FIRST-HAND ACCOUNTS FROM HAITI
The third team of ALYN therapists arrived in Haiti as part of IsraAID's mission.
May 14, 2010 / Update from Hedva Elharar
It's been an intense two weeks. We have been working nonstop. But when we arrive at the hospital, the patients recognize us and are excited to see us. They look forward to our therapy sessions. And that makes it all worth it.
We lead the team and the aides and trainees look to us for instructions. Week after week the ALYN therapists work relentlessly to increase range of motion and improve circulation for the patients. But many of the patients are deeply religious and believe that spirits have taken over their legs and therefore must not be disturbed. This leads to fear of mobility, which is our most difficult challenge - to overcome their fears. Many limbs are frozen with immobility.
Vered uses every tool she can to teach the patients to do daily exercises with the limited resources available. It is always incredibly moving for us when the most haggard patients smile because they finally regained the use of their once useless limbs.
Lately, we have been seeing fewer amputees and more complicated and unhealed fractures. The patients arrive only twice a week each, which makes intensive therapy impossible. Nonetheless, over the last week we have begun seeing leaps and improvements that fill our hearts with joy.
Everyone repeatedly thanks ALYN and the volunteers here for all of our hard work. But the truth is we are grateful to be able to help in any way we can and we eagerly await another day of helping heal our patients…
April 9, 2010 / UPDATE FROM HEDVA ELHARAR
Today we treated patients at St Germaine – you can see how much progress Dave is making! Then we gave all our attention to the abandoned children there, using the toys that we made with the Tevel B'tzedek team and a group of local girls from Pationville Camp. We decorated recycled plastic bottles and hung them across the children's beds. Slowly the listless, sad children began to pay attention as we moved the bottles. They followed the movement of the bottles and started to interact with us. One child was particularly drawn to the “toys” and really played. By coincidence, a European camera crew was also in the room "documenting local needs" and they too were enticed by the bottle toys and started to play with the children. It was very satisfying for us and we left hoping that the toys will entice the children to want to explore beyond their beds and cribs!
Shabat Shalom to all!
April 8, 2010 / UPDATE FROM HEDVA ELHARAR
We had a meeting at the UN today focused on purchasing wheelchairs for the earthquake survivors and other needy people in Haiti. After the meeting, I was asked to help consult by an organization that is trying to rebuild an orphanage for 12 children with disabilities. It seems that the organization has its own budget, but their professional knowledge of children’s treatments is limited at best. Noa and I are excited about this new venture.
April 7, 2010 / UPDATE FROM HEDVA ELHARAR
During a recent dinner with our fellow Tevel B'zedek volunteers, we told them of our exasperation at the distress and neglect of the abandoned children at St. Damien. We proposed a joint venture to work with one of their youth groups to make toys out of recycled and cast-away materials. They loved the idea and almost immediately we had a crate full of hand-made games. We hope to use these makeshift toys tomorrow at St. Damien to stimulate children’s motor skills and for the children to play with.
We are working at St. Damien with two other therapists, Sheila and Lisa, and still can barely manage to meet all of the patients’ needs. There are many different patients with varied medical issues. We are now seeing new patients with extensive deformities and severe injuries that we think resulted from their declining treatment when they were originally injured because they were afraid of amputations.
The culture of healing in Haiti is very different from what we are used to in Israel. Here, an injured person seems to accept that they are "out of the game" and just gives up, even if the injury itself wouldn’t prevent them from doing things. For instance, a person who has lost one of their hands automatically assumes they no longer have use of both of their hands. So we need to persuade them to try and learn to work with their non-dominant hand. Changing this attitude takes time and patience.
April 5, 2010 / UPDATE FROM HEDVA ELHARAR
Happy Pesach everyone!
On Easter Sunday in Haiti, we woke to the sound of singing coming from the makeshift church in the camp. The music confused us and we didn’t know whether to stand at attention or run and join. They were singing the Israeli national anthem – Hatikva!!!!!
We rushed to climb to the compound. It was bursting with the camp dwellers, all wearing their best clothes, singing in true joy, dancing and moving their hands in prayer. After the singing, the priest blessed those present in an emotional speech that was translated into English sentence by sentence. Sean Penn and many of his foundation people were there too. When the priest noticed us, he blessed us as representatives of Israel and thanked us for volunteering and helping Haiti. It was very moving! Then Sean Penn addressed the crowd with truly inspiring grace and humility.
In the afternoon, I joined the Easter celebration at another camp, St Juvinette, where Tevel B'zedek also works. We were invited by the community leaders. Meeting with the local children and young people was amazing. There was a school performance with songs and dances. After the program the children approached us and led us by hand to the center of the tent. The crowd stood and burst into song singing "We love Israel" and singing in Hebrew "Toda Yisrael". We hopped and skipped with them. I had goose bumps down my spine and I hope nobody noticed the film of tears misting my eyes.
Tomorrow we return to St Germaine, and I will write you some more
April 4, 2010 / UPDATE FROM HEDVA ELHARAR
For Easter Sunday we joined our other IsraAid mission members, the Tevel B’zedek volunteers, for a kite-workshop in the camp. Now we know why the kites are so important here! They are supposed to symbolize the connection between heaven and earth and the resurrection. Many children came to the workshop and later the beautiful kites filled the sky over the camp.
We could see these kites while we had the privilege of joining a "seder" held for the teenagers of Haiti at one of the camp aide's home. Raphael of Tevel B’zedek explained to the kids the meaning of Passover and some of the basic customs. Everyone tasted the foods and joined in. Raphael did not forget the Afikoman, but the children were too shy to "steal" it as the custom goes. They finally did it (with my encouragement) and enjoyed taking the matza and even more returning it in return for Raphael's compass. We sang the Hadgaddah songs and the children sang Haitian Hallelujas and thanked us.
Happy Pesach & Easter to all!
April 2, 2010 / UPDATE FROM HEDVA ELHARAR
After a long trip, we arrived in Haiti to a warm welcome by Norma, the physiotherapist at St. Damien. She generously praised our colleagues, Ayelet and Ofra, whom we just replaced. We promised her we would do our best to meet the high standard they set! On the way “home,” for the time we will be here, we began the process of adjusting. Port au Prince is incredibly densely populated. When we were in the plane we could see from above the stretches of paltry shacks – where most Haitians live, the tent camps dotting the city and people camping outside their half ruined homes. Now on the ground, we see that people are outside their homes (if they survived!) because they are afraid of the roofs collapsing. The streets are narrow and sometimes unpaved and if traffic moves at all it is as the same pace as walking! Pick- up trucks and taxis are decorated with wall paper on all sides and carry inconceivable loads of people. Women carry huge bundles on their heads. There are "restaurants" in the middle of the road – these are cauldrons with some bubbling stew which the chef/owner tries to sell to passers-by.
The whole city is a huge crowded market. Everyone is trying to sell something - old shoes, second-hand bras, fruits and vegetables. The squalor and crowding is heart breaking. Many houses are half demolished and there does not seem to be any major work being done to evacuate debris, though some places do show signs of construction. After more than an hour and a half of traveling we arrived at our neighborhood and our “home” for the next three weeks. The house is right next to a huge crowded camp. I cannot imagine how people can live like this for a prolonged time.
Surveying the camp gave us an immediate feel for the Haitian spirit- people are happy and smile despite the terrible situation. The children are incredibly sweet and lovely, very communicative in a straightforward and touching way. We have arrived at the start of Easter and here in Haiti kite flying is a local custom. It looks like every single child made a kite - from plastic bags and twigs - and everyone was flying their colorful kites with great deftness. It was hard to make our way through the crowds of kite-flyers. To see this sight in a camp so crowded that tent touches tent and dust rises with every single step and becomes slippery mud with every drop of rain and stinking streams of sewage run between the tents – is a sight that almost defies description.
The children have not yet returned to school- we've been told they will after Easter. We took only a few pictures because we felt embarrassed to point our cameras and capture such sorrow.
The second team of ALYN therapists arrived in Haiti as part of IsraAID's mission. Ofra Ginat, a physical therapist, and Ayelet Gal, an occupational therapist, are helping heal Haiti. Read their accounts below.
March 19, 2010 / UPDATE FROM OFRA GINAT
Last night the first heavy rain fell. We feared for the tents in the camp. Even our own modest apartment started leaking in several spots, though really it was nothing compared with what the people in the tents are going through.
The heavy rainfall through the night turned the camp sites into swamps. So when we arrived at St. Germaine Hospital in the morning, the children we were supposed to treat were not there.
Norma (the local physiotherapist) introduced us to Suzanne, the coordinator for the St. Domaine Center, which is the general rehab center affiliated with St. Germaine Hospital. Suzanne set us up to work with the adults - mostly with fractures and other orthopedic injuries - some of whom we were able to move out of bed for the first time since the quake!!
We also treated two children that were at St. Germaine - one with a spinal L2 injury and one with a fracture complicated by osteomyelitis. Ayelet found a child after CVA (not quake related) and referred her to St. Germaine, so after lunch we did a full intake and evaluation of her. Ayelet made a splint for her hand using a pot of hot water to soften the splint board and tailored it to her specific needs. I assisted as much as I could and found some prefab orthosis that fit her feet from the equipment we had with us.
At noon the skies cleared and three more children managed to make it to the center where we could treat them. All in all, we made the most of the rain and managed to turn it into an opportunity to help those who have been bed-ridden since the quake.
March 16, 2010 / UPDATE FROM OFRA GINAT AND AYELET GAL
The first two days here we had no Internet, so we apologize for not sending reports earlier. We have already started working in St. Damien Hospital. Most of the children Hilla and Coos treated are no longer at the hospital, but children are continuously being bought here. Some children can only make the trip to the center twice a week, since the city is in ruins.
We work from 8 AM to 3 PM and then go over to the hospital where we work for as long as we are needed. We instruct parents on how to bandage amputated limbs and teach those who have prosthetics how to wear them. We help with the positioning of prosthetics and actively work on strengthening, walking, etc.
We work with a team of Italian Orthotists. There is so much work and very few physical therapists here. The local aides are still untrained and quite overwhelmed, so they have not yet realized the need for occupational therapists. There is no one except us to do it all right now. The people in Haiti need so much help. So we plan to sit with Norma (the chief Physical Therapist at St. Damien) to plan several teaching sessions for her staff to introduce them to amputee treatment and to encourage independency.
MARCH 1, 2010 / UPDATE FROM HILLA BORAL
Yesterday a child from the USS Comfort was brought to the hospital. A US soldier placed him on the bed before leaving. I couldn't take my eyes off the little boy. He was buried under the rubble for three days and so had to have both his right arm and leg amputated. His left leg is bandaged and his face is totally scarred. The fear and sadness in his eyes were terrible.
After I went through his records, I realized that he has a surviving mother -only she couldn’t come with him. I really hope she gets here soon.
I will carry this child in my heart forever. I can already see how the ALYN team will help to make him so much better in three months. I don't know how and in what way exactly, but I know we have the ability.
FEBRUARY 28, 2010 / UPDATE FROM COOS WEVER
It's Sunday evening and time for another update. After my former, maybe somewhat pessimistic post, this one will be more optimistic.
First of all, I feel we have a workable plan for the near future, which is a great relief. The remaining arrangements are now up to the people in Israel.
Yesterday we went on a ‘‘tour’’ of the city, which was very difficult to see. So many people are living in tent cities with inhumane conditions. There are so many buildings that have collapsed; most governmental buildings have also collapsed, which makes it hard to believe that a government is functioning on any level. We passed through several slums that were here before the earthquake that now had horrific smells. This country was in dire need before the earthquake, but post-quake now seems doomed. Rumor has it that G7 will propose a plan to evacuate all of Port au Prince’s population and build it anew. Sounds hard to believe though. Anyway, the tour gave a good sense of the damage caused by the quake.
I learned that Chile also had an earthquake, 8.8 on the Richter scale (which is more than Port au Prince’s rumble), but with less casualties. Still, so sad and heartbreaking – all this devastation around the world. Did I mention that we had two aftershocks during our first few days here, both 5 point something on the Richter scale? Luckily, I didn't feel either. I was sound asleep from exhaustion, but others did feel them. Many people here live in tent cities not because their house is (completely) destroyed, but because they're afraid of the aftershocks and possible collapse of their homes.
Tommorow I'm going to St. Damien Hospital to strengthen ties and to pave the way for those who will be coming after us (hopefully). And then back to Israel on Wednesday. Hopefully I will be able to write another post before I leave.
Enough for now, sweet dreams.
FEBRUARY 23, 2010 / UPDATE FROM IsraAID
When the earthquake struck Haiti last month, five-year-old Simmorville Keture was buried underneath her home. Simmorville survived, but her right leg had to be amputated. One among the many wounded, she lay helpless in a bed for one month until ALYN therapists arrived with the IsraAid disaster relief team. After being provided with crutches and taught to stand, Simmorville began to walk again within minutes, astonishing the local hospital staff. She was one of 15 children with severe injuries and amputations at the Sacred Heart Hospital Center (CDTI, Centre Hospitalier du Sacre-Coeur) in Port au Prince who have benefited from a unique program also currently operated by the Israeli team.
Simmorville's first steps brought a bright ray of light to survivors and therapists alike. Such hands-on therapies will be available to more children as IsraAID disaster relief programs in Haiti expand from emergency medical aid to include post trauma child-friendly programs and community centers through its member group Tevel Be'Tzedek.
The IsraAID/ Tevel Be'Tzedek team includes two Israeli therapists from ALYN Hospital, who in the past few days have been treating 15 children at Sacred Heart, as well as assessing the needs of children across the stricken area.
Read the next entries from the ALYN's therapists in Haiti and read how Coos Wever met Simmorville and transformed her life!
FEBRUARY 23, 2010 / UPDATE BY HILLA BORAL
Today I stayed at camp to work on logistics while Coos went back to the Sacred Heart Hospital. We are part of the compound and have an assigned share of cleaning, food preparation, etc. Today there is a lot to do because tomorrow morning a huge air-conditioned tent will be put up, which was donated by actor Sean Penn.
I have to explain how things work here. This is a valley surrounded by slopes filled with refugee tents. It is incredibly crowded. Every family has a tiny plot to themselves. There are toilet tents and shower tents and Red Cross Clinics. We are staying at the top of the hill in the compound that the US Army set up. They are responsible for food and water distribution (unbelievable heaps of bottled water), security and hygiene. There are three organizations with us. One is Sean Penn's, who brought over a medical and logistics team, another is Oxfam, which deals with the logistics of running the refugee camp, and then there are the ten of us with IsraAID. I met Sean Penn walking around as one of the team members. They say he will also provide a better Internet connection - I hope so.
While writing this report a US soldier showed up looking for an Occupational Therapist. I went with him and prepared a splint for a woman at their clinic. Her hand was crushed in the quake and contractures are already setting in. I showed her some exercises and made her balloons filled with flour to use for therapy.
I feel we are starting to get a clearer picture. We have yet to locate more kids. We need to find where the badly injured children are and where will they be sent later. We asked for a tour of the USS Comfort because we think that would be a great help.
Coos really wants to care for the children right away and I completely understand him. I thought we would spend half of each day doing therapies and the rest of the time looking at new places, but it hasn’t worked out that way. Coos and I are fine despite the hardships – all the discomfort is negligible and unimportant.
Today is my birthday and we had a celebration with balloons and it was very sweet. I received congratulations from everyone here and back home. I wish you all a great day.
FEBRUARY 22, 2010 / UPDATE BY COOS WEVER
I was thrilled with my visit to the St. Germaine Hospital. It was a modern, well run facility that is usually a rehab center for children with developmental disabilities, but which is now fully occupied with trauma victims. There was only one physiotherapist on-site, but she was very capable and delighted to get some help from me for the 15- 20 children she was treating. We worked together with every child and I wish I could return to help as much as she would love my help.
FEBRUARY 22, 2010 / UPDATE BY HILLA BORAL
We visited the refugee camp and a clinic run by a German team. There were six beds, one doctor, several nurses and long lines of people waiting hours and hours in the sweltering sun. We found the cases of fever and diarrhea quite alarming since disease will spread fast in these conditions. We saw patients who needed wound care and had relatively minor injuries, such as amputated fingers, etc.
After this stop we went to the Sacred Heart Hospital where they welcomed us with great enthusiasm. A greeter wrote down our names and titles on stickers and assigned us to an American doctor. It turned out she was Jewish and so she joined us for a Shabbat service later. The doctor assigned us cases. Coos immediately made a foot splint for a youngster, got patients standing and adjusted walkers for them. We couldn’t figure out why no one had done these things yet, since it has now been one month that they have been lying down doing absolutely nothing.
Before we got there, when the kids tried to move, it was by holding onto someone else. Suddenly everyone wanted walkers and canes and started to move and to hop. The whole place became animated with smiles all around. It was an amazing experience.
As if that wasn’t excitement and reward enough, the climax of the day came when we helped a five-year-old girl, Simmorville Keture, who had her leg amputated below the knee and was now in a wheelchair. Coos gave her crutches and helped her to walk again. The people standing around started cheering and encouraging this beautiful child.
The Sacred Heart Hospital takes any volunteer who is willing to help. Every child has a chart with instructions of what to do next since the volunteers (like us!) change all the time. Some teams come for a few days, some for a few hours – it's insane. There are no core personnel. Our main question is, who will care for these children when the delegations stop arriving?
FEBRUARY 21, 2010 / UPDATE BY HILLA BORAL AND COOS WEVER
After we arrived in the Dominican Republic, we had to wait for a UN airlift. During the wait and the flight, we met representatives from various organizations who also came to Haiti to offer help. When we got to Haiti, what we saw was difficult to take in. We saw so many houses that were destroyed and uninhabitable and contrasting with that streets filled with people and tents. It was difficult to tell whether this situation is a new phenomenon or the common state since the earthquake.
We went first to the American compound that has a backdrop of undamaged green pastures, which contrasts the surrounding damaged environment. Within the compound is the Israeli mission camp, housed in a large tent. Our first night was one of heavy rainfall and much of the equipment was soaked during the rain.
The first morning we went to the main hospital in Port au Prince and met with the hospital director. We saw children receiving treatment from four international and four local physical therapists. A total of 35 children are currently being treated at the hospital. We were told that children suffering from very serious conditions had been taken aboard the floating hospital, the US Comfort. We are going to find out if it will be possible for us to visit the ship. We are also going to try and arrange to visit the Albert Schweitzer Hospital, which is another hospital treating children on the other side of the island.