Friends of the Orphans - February 2

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Posted February 10, 2010

Fr. Rick Frechette, National Director of Nuestros Pequeños Hermanos/Nos Petits Freres et Soeurs (NPH/NPFS, Spanish and French for “Our Little Brothers and Sisters”) Haiti, gives an update from St. Damien Hospital in Tabarre.

Watch the video.

Posted February 8, 2010, 12:00 p.m. (EST)
St. Damien Hospital Statistics as of February 7, 2010

Children (inpatient)	160	MEDICAL VOLUNTEERS
Adults (in hospital and tents)	100	Anesthesiologists	5
Total patients since earthquake	10,000	ER Physicians	1
		ER Physicians-pediatric	1
SURGERIES		Family practice	3
January 13 - 15	12/day	General surgeons	2
January 16 - 29	20/day	Internists	3
Camillian Hospital (which is partnering with St. Damien's	13/day	Microbiologists	2
in patient swapping)		Midwives	2
Italian Military (on St. Damien property)	8/day	Neonatologists	1
Currently	16-20/day	Nurse practitioner-pediatrics	1
Minor orthopedic operations	15/day	Nurse anesthesiologists	1
		OBGYNs	2
Triage	50/day	Ortho physician assistants	1
Walk-ins	20/day	Ortho surgeons	2
Outpatients	100/day	RNs	18
Dental	100/week	Total:	45
Outpatient clinics	1,500/week
Permanent hospital employees	267
Temporary hospital employees	150

St. Luke Programs
Distributions depend on what they have in the warehouse. Some is coming in through the Dominican Republic and some they are purchasing.

Distrbuting in Cite Soleil and other areas; rice, oil, spaghetti, water (2 water trucks) and individual bottle, water packets, cookies.

Milk: 3,000 packets

One week ago, distributed 250 bags of rice (25-kilo each). On February 5, purchased 250 kilos of rice to give to employees that work in the street schools, because now they are not working.

One street school building (St. Patrick) is being used as a clinic.

Total employees including school and hospital: 400

Ferel Bruno is also doing food and water distributions in Fons des Blancs which is a community of 45,000 people. He delivers, canned good, pasta, hot dogs, water, rice, etc.

Water truck
Delivering 12 loads of 3,000 gallons a day in the community and hospital in Cite Soleil, (St. Kathern).

Food distribution
$22,000 of food has been delivered in the last four days. This consists of 2,000 bags of rice at 25 kilos a bag, plus 100 cases of cooking oil.

Totals (estimated):
Meals: 300,000
Bread: 100,000 rolls since earthquake
People served by other food distribution in Miragone: 10,000

Day Camps
On-site camp assists 85-100 children, who receive a snack (roll with peanut butter and milk) and lunch (beans, rice, salad) and water.

Off-site camp serves 85 children, who receive the same as above.

Total average weekly meals for children:
On-site Snack 100 x 7= 700
On-site Lunch 100 x 7= 700
Off-site Snack 85 x 7= 595
Off-site Lunch 85 x 7= 595
Total: 2,590

Hermanos Mayores, or ex-pequeños, are people who grew up at the NPH/NPFS home and are now living on their own. Thirty are working with the Day Camps program and receive a daily snack and meal with the children. An estimated 300 will receive an emergency packet: tent, personal care kit, $50 in cash then 2 weeks later another $25. Total = $23,000 (tent and care kits donations)

Update from Sister Magda, who is working in Triage
Sr. Magda works in the triage tent, outside in the hospital driveway from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. The doctor arrives at 10 a.m. and then she refers children to the ER or adults to the ER or prescribes medications and they go home.

In the first days there were many children with amputations and they arrived with wounds and fractures. Some had already had operations. Now, there is a group evolution and patients with the dressings have now come back after 12 days later and she can see that they are being cured, which is such a joy. In the last few days, patients are being referred because they were treated at other hospitals or clinics and when they returned for follow-up care, no one was there. The clinics have left and there was then no one to remove the plaster casts. St. Damien's is now doing the x-rays and removing the plaster on these patients that would not find follow-up care.

There have been so many women arriving in difficult labor. These women sometimes have broken arms or legs. On February 5, admissions were fever, diarrhea, vomiting and malaria.

Sr. Magda is surprised how strong and how much the Haitian people can endure. When she saw a child have a amputation, he said sweetly aftewards,”Merci.” The mobile clinics are bringing people that have endured broken bones for three weeks. One child she attended to had a broken jaw and fractured skull. She believes this child will be taken to the U.S. if able to travel. Sr. Magda is always surprised and it is painful to her to see mothers carrying their children with an amputated limb or multiple amputations.

Sr. Magda witnessed one brother sitting with his sister for two days and he did not eat, but sat at her side comforting her.

The mobile clinics bring very sick people, with fractures and high fevers.

Donate to support our repair and relief efforts in Haiti.

Posted February 3, 2010, 10:10 a.m. (EST)
Reported by Monica Gery, NPH Information Officer

NPFS Haiti Day Camp for Vulnerable and Displaced Children
Luke age 8, and his sister Violetta, age 6, were overjoyed to arrive at the day camp. This six-hour event gives Luke and Violetta the opportunity to get out of their makeshift collapsed home and away from the destroyed community in which they live. Dubbed "Near the American Embassy," the community is only five blocks away from St. Damien Pediatric Hospital, and is one of four targeted and serviced by our team.
Luke and Violetta in front of their home.

Luke and Violetta in front of their home.

The children are picked up in the morning around 7 and brought back in the afternoon around 3 p.m. Hermanos Mayores, or youths that grew up at our home in NPFS Haiti, organize activities and prepare the food for the children, with the supervision of Program Director, Alfonso Leon, and Social Worker, Philippe.

Today's agenda consisted of singing, a blessing from Fr. Rick, karaoke, soccer, jump rope, games, animated skits and a reading lesson.

Shortly after the 86 children arrived, they ate a Francisville freshly baked whole-wheat roll with peanut butter and a glass or milk. For lunch it was rice and beans, hot dog, lettuce, tomato and corn salad.

Luke enjoys his lunch.

Luke explained that since the earthquake, his family does not have much food to eat. Violetta said that she likes to come to the camp and wishes she could come everyday. Right now the communities arrive for day camp on a rotating schedule.

Over 30 Hermanos Mayores were the key in making this activity a successful event. After suffering many losses themselves, they are able to have the inner strength to reach out to these children and create a special atmosphere for them. It is truly a testament to Fr. William B. Wasson, founder of NPH, whose philosophy centered on sharing and practicing charity.

Donate to support our repair and relief efforts in Haiti.

Posted February 2, 2010, 10:10 a.m. (EST)
Reported by Monica Gery, NPH Information Officer

St. Damien
We estimate there are 210 child patients and 30 adult patients as of today, Monday, February 1. Four more adult post-op patients arrived from the USS Comfort and 14 are expected to arrive tomorrow. Three ORs continue to operate, one U.S. team, one Italian team and the third is located in the Italian military unit on our property. Roughly 20 surgeries are being performed daily, mainly plastic surgery and for general surgery purposes.

The four mobile medical clinics continue to operate with each attending to 70-140 patients each.

Most of the hospital rooms are now for post-op children with amputations and their care includes wound dressing and administering antibiotics. A new obstetrics room has been created and the neonatal maternity room currently has 17 mothers and children.

Kay St. Germaine
Today is the first day that the school and physical therapy programs were open at Kay St. Germaine. There were 18 students and 10 patients for therapy. Previous to the earthquake, the school had 70 students and 20 therapy patients daily. The staff is still unsure regarding the whereabouts and status of previous students.

The 30 children from the general hospital are still living at Kay St. Germaine, but Partners In Health (PIH) are providing staff and some supplies for their care, while they are searching for a permanent rental facility. About 10 of these children are integrated into the classrooms, which started today. All 30 children have been receiving physical therapy. There is no exact date yet as to when these children will be moved to a PIH location. Nine special needs abandoned children, originally from the hospital, moved from their damaged rental house to Kay St. Germaine as well. It is a very full house!

The new goal for Kay St. Germaine is to offer physical therapy for amputees. In fact, today the first child amputee referral from St. Damien hospital arrived for therapy. Patients who are discharged from St. Damien who need physical therapy are then referred to Kay St. Germaine.

Gena Heragty has meet with other non-governmental organizations to discuss the future prosthetic needs for children and adults. Currently, the idea is to link with prosthetic organizations already here in the country, and once patients receive their prosthetic, they can then receive physical therapy at Kay St. Germaine. There are two American organizations that stated they can make prosthetics within a week.

Gena is searching for a rental property in Petionville to continue the Kay Elaine programs that were located in the former Fr. Wasson Center. The embroidery card program is continuing at Kay St. Germaine. Prior to earthquake there were 100 children enrolled in the Kay Elaine school and therapy.

Donate to support our repair and relief efforts in Haiti.

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