Haiti

So Joel left for Haiti yesterday. He went with a medical team organized through World Relief in our church; it is comprised by various doctors, nurses and a translator. They flew down to Port-au-Prince this morning using a plane supplied by Hendrick Motorsports, who has partnered with MFI for Haiti relief transportation. (The HM planes are on loan from Jeff Gordon's and Jimmy Johnson's NASCAR teams). They are hopefully returning on Jan 30th, though just last night we found out that flight through American Airlines has been cancelled. So they may be returning Jan 29th instead, again through MFI. They brought down with them about 2,800lbs of medical supplies and about 800lbs of food. Anyhow, we are to be getting bi-daily updates from the team via satellite, so I figured I would just do an update through the blog, as it's kind of simpler this way then trying to figure out everyone's email.

I will have more pictures once Joel comes home... and maybe a video too. But I took this picture before he left. He was only allowed to have a backpack and personal bag (he chose his camelbak over a fanny-pack) for his personal belongings, and they could only weigh a maximum of 35lbs. The other two duffels were filled to the max (it took lots of rearranging) with medical supplies donated from Medline and Botsford Hospital. I've never seen a backpack packed so full. My husband looked like a pack mule ;)

Tonight's Update from the Team:

The trip down was uneventful. Stopped for refueling in the Bahama Islands.  Their supplies have not arrived but are scheduled to arrive in the morning.  They then proceeded to Kings Garden Hospital.  There they found the hospital well staffed with orthopedic surgeons and nursing staff, with adequate supplies and very organized.  (The church has worked with King's Hospital previously). The physicians temporarily staffing Kings Garden Hospital are members of a team from Medical Teams International (MTI), another partner who has supported Dr. Morquette over the past few years.  Because of the presence of this team and adequate supplies in Port-au-Prince, our Team plans to travel to Les Ceyes/Bonne Fin area tomorrow morning where there is only 1 orthopedic surgeon and they are completely out of anesthesia supplies.

Once in the Les Ceyes/Bonne Fin area, the Team may divide into a Les Ceyes Team and Bonne Fin team.  They will decide that tomorrow morning. 

Tonight, they had a good meal and are staying at Dr. Marquette's personal home.  His home was not damaged but for those of you who have been to Port-au-Prince, he said the damage is hard to comprehend with large areas of completely flattened buildings. They have not seen the downtown area and plan to drive through there tomorrow on their way to Les Ceyes.

 

If you could please include in your prayers for all of Haiti and Joel's team, I know they and I would both gratefully appreciate it!