the Tuesday flight come in says it all.

Lack of any security at all at the hospital.

Currently there is no one obviously running the show and care is chaotic at best. MD's are coming in country with no plan of what they are going to do. Surgeons that expect to just show up and operate are delusional as to what their role would be as without a complement of support staff and supplies they would be of limited or no value.

Due to security issues, we had to leave the country prematurely. We all felt as though we abandoned these patients and the country and feel terrible.

As you can see, this group was well trained but still ill- equipped to deal with the realities that are still present in Haiti. May this serve as a cautionary tale for all of us who want to rush to respond. We do have a team in place that are addressing all of the above mentioned issues. In the coming weeks and months, CBF will be on the ground both in Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Until that time, may we all stay informed, pray, and give of ourselves in other ways.

Dr. Walter Kerschl
Co-Founder, President and Chairman
Rockbridge-Haiti Medical Alliance