I heard about the earthquake Tuesday (1/12/10) evening about an hour after it struck.
All I knew was that a 7.0 earthquake had hit quite close to Port au Prince and much damage was expected. The next morning I had an early flight to Fort Lauderdale to go on a previously planned business trip. My brother Joe, who was in Virginia, was trying to communicate with our mission to instruct them on preserving fuel for vital needs and getting pictures of the damages we might have sustained. Communication was very difficult so he decided a personal inspection and directing of activities was necessary. He called to let me know he and his son Joey were planning to go to Haiti and I offered to go with him. Soon three more brothers decided to go as well. We all left Thursday afternoon on a chartered flight from Fort Lauderdale intent on landing in Port au Prince. We could not get a landing slot due to the many relief flights that were coming in from all over the world so we landed in Santiago in the Dominican Republic instead.
We met up with a group of four med students, all Haitians studying in Santiago who wanted to help their compatriots. The eleven of us drove until midnight, stayed the night in a hotel, then set out again early the next morning. We crossed the border without any difficulty, noting the lack of aid coming through the Dominican Republic, and arrived at the compound around noon.
We found the people immobilized by fear of more quakes, grief over the high death toll, and the stunning loss of meager possessions. We found only superficial damage to the buildings in our compound but were surprised at the extent of the damage in the villages surrounding Double Harvest. Two young kids died in collapsed buildings in the nearby village of Roche Blance.
The need for fuel to run our generator quickly became apparent as well as the need for orthopedic surgeons to deal with the many broken bones of so many of the victims. Our doctor had cleaned and stitched wounds through the night on Tuesday into Wednesday evening. Once the clinic received a badly needed cleaning the two operating rooms would be ready to see surgical patients.
On Saturday morning two brothers went back to the DR with a pickup truck with 6 barrels to meet up with a fuel tanker. The tanker, like so many other promises of aid, never materialized but they were able to fill the barrels assuring two more days of electricity. This search for fuel was a daily activity for the next 4 days until we had enough to know the generators wouldn't shut down. The ones left on the compound hooked up a portable generator to a water pump for Roche Blance. This village of approximately 5000 needed fresh water. We supply four other villages water through our water grid on the farm and these were checked to make sure they were running.
Between our satellite phone, iPhones and Blackberries we were able to communicate the dire need of orthopedic surgeons back to the States. There were a number of people trying to coordinate teams and supplies from the states into Haiti. Through these contacts Partners in Health, a large medical organization, came to see what we had available in the way of operating rooms. They quickly realized the quality of our facility and mobilized to use them. We ceded control of the medical effort to them and by Monday surgeries were being performed. Also by Monday other medical teams started arriving, some by helicopter and others by bus. Soon we had more medical staff than room to house them and different arrangements were necessary. Patients kept coming in and the surgery most often performed was amputation. Partners in Health did a masterful job juggling all the assets without assuming total control of the clinic. We were able to use the other visiting medical teams in pre and post op care as well as rotating in surgeons. So many limbs needed to be amputated we had to dig a "grave" to dispose of them.
The immediate medical crisis has been successfully met and now comes the follow-up care. With so many amputations rehabilitation, wheelchairs, crutches, and prosthetic limbs are urgently needed. We are back working the farm and doing our daily feeding program of the workers, getting the kids back to school, and feeding them as well. The tilapia project continues after we gave away this month’s harvest to encourage our surrounding villages and to get much needed protein to them. The challenges of rebuilding are ahead of us as well as the on-going effort of development.
Our aim is to obey our Lord when He tells us to care for the poor and to evangelize as opportunity arises.
For more information, please visit http://www.doubleharvest.org/