 Posted March 12, 2010
Daniela Greilich
Temporary Home Correspondent, NPH/NPFS Haiti
Before January 12, 2010, there were only 200 Haitian orthopedic surgeons in the entire country. When the tragedy occurred, their workplaces were ruined and many of those that were still standing after the quake were not set up for trauma. With the estimated 20,000 orthopedic injuries as a result of the earthquake, a tremendous need was born. Before the earthquake, St. Damien hospital was run by a 100% Haitian staff. Our goal always has been and continues to be to appreciate and enrich our local staff. Except for surgeries, we are back at the excellent quality of care given by local staff before the tragedy. We are lucky to have Dr. Phil Hurley and his orthopedic team here with us from Kentucky. Dr. Phil came down in the days after the earthquake and he has now brought a new team down for two weeks. Post-operative adult care is still being provided by St. Camillus hospital.
After the earthquake, our normally tranquil pediatric center became overrun with people. There were people everywhere: in the hallways, on the lawn, in tents outside of our hospital. No one wanted to be inside. “It was exhausting and unnerving,” explains Father Rick. In the past two weeks, we have been able to move from a trauma center back towards our primary focus of pediatric care.
Right now we have about 140 patients including maternity. We had three births yesterday, bringing the total of births up to 48 since the earthquake. We have 21 children in the emergency room. We are currently performing 10 surgeries per day, six on adults and four on children. We continue to see adults that were treated at other facilities and experienced bad operations or lack of follow-up care. This is frustrating for our doctors because people arrive with external fixators that need a lot of attention. Their surgeries often take three or four hours.
We continue to be very busy treating the social problems brought on by the earthquake: homelessness, hunger, wounds. The poor bring us their dead to bury. We gave all workers a 50 Kilo bag of rice. The price of rice has gone up to $50 per bag. We are trying to give all of our employees a tarp as well. Most of them are living in huts made of sheets and they come to work wet, tired and hungry. Priests are coming here because their churches fell in the earthquake, their parishioners are sleeping on the church lawns, and they need help.
Out on the streets there are signs of normalcy: markets are open and the streets are bustling. There are reminders everywhere that things are not as they were, people covering a truck with a sheet of plastic so that they can sleep without getting wet from the rain, and every open space or park is now filled with tents. But the resilience of people is visible too: an Internet café set up in a tent on the edges of a settlement, people busy with improvements on their temporary shelters, people selling their wares on top of the rubble of a toppled building. Two months have passed and everyone is doing the best they can.
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Posted February 28, 2010
February 26, 2010 Update
Daniela Greilich
Temporary Home Correspondent, NPH/NPFS Haiti, NPH International
Driving through downtown Port-au-Prince it is heartening to see small signs of improvement: men were collecting huge mounds of garbage in the street, ditches were being dug and cleared and people dressed in bright yellow USAID shirts were working busily to clear rubble. This traumatized city of crumbling buildings and tent cities is going back to normal. The markets are open and people stream through them selling vegetables, housewares, chickens. A new business appears to have sprung up to fit the growing need of people to construct tents: branches as big as a fist are being sold on street corners, and people are working to construct new homes throughout the tent cities. The new homes have a base of branches, sheets and tents are hung to make walls and a roof.
In the last update, the patients were out of the hospital and set up in the courtyard. It was difficult for our medical staff to keep up the high standard of care, but they persevered. A neonatal nurse even managed to give an ailing woman a blood transfusion, though it took hours longer than normal because of the heat.
After the second night outside, Father Rick was able to convince everyone to go back in. He explained that he was also living in the hospital and that he promised that he would not leave in an emergency situation until they were all out and safe. He explained that he had had tents set up outside the chapel, and that if there was an earthquake and they were evacuated they would go to those tents. Italian engineers had come that day to go over the hospital again. They knocked off some exterior cement and checked the strength of the beams. The hospital structure is sound. Hearing this, the patients believed him and believed in him, and went inside.
 First prosthetics are here!
Yesterday at Kay Germaine, we had the great joy and pleasure of seeing a small miracle. Leel Ulysse, who is ten years old, had her right foot amputated after the earthquake. Yesterday she was fitted with a prosthetic foot. The prosthetic was done by a team of Italian technicians who came down for the week and brought a container full of state-of-the-art equipment, all donated! They will leave tomorrow after a week here, but teams will continue to come, using the equipment they brought. They were able to fit 10 kids with new prosthetics in the past two days!
Maternity and Neo-natal Ward
The unit has been calm the last few days because there have not been any aftershocks. It is much better for the moms to be inside and we are so happy they are back inside. We have had 45 babies born on the unit since it started after the earthquake. Two healthy babies were born last night. A beautiful fat baby girl was born two days ago and the parents named her after Alison, our amazing neo-natal nurse. She will now be the godmother as well. Twins (both boys) were admitted tonight to the ward, one at 2.5 lbs and the other at 1.5 lbs.
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St. Damien Hospital Update
Monica Gery
Information Officer, NPH International
The hospital is estimated to be back to 90% pre-quake status. There are 130 admitted child patients, 100 daily outpatients and 30 daily ortho outpatients. All adult post-op patients are now out of the hospital with a handful in the adult post-up tent currently located outside the main door.
Since St. Damien’s is now considered the Orthopedic Center of Haiti, patients continue to arrive for services such as amputation revisions, dressing changes, and physical therapy.
The Italian surgical tent has come to a close as surgeries are winding down a bit. They thankfully have left all their equipment and supplies for us including an EKG machine, complete surgery theater, ultrasound, etc. The Italian civil military will continue to stay with us and help for the next month. This week they built the structural support around the chapel and they are also helping the St. Luke program with food distributions. They continue to assist in patient support such as heli-vacing patients to their ship, the Cavor, for CAT scans.
The two ORs inside St. Damien continue to operate. One OR is used exclusively for orthopedic surgeries and the other for general surgeries, which are performed by local pediatric surgeon Dr. Jeudy. Dr. Tom Green and his ortho surgical team from Seattle are leaving tomorrow after spending a full month where they have performed over 300 surgeries.
After the 4.7 magnitude aftershocks Sunday and Monday, the hospital directors designed an organized evacuation plan. Each ward now has their assigned tent already set-up outside in case of another evacuation.
Tents have also been set-up in front of the St. Luke soccer field so that children and or adults that travel a distance for services have a place to rest after their dressing changes or revisions. Showers and bathrooms are also being completed.
Human Resources has hired a psychological support team to help employees cope with the mental health impact that they are facing.
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Posted February 24, 2010
 Daniela Greilich
Temporary Home Correspondent, NPH/NPFS Haiti
As the last rays of the sun leak out of the day and night descends quickly as it does every night in Haiti, the bell rings at the chapel: eight children´s bodies have been found in a school, and an unknown man on the street. They were brought here for prayer tonight, Mass tomorrow and after, eternal rest.
It has been quite a day. We were awakened at just after one in the morning, for the second night in a row, to an earthquake of 4.7 magnitude. It shook us out of sleep and sent everyone racing from the buildings. The patients in the hospital have refused to go inside and the courtyard is now covered with mothers, children and nurses, mattresses and cots and small babies wrapped in sea green towels.
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There is a rumor going around that another quake is about to hit us, and this rumor frightens people. And who can blame them? The memory of the January 12 earthquake is too close, and our patients will not take the risk of being inside. Who wouldn’t want to sleep outside to avoid the middle of the night sudden waking of fear?
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Gena Heragty
Director of Special Needs Programs, NPH/NPFS Haiti
It is shortly after 5 a.m. and we have been up for hours. The tremors are back - with a vengence it seems! Shortly before one in the morning we were awakened by the shaking house. Up and out for some, while others slept through it all. I looked at the shaking staff and felt myself shaking as well, not being able to find words to speak. A feeling of “here we go again” pervaded my spirit and that of my Haitian family here in Kay Christine. We told the two kids who had gotten up to go back to bed and they were happy to go back to bed – not too bothered.
Carmelle, Rosemite and myself were sitting in the bedroom chatting when we had another one! Out the door we ran and this time more children were up and they rushed down the stairs to go outside. Out! Out! Out! As I went down the stairs with them and they skedaddled out the front door, I veered to the left and went into the bedroom of the children that will never be able to rush anywhere - the severely disabled kids. In my mind I had one thought: whatever happens next, I will be with these kids.
.jpg) When I entered the room I immediately heard laughter. Who else would be laughing at this moment but Tifle! Our dear Tifle was laughing her head off probably because she saw the staff panicking and running outside.
Dear Tifle with her crooked body was full of smiles for me when I rested my head next to her. She just laughed and laughed as if to say, what is wrong with you? And she was my comfort. If we were to die then, how nice to die in the company of a laughing young woman with shining eyes full of love. I looked around the room and most of the other children were fast asleep - oblivious to the panic and fear that had invaded so many of us. After a few minutes, I went outside where the older children were shivering in the cold air and we all went inside to the therapy room to join our voices in prayer and song.
We prayed for protection and we prayed for strength as we, the adults, were feeling weak. Our responsibility weighed heavy on our shoulders and yet I kept thinking of Tifle and her message of laughter. As I prayed with the kids I reminded them that before the orphanage existed, we were all strangers. We knew nothing about the lives of each other and some of the kids were not even born 20 years ago! And yet somehow we have all been gathered together to form a family. And we have a beautiful family. I told the kids and my staff that we are family, brought together by a love and belief in God. If then, our family was thus created, from love and faith, we must remain firm in our love and faith. We must trust and we must leave our lives in his hands.
Meanwhile my phone kept ringing as survivors of the earthquake (mothers that lost kids and now have children with amputations in the hospital) rang to see if I was okay and if the Kay Christine kids were okay. They have never even met the Kay Christine kids and only have known me since January 12, and yet they were concerned!
And Tifle? I learned a lot this morning from Tifle. When I was going down the stairs, I chose to go to the kids. I chose a possible death over a safe exit. Fear would have led me out, but love brought me to the kids, and I always try to make any decision based out of love, not fear. I did this out of love for the kids that cannot move and get out. I made this choice because if they are to die in an earthquake, I want to be with them. When I made this choice, I was greeted by the smiling face of Tifle, the smiling face of God, telling me I had made the right choice! Telling me, “Gena, do not worry. I am here with these kids. See, they are sleeping peacefully and those awake are laughing and smiling. Do not worry - you are not alone. I will not abandon my children.” Was I afraid? Of course I was afraid, shaking in my sandals! Does this mean I will not be afraid again? Of course I will be afraid. I am still a wobbly human and will always be in the face of such forces. However, whatever happens, one thing is a little bit clearer to me… I am not alone! God's love does not keep us from trials, but sees us through them.
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Posted February 23, 2010
.jpg) Daniela Greilich
Temporary Home Correspondent, NPH/NPFS Haiti
Haiti is in mourning. One week ago, we mourned the one-month anniversary of the tragedy with three days of prayer, mass, and reflection. This week, the Sisters of Charity heard that some of their fellow sisters, the Sisters of Mary, had died when their church collapsed. They recovered some of their bodies and they are now buried outside of the church at Saint Damian hospital. This week they also discovered a school with two-hundred children inside. The Sisters are recovering the dead, because the government is not present, tragedy compounding tragedy. This morning, we had a funeral for three ex-pequeños, two brothers and a sister, who died instantly when the earthquake caused their home to collapse. The funeral was held at Kenscoff, the main orphanage, and they were laid to rest surrounded by their two surviving brothers and almost 500 of their brothers and sisters, who showed solidarity through prayer, readings and song.
This is but a small glimpse, but one that is close to home for us here at NPFS Haiti, happening inside our walls and to those near and dear to us.
In one of his sermons this week, Father Rick said that we are now in phase two of the crisis, and that this phase is so much harder than the first. The first was one of action, adrenaline, of saving a child’s life by amputating a limb and rescuing people from under the rubble. But now, after more than five weeks, we can no longer find anyone alive, the amputations have been done and now need to be cared for and watched over, and we have begun to think of what we have lost.
And so now we begin to look forward, to take stock of what happened, to begin to feel our losses, and the uncertainty of the future.
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Posted February 22, 2010
What Family Means During Lent
Fr. Rick Frechette, C.P., D.O.
National Director, NPH/NPFS Haiti
Lent is meant to be a heavy time. The dark of winter, the recognition of sin and personal failing, the seeking of penance and self-discipline. This takes place during the period of the sun lengthening to full light at spring, which is the rich symbol of the victory of light in resurrection. Our Lent begins with three heavy darknesses.
We have retrieved the bodies of Mikhael, Delourdes and Ronald Ferdinand (the siblings of hermano mayor and NPFS employee Joseph). They currently are lying in our hospital chapel for burial today at St. Helene. These have been very emotional days for us, especially for Joseph and his older brother Dodo. Yesterday at Mass, the chapel was packed with hermanos mayores, crying and comforting, showing that the family bonds we have tried to instill are real, and are clearly seen when it counts. We stood before their lifeless bodies without words, with nothing but each other and our faith, hope and love. These really heal and give courage. It is amazing to see it as a true and deep dynamic. Father Wasson’s intuitions and instincts were right about the ability of a community to form a family.
Four other hermano mayores were arrested yesterday in separate incidences, two by Haitian police during a small rice distribution. The police assumed them to be thieves of the rice and the usual unfairness ensued. They were liberated only when the police themselves became beneficiaries of most of the rice.
Two others were arrested by U.S. military when the bus they were on as passengers hit a wagon. We still cannot understand why they were chosen as the culprits. One was handcuffed and beaten.
I mention this because before both injustices these youths were so clear about right and wrong, fairness and corruption and they are balanced in their views about how to handle it.
Rejecting offers from others to inflame it on the radio, they came to "dad," (me) as they said, to try to talk and figure it out.
I so admire their equilibrium and their refusal to be treated unfairly and this led to long discussions about how to proceed. But it also led to longer discussions about the importance of not internalizing the incident. In other words, fighting the tendency that victims many times have of feeling that for some reason they deserved what had happened. I admire their desire to have "dad" help figure it out and deal with it.
The third incident was also remarkable. A young woman was brought to our hospital in labor. Her mother, father and husband were killed in the earthquake and she didn’t want to deliver the baby. She kept crying and screaming out to the baby, “Don’t come out! Don’t come out! Stay where you are. This is no place for you. It’s no place for anyone!”
She literally fought the delivery. The Italian midwife volunteers tried to help her. Instead of pushing during contractions, she would suck up a deep breath and draw pressure away from her pelvis telling everyone to leave her alone, begging the baby not to come out into such a world.
The Italian midwives were crying, begging the mother to believe life was good. Begging to see the child and welcome him or her. They were midwives not just of the baby but of the mother’s soul. After 12 hours of resisting labor, then came the little baby and a mother with a new but faint twinkle in her eye.
It makes me shudder.
Let us thank God for the power of family during Lent and for the powerful reality that with even no blood or cultural ties we can really be family to each other.
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Previous Updates
Related Information:
• Updates on American Volunteers in Haiti
• Remembrance given at the Friends of the Orphans National Board Meeting
• What does Friends of the Orphans Do in Haiti?
• How Can I Help?
• Earthquake in Haiti Fact Sheet
• Message from Fr. Rick
• VIDEO: ABC News at St. Damien Hospital
• VIDEO: NBC Nightly News at St. Damien Hospital
• NPH Haiti Fact Sheet/Visitor's Guide
• Helping in Haiti
• Friends of the Orphans Haiti Initiative
• VIDEO: Fr. Rick Frechette in Haiti
• Their Stories: Father Rick Frechette, CP, D.O.
• Rehabilitation and Educational Center for Disabled Children Opens in Haiti |