Haitian Update

UPDATE:

My friend Tony, who was in Haiti as recently as last May has reported that Dr. Morquette, his family and the staff and children at the King's Garden orphanage were not hurt in the earthquake. But we must remember that the quake is just the beginning of the disaster.

Dr. Morquette represents the World Relief Organization in Haiti. Here's their website.

WORLD RELIEF ORGANIZATION

Read about Dr. Morquette.

DR. HUBERT MORQUETTE

We have donated to the Red Cross in the past. They are the organization that will have the greatest impact in the immediate relief efforts. Here's the e-mail we received from them this morning:

Paul -
I’ve got a brief update for you on Haiti.

The situation is dire. Hundreds of thousands of people are feared dead. Government offices, including the Presidential Palace, have collapsed. Hospitals and the local Red Cross office have
sustained major damage. Children, families and communities are still suffering aftershocks following yesterday’s devastating earthquake.

We’re sending a team of trained Red Cross responders to support our local staff and the Haitian Red Cross volunteers already providing food, water, and medical treatment to survivors. We pledged $200,000 from our International Response Fund in relief services yesterday, and increased our commitment this morning to $1 million thanks to your advance generosity.

Additional help will be needed. To support our International Response Fund and help victims of disasters like the earthquake in Haiti, please click here:

INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE FUND

Matthew Marek, who runs our office in Haiti, managed to relay the following details to us last night using Skype, an online messaging service:

some neighborhoods are completely flat. major individual home damage. no telephone
i’ve seen untreatable issues. bones broken and exposed. lacerations of all kinds

medical attention is needed all throughout the capital. people are scared and gathered in the streets

there is really no place to go in many of these neighborhoods

the dust from the collapse is still lingering in the air.

If you can, please contribute to our International Response Fund today. If you already donated, please share this email with a friend. Your donation will help provide immediate relief and long-term support to victims of disasters like the earthquake in Haiti:
AMERICAN RED CROSS HAITIAN RELIEF

The next 48 hours are critical for life-saving operations such as search and rescue and first aid.

Thank you,

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As I mentioned before, there is no infrastructure and no response system. International help is necessary to help the Haitians deal with this.

Did you know that even the U.S. Peace Corps had pulled out of Haiti, leaving only the faith-based organizations to provide ongoing help? There are missionaries scattered throughout the country and many mission groups visiting throughout the year, including those providing building skills, medical and dental units. Our own church puts together a large shipping container filled with food and much needed medication.

Yes, you read the e-mail correctly. A broken limb with exposed flesh and bone will probably be fatal. There is no way to treat this type of injury. There's hardly enough medication to treat illness on a non-emergency basis and as I said the doctor to patient ratio in Haiti is in the thousands.

Here's a link to SAMARITAN'S PURSE, which is an organization our church partner's with in efforts to help in Haiti. There are videos, audios and an opportunity to donate.

SAMARITAN'S PURSE

If you click through and watch the video you will learn that relief efforts are complicated by the fact that the U.N. building in Port au Prince was damaged, if not leveled. The U.N. group usually coordinates the relief efforts.

Also, DC-3's loaded with medical supplies and doctors provided by Samaritan's Purse are leaving for Haiti but are facing difficulties when they arrive. The lights and the traffic control tower have been damaged and are not operational.

As I said before, the faith-based organizations were some of the few with feet on the ground at the time of the quake. i'm sure that the Red Cross has now arrived. The faith-based organizations with mission in Haiti have mobilized. These people are going to need long-term help.

Can the power of the blogosphere be used to do good in the world? We'll wait and see.