2/12/10

From Haute Limbe, Haiti

Dear Friends,

The question might arise from some, “Working as a missionary doctor in Haiti in the earthquake disaster area with the overwhelming medical needs at this time, why did you leave the disaster area last week to come back to the north of Haiti?”

While providing acute trauma care to earthquake victims for over a week in the Leogane area, near the epicenter, I was receiving increasing information from my Haitian partners that the health centers in the north were swelling with earthquake victims who had left Port-au-Prince seeking refuge with family and friends in the north. Touring the devastated capital city towards the end of the week and meeting with several international relief organizations and medical first-responder groups in the city, I was impressed with the international response to the disaster.

As surviving Haitian doctors and nurses were increasingly returning to work in the destroyed clinics in many places, I sensed I was being called to leave the area and return to the north. With critically ill patients being transferred to hospitals in the north and in the context of a relocated population possibly straining health care institutions’ capacity to meet the increased volume of patients, I felt I needed to try to assess the medical needs of the north.

We returned to the Cap Haitian area on 1/23/10. It was joyful to be with Nancy again, who had tirelessly kept the lines of communication open and flowing with so many in my absence. Together with CBF Disaster Relief coordinator, Scott Hunter, who has come to set up long-term relief teams working through the churches of the Haitian Baptist Convention, we met with Rev. Emmanuel Pierre and Dr. Joel Dorsainvil, leaders of the disaster relief response of the Haitian Baptist Convention and discussed coordinating relief efforts with international church resources.

We visited and assessed the current situation of the hospitals and clinics in the Cap Haitian, Limbé, Milot, and Quartier Morin communities. With our Community Health Evangelism coordinator colleague, Damise Grimard, we visited and worked with our medical colleagues in four community health centers. I found the health centers had swelled in patient volume, in some cases to 6 times their normal size. This volume is currently starting to diminish though the needs of the health centers will likely remain greater than the pre-earthquake needs as the Port-au-Prince relocated population will likely stay in the north for many months if not years to come.

Despite these clinics being very poor and struggling to keep supplies on their shelves, they all had made the decision to offer free care and free medicines to the patients that were coming each day, at a financial sacrifice for the love of Jesus to the poor and needy. Our Haitian brothers and sisters reaching out sacrificially to their people in need inspired us deeply.

In addition to the follow-up medical trauma needs of the relocated population from Port-au-Prince, I thought I would share with you a few glimpses of what we experienced this week in the north.

In the Danda Health Center, encouraging Nurse Nirva and the staff, we found little colostomy patient Rose-Guerlande and her grandfather doing well. We helped insulin-dependent diabetics continue to receive insulin and monitor their needs, including helping a pregnant insulin-diabetic in her 6th month of pregnancy make plans to move to Cap Haitian for her last 3 months to try to receive the best care (repeat C-Section) for her and her baby.

In Bayeux Health Center, encouraging Nurses Margaret and Iclène and the staff, we were able to help the man with leprosy. He had stopped taking his leprosy medicines for the past three weeks as the medicines made him nauseated on days when he could not find anything to eat. As we provided funds for him to eat daily, we stressed with him how important it was not to miss a day of medicines and networked with the staff to monitor him closely with home visits through the CHE village health workers.

It was a joy to see little congenital heart patient, Emerson and his father. Nancy fit Emerson with a new protective Velcro vest that Laura Corbett from Maine had sent, so he can be protected when he plays soccer with his friends.

In Ebenezer Health Center, as we rehydrated a severely dehydrated woman with AIDS, praying and counseling her, we were able to suture back an almost completely amputated index finger in a 7-year-old boy, using this opportunity to teach the two doctors tendon repair technique. We met with the leaders of the Community Health Evangelism disaster relief response with whom we partner and joined their efforts in trying to provide medical supplies to beleaguered clinics, safe water, and counseling to earthquake victims.

We returned to the earthquake area this past week where we helped in networking with relief groups working and providing food and medical supplies where needed.

Thank you for all you are doing to help Haiti and all of us.

            In His love,

            Steve and Nancy James