Two updates 23rd and 25th January 2010

Information Release for Newly-orphaned Children

Dear NPH Family,
First, we would like to thank everyone for their support and willingness to respond during this difficult time. All of your help has been greatly appreciated. After the earthquake struck, the immediate response of our NPFS (NPH-Haiti) team was to make sure our children were safe and then focus on the injured. Having achieved this, we have begun focusing on serving the growing population of newly orphaned children. The UN estimates there are 600 tent cities, with anywhere from 1,000 to tens of thousands of people. There is no sanitation, no food, no water or medical care. Our goal is to reach these communities through continuing our medical brigades, food stations and by implementing a program that gives children accessibility to a clean environment, food, water and activities. This “Day Camp” will target children living in these tent cities. Our team will begin by working within the communities and parks where we have contacts through the St. Luke Outreach programs. We are known and trusted within this existing format. With the help of the St Luke staff and those ex-pequeños that grew up at our St Helen orphanage in Kenscoff, but now have no home since the earthquake, we will bring children to our day camp and return them to their families at night. We will begin an intake process for those whom we can establish do not have a family. Since there were a number of adoption programs going on in Haiti before the earthquake struck, we also need to determine which children might have been already promised under these programs. Children who are orphaned or apparently abandoned and not awaiting completion of adoption will be integrated into our family at St Helen. As you can imagine, we can expect the orphan identification and integration process will be quite arduous. Alfonso Leon of NPHI Family Services is leading the team to implement this program. He has 25 ex-pequeños assisting him along with a cook to prepare the meals. Two large tents with the capacity for 50 people have been set-up on the St. Luke soccer field located inside the Kay Germaine compound, adjacent to the St. Damien Medical hospital.

Please recognize that we do our best to determine an appropriate response to this emergency and provide aid immediately. We simply do not have time to hold conferences to receive input from everyone who has an opinion, so please be patient with our team on the ground as they develop this program.

We will be sending out more information as it is available.Thank you,Monica

Hospital Update 23rd January
dictated over phone by Robin Schwartz and Dr. Peter Tinnemann

There are 140 patients in the hospital and two-thirds are children. Sixty children are under five and 35 children are over five. Three mobile medical clinics were treating patients in the community and each treated roughly 80 patients each, mostly children.

The UN search and rescue efforts are officially coming to a halt, but on Saturday a 24-year old student was found alive. The estimated death toll is 110,000 and 600,000 people homeless. Estimates are 20,000 still injured and approximately 1,000 people need advanced medical care. Today we transported four patients to the USS Comfort for advanced care.

We are very grateful to all the people supporting us! Today we received a huge deliver of medical supplies sponsored by a TV audience in Germany. We also received one-month stock of rice, beans, oil and salt from the World Food Program. The American Academy of Pediatrics sent medicine along with casting materials which now gives us a sufficient stock.
Hollywood actor, Sean Penn visited the hospital on Friday and brought a much-needed supply of crutches. We are extremely grateful!

Fr. Rick arrived in Haiti Saturday morning after driving all night from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. He is happy to be back in Haiti but shortly after his arrival, he was called to a meeting with Dr. Paul Farmer, co-founder of Partners in Health, to discuss the efforts in how to alleviate the suffering of the Haitian people. After the meeting, which was at the Port-au-Prince General Hospital, Fr Rick was interview by CNN. All the other meeting participants left in their air-conditioned cars parked between the rubble and stinking streets. But Fr. Rick mounted the back of a motorcycle and rushed back to the hospital. He prefers to use the same means of transport as the local people.