Haiti Relief Blog: Update: Harvest Field Ministries #16

Update on the work in process in Haiti from Brian.

Haiti Relief Blog: Update: Harvest Field Ministries #16

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Make CHECKS PAYABLE TO TRINITY United Methodist Church
Times: 10am - 4pm Daily
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Other ways to connect

We've added a "Follow me on Twitter" button to the blog, which will connect you with the Haitifooddrive Twitter feed.

I'll be adding this and our other sites on our contact page.



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Make CHECKS PAYABLE TO TRINITY United Methodist Church
Times: 10am - 4pm Daily
Questions? Email haitifooddrive@gmail.com
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Help Haiti Live - Ryman Auditorium

Help Haiti February 27th - HelpHaitiLive.com from Compassion International on Vimeo.

http://helphaitilive.com/

“Help Haiti Live” is a multi-city ticketed concert event taking place on February 27th, 2010 to benefit Compassion International’s Haiti disaster relief fund. The event will also be streamed live at HelpHaitiLive.com for those who cannot attend one of the concerts in person.

100% of on-line donations through HelpHaitiLive.com will go to Compassion International’s Haiti disaster relief fund. 100% of net proceeds from ticket sales will go to Compassion International’s Haiti disaster relief fund.

“Help Haiti Live” is a production of Shaun Groves and Synergy Production Group for Compassion International.

Map in process - with post-quake satellite images

I'm working on a map of relief efforts and logistics points for us and our partners, and while updating my Jimani Hospital location to match the GPS points I realized that the satellite imagery of Hispaniola has been updated.  I'm not sure if anyone who's viewing this can date this image more precisely - but based on the Gatr units and what look to be Blackhawk helicopters it'd have to be sometime later than 22 January.  Click on the image to see it full-size.

I believe you need the Google Earth Plugin to see the detailed imagery, but I have not tried this on a browser without the plugin, so I'm not sure.  If you can't see this recent, high-res view of Jimani in Google Maps, then you need the plugin.

Below is the map itself - please make updates for places that you know.  I'll ask the following in order to make sure the map stays useful:

1.) Please be as accurate as you can.  Use GPS coordinates if you have them, but at least zoom in to make sure any markers are placed where the location you're labeling actually is.  If you're placing an airport, please include the 3-letter IATA code if there is one (e.g. LAX, PAP).

2.) Try to use informative icons.  I've used the little yellow house for people we know and houses/orphanages, the red cross for medical facilities, airplanes for airports, etc.

3.) If you have info on places that should be added (either in Haiti/DR or in the States), but updating a Google map isn't for you, please please, feel free to email me the info you have or comment on this post and I'll add it for you.  I'd like to get either GPS coordinates or an address and bit of background on the site, but as long as I get sufficient data to find it at all, that's probably enough.

IMPORTANT UPDATE: Apparently just because a map is "public" doesn't mean anyone who wants to can modify it.  So if you'd like to make additions to the map, send your email address to haitifooddrive@gmail.com and I'll send you a collaboration invite.

Thanks for any help!
View Haiti Food Drive in a larger map
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Drop off your FOOD donation to HudsonAlpha
6900 Moquin Drive, Huntsville, AL, 35806
Make CHECKS PAYABLE TO TRINITY United Methodist Church
Times: 10am - 4pm Daily
Questions? Email haitifooddrive@gmail.com
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Scales Donated!

I'm excited to report that Health-o-meter Products, Inc. has donated four brand new professional scales (two pediatric and two adult) which are being shipped to us on Monday.  This is straight off the needs list generated with input from the returning medical team.

Health-o-meter is already committed to earthquake relief in Haiti, and we're very excited that they're also teaming up with us in this way!

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Drop off your FOOD donation to HudsonAlpha
6900 Moquin Drive, Huntsville, AL, 35806
Make CHECKS PAYABLE TO TRINITY United Methodist Church
Times: 10am - 4pm Daily
Questions? Email haitifooddrive@gmail.com
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Haiti: The emergency phase is not over - news - MSF UK

You have seen and possibly even experienced disasters before. This disaster is different.

Even here in the States we have recent experience with tragic national catastrophe. But to understand the current situation in Haiti, we have to let go of our assumptions about what happens afterwards.  The disaster after the disaster.

Imagine the process of recovering from a national catastrophe if there were no military, police, or other government agencies to provide some semblance of order. Imagine if there were no well-equipped local hospitals to which injured victims could be evacuated. Imagine trying to mount a disaster recovery effort in an area that is not only densely populated, but which also has no power, communication, or transportation infrastructure.

For example, I reached Brian Lloyd (Harvest Field Ministries) in Haiti this morning by cell to ask about donated solar power equipment that we are shipping for him.  I learned that before the quake, residents of urban PaP who were actually connected to the grid were lucky to have power for 2-3 hours each day. Today, in this city of over 2 million, the electrical grid is still shut down one month after the earthquake because it is in shambles and completely unsafe.  We kept the conversation short to conserve Brian's battery.

Imagine being a survivor. No home. No news. No phone. No way to get or give information about what's going on. No emergency services. No services of any kind.  Unreliable access to food or water at best.  For a week. Two weeks.  A month?

This post is already longer than I intended, and I still need you to read the article linked below.  It conveys with more authority than I can how desperate the situation still is.  After you've read the article, head over to our Equipment and Supply Needs page or our Volunteer page and think about how you can help.  Join in.  We are in this for the long haul.  Please share this info and the article link.

Haiti: The emergency phase is not over - news - MSF UK

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Drop off your FOOD donation to HudsonAlpha
6900 Moquin Drive, Huntsville, AL, 35806
Make CHECKS PAYABLE TO TRINITY United Methodist Church
Times: 10am - 4pm Daily
Questions? Email haitifooddrive@gmail.com
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Haiti quake opens road to transformation, Paul Farmer tells Harvard - The Boston Globe

Interesting perspective from Dr. Paul Farmer, founder of Partners in Health.

Haiti quake opens road to transformation, Paul Farmer tells Harvard - The Boston Globe

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Drop off your FOOD donation to HudsonAlpha
6900 Moquin Drive, Huntsville, AL, 35806
Make CHECKS PAYABLE TO TRINITY United Methodist Church
Times: 10am - 4pm Daily
Questions? Email haitifooddrive@gmail.com
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Looking for hand trucks

We intend to send 2-3 hand trucks on our container shipment to facilitate unloading.  They don't need to be new, but in solid working condition and fairly heavy duty.  Email if you have one, Thanks!

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Drop off your FOOD donation to HudsonAlpha
6900 Moquin Drive, Huntsville, AL, 35806
Make CHECKS PAYABLE TO TRINITY United Methodist Church
Times: 10am - 4pm Daily
Questions? Email haitifooddrive@gmail.com
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Donations Can Now Be Made Here!

We've added a PayPal link to the blog so you can make monetary donations directly. There is a notes section in the checkout process that will allow you to let us know if there is a special project that you'd like your funds to be utilized. For example, if you want your donation to be used for purchasing tents for Harvest Field Ministry orphanages.

Try it out and let us know what you think!

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Drop off your FOOD donation to HudsonAlpha
6900 Moquin Drive, Huntsville, AL, 35806
Make CHECKS PAYABLE TO TRINITY United Methodist Church
Times: 10am - 4pm Daily
Questions? Email haitifooddrive@gmail.com
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Updated list of medical equipment needs

This is a list of needed equipment from the current team at the PaP clinic.

There are plans in the works for launching additional clinics - we'll keep you posted on developments there. Meantime, here's the list as it stands today. I also created a separate page as well where we can keep the list current.

If you have or can obtain any of these items to donate, please email me so that we can update the list.

Thank you!


Equipment:
Microscope (for outpatient clinic use)
Autoclave
OB Equipment (equip a delivery room)
Blood Pressure Cuffs
Gyn exam equipment
Infant scales
Adult scales
Nebulizers
in-ear thermometers
vision charts
medical droppers

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Drop off your FOOD donation to HudsonAlpha
6900 Moquin Drive, Huntsville, AL, 35806
Make CHECKS PAYABLE TO TRINITY United Methodist Church
Times: 10am - 4pm Daily
Questions? Email haitifooddrive@gmail.com
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Warehouse volunteers needed

From Warehouse

We'll need some help over the next few weeks and months with processing, cataloging, and packing food donations for shipment at the disaster warehouse in Decatur.  We also need some drivers who can be available during business hours to pick up food donations at some local schools and businesses and transport them to the warehouse.

This isn't glamorous work, but don't think it goes unnoticed!  Our teams on the ground have expressed some serious gratitude and relief at the well-boxed and clearly labeled supplies and food they've received from us, and that work was done right here in town.  You can help.

And we need your help - please sign up here so that we can let you know when the opportunities are.

Thank you!

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Drop off your FOOD donation to HudsonAlpha
6900 Moquin Drive, Huntsville, AL, 35806
Make CHECKS PAYABLE TO TRINITY United Methodist Church
Times: 10am - 4pm Daily
Questions? Email haitifooddrive@gmail.com
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Tents Needed!

Our friends at Harvest Field Ministries are asking if folks out there can help them house their orphans. Specifically, they need 4 large durable tents that the children can sleep in at night and have school in during the day. We've found an organization that supplies rugged 9m x 18m tents that are made for these situations for $4,000. That's less than $25 per sqr meter! Quite a bargin compared to the military tents we've found at over $38 per sqr meter. The problem is that's still $4,000 per tent. Can you help? Donating to Trinity United Methodist Church is the easiest way. In the memo section just note Haiti Relief: Tents.

Here is Brian Lloyd from Harvest Field Ministries introducing you to the people your tents will house:

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Drop off your FOOD donation to HudsonAlpha
6900 Moquin Drive, Huntsville, AL, 35806
Make CHECKS PAYABLE TO TRINITY United Methodist Church
Times: 10am - 4pm Daily
Questions? Email haitifooddrive@gmail.com
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PaP Clinic startup - Moving the generator on about a week ago

Video from Troy's trip - Moving the generator into place at the PaP clinic.



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Drop off your FOOD donation to HudsonAlpha
6900 Moquin Drive, Huntsville, AL, 35806
Make CHECKS PAYABLE TO TRINITY United Methodist Church
Times: 10am - 4pm Daily
Questions? Email haitifooddrive@gmail.com
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Great News! New medical team and critical equipment arrives with help from Abbott and Regions Bank

We have a new team on the ground now, ready to head for the PaP clinic and begin providing care.

From the Provision post, here are the team members:
Charlie Barnett, M.D. Summit Medical, Knoxville, TN

Charlie Bozeman, M.D. Summit Medical, Knoxville, TN

Jeff Robinson, M.D. Summit Medical, Knoxville, TN

John Law, M.D. Summit Medical, Knoxville, TN

Evonne Davison, Chadasha Foundation, Nashville, TN

Becky Warren, Chadasha Foundation, Huntsville, AL

Teresa Overholt, Cedar Springs Presbyterian Church, Knoxville, TN

Connie Juranek, Summit Medical, Knoxville, TN

Last week we were amazed and deeply grateful when a conversation between Charles Gattis, Sr. Pastor at Trinity UMC of Huntsville and his friend Regions Bank CEO Dowd Ritter led Regions Bank to contribute to our medical mission by transporting our medical team bound for Jimani and the PaP clinic on a Regions Bank company aircraft.

The first flight left yesterday morning with a team of eight doctors and nurses from Knoxville, TN (and one nurse from Huntsville) as well as the two i-STAT blood analyzers on loan from Abbott POC!  The plane returned from the DR to Knoxville with medical folks who had been in Haiti for weeks.

The medical work in Haiti is absolutely overwhelming.  Quality medical care was scarce even before the earthquake, and the ability to keep our medical teams fresh and provide trouble-free transportation is a huge boost to our medical mission.  We're so grateful to the team that's stepping into the fray right now, to Abbott for the i-STATS, and that Regions stepped in to provide transport.

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Drop off your FOOD donation to HudsonAlpha
6900 Moquin Drive, Huntsville, AL, 35806
Make CHECKS PAYABLE TO TRINITY United Methodist Church
Times: 10am - 4pm Daily
Questions? Email haitifooddrive@gmail.com
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Yesterday's WAAY TV Interview with Troy

Update - video link to the WAAY TV Interview with Troy



Jump to the WAAY site here.

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Drop off your FOOD donation to HudsonAlpha
6900 Moquin Drive, Huntsville, AL, 35806
Make CHECKS PAYABLE TO TRINITY United Methodist Church
Times: 10am - 4pm Daily
Questions? Email haitifooddrive@gmail.com
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Haiti Relief Effort Changes Huntsville Man's Life - WAAYTV.com - Huntsville, Alabama - News Weather, Sports |

Link here to a text synopsis of WAAY TV's follow-up story and interview on Troy's trip to Haiti - this story ran on last night's 10pm newscast, and I'll post back again when they post the video link to the story.

Haiti Relief Effort Changes Huntsville Man's Life - WAAYTV.com - Huntsville, Alabama - News Weather, Sports |

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Drop off your FOOD donation to HudsonAlpha
6900 Moquin Drive, Huntsville, AL, 35806
Make CHECKS PAYABLE TO TRINITY United Methodist Church
Times: 10am - 4pm Daily
Questions? Email haitifooddrive@gmail.com
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Volunteer and Medical In-country Volunteer Registration now LIVE!

In addition to the FAQ tab, we now have a Volunteer page where you can sign up to let us know about your desire to pitch in, availability, and special skills.

We'll also use that page as a place to post about specific needs.

This is a response to many folks who have expressed a desire to help, so thank you, and please sign up!

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Drop off your FOOD donation to HudsonAlpha
6900 Moquin Drive, Huntsville, AL, 35806
Make CHECKS PAYABLE TO TRINITY United Methodist Church
Times: 10am - 4pm Daily
Questions? Email haitifooddrive@gmail.com
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Haiti Food Drive: Frequently Asked Questions

A FAQ has now been added to the blog site. If you're in the Tennesee Valley and looking for ways to help the people of Haiti, then we're on the same team! Head to the FAQ for an overview of who we are and what we're doing.

Haiti Food Drive: Frequently Asked Questions

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Drop off your FOOD donation to HudsonAlpha
6900 Moquin Drive, Huntsville, AL, 35806
Make CHECKS PAYABLE TO TRINITY United Methodist Church
Times: 10am - 4pm Daily
Questions? Email haitifooddrive@gmail.com
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Google Translate adds Haitian Creole amid earthquake aftermath | VentureBeat

Haitian Creole has now been added to Google's automatic translation services. This is a very cool effort and a great idea by Google. Haiti is the only place in the world where this language is spoken, and lack of translators has been a real problem on the ground.

Here's a link to the article:

Google Translate adds Haitian Creole amid earthquake aftermath | VentureBeat

If you'd like to read this blog in Haitian Creole, click here
Si w ta renmen li Blog sa a nan kreyòl ayisyen, klike isit
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Drop off your FOOD donation to HudsonAlpha
6900 Moquin Drive, Huntsville, AL, 35806
Make CHECKS PAYABLE TO TRINITY United Methodist Church
Times: 10am - 4pm Daily
Questions? Email haitifooddrive@gmail.com
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Haiti Benefit Concert

The local artist community at Lowe Mill held a benefit concert and silent art auction where they raised over $11,000! It was all recorded live and the first session is posted on YouTube. Check it out, enjoy the incredible talents of Ken Waters on trumpet and keep the folks in need in your thoughts!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egRbJN6UWq8

We'll post the additional sessions as they are made available.

UPDATE: Sorry about the broken link - I'll try to find out what happened to the video and update the link.
UPDATE: New link in effect.

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Times: 10am - 4pm Daily
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Good article written by a Baptist Standard reporter on-site at Bon Samaritan.

I had thought about the language barrier, but didn't have a sense of what percentage spoke English well enough to communicate with a Doctor.  Any Creole-speaking medical folks out there that have not already been recruited?

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Drop off your FOOD donation to HudsonAlpha
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Make CHECKS PAYABLE TO TRINITY United Methodist Church
Times: 10am - 4pm Daily
Questions? Email haitifooddrive@gmail.com
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Troy is back!

Troy landed in Huntsville late last night and was here at Hudson Alpha this morning somewhat glazed and seemingly uncertain what to make of the easy availability of food and bathrooms, but otherwise ready to debrief and start downloading the rest of the intelligence that he gathered in Jimani and PaP.

First impressions -

Troy reports that Jimani Hospital (also being referred to as Bon Samaritan)  is running and running as well as it can thanks to strong leadership from Dorothy Davidson FNP along with her husband Dr. Dale Betterton through IMA. And while running the hospital is working Dorothy nearly round the clock, they do seem to be fairly well supplied and staffed and have taken excellent steps to better control and inventory on-site supplies, which was much needed. 

His initial assessment is for the Huntsville/Chadasha team to continue to supply Jimani as needed, but shift our focus to the out-patient facility that was established inside PaP just before he left.  The facility (located in a walled-in church) has proven to be workable and relatively secure, and it is providing much needed medical care to over 250 new patients each day and planning to increase that number as word gets out.  The idea is to continue to use Jimani as a physical staging point for supplying the PaP clinic directly.

More from Troy soon.

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Drop off your FOOD donation to HudsonAlpha
6900 Moquin Drive, Huntsville, AL, 35806
Make CHECKS PAYABLE TO TRINITY United Methodist Church
Times: 10am - 4pm Daily
Questions? Email haitifooddrive@gmail.com
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Food distribution challenges in PaP for internation relief orgs

This is a difficult and sobering reality.  Near riots and stronger survivors forcing their way to the food while weaker people get nothing.  I'm tempted to judge the people who are fighting and scrambling over others to get anything they can, but the flip side of the equation is that I've never known desperation.  At this point providing order and protecting the weakest of the many victims is our responsibility.

We are continuing to work with people and organizations in Haiti who already have organized people on the ground, specific populations of people to serve, and the means to provide some security and order.  In particular, Brian Lloyd's Harvest Field Ministries is the focus of our food efforts, as his communities are very heavy with children and the elderly, who will need special protection from being trampled in the rush to survive.  Our medical mission continues to focus on Jimani and on the effort to establish "forward area" clinics in PaP.

Josh



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Drop off your FOOD donation to HudsonAlpha
6900 Moquin Drive, Huntsville, AL, 35806
Make CHECKS PAYABLE TO TRINITY United Methodist Church
Times: 10am - 4pm Daily
Questions? Email haitifooddrive@gmail.com
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Critical equipment help from Abbott Point-of-Care!

 We're thrilled that Abbott Point of Care has donated the use of TWO i-STAT portable blood analyzers and a supply of cartridges.  From Abbott's web site the i-STAT system is "an advanced, handheld blood analyzer that provides real-time, lab-quality results within minutes to accelerate the patient care decision-making process."

For our medical team in Jimani and Port-au-Prince it's like having an on-call lab in the palm of their hand, and gives the doctors critical data for making treatment decisions.  This is a really important tool, and a really expensive one, and we're grateful to Abbott Point-of-Care for entrusting them to our team for the duration of the medical mission in Haiti.

As an aside, here's the donation statement from Abbott Point-of-Care, it basically says 'no strings attached': "Abbott’s agreement to provide product as a charitable donation is not provided to you in exchange for any explicit or implicit agreement or understanding that you or anyone else prescribe, recommend, use or purchase any products of Abbott or otherwise arrange therefore."

Josh


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Drop off your FOOD donation to HudsonAlpha
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Make CHECKS PAYABLE TO TRINITY United Methodist Church
Times: 10am - 4pm Daily
Questions? Email haitifooddrive@gmail.com
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32 Hours: The Church in Haiti

Mark Driscoll just got back from a 32 hour trip to Haiti to assess damage and check on the state of the churches in Haiti. Here he discusses his trip to Haiti. Must watch.

Drop off your FOOD donation to HudsonAlpha
6900 Moquin Drive, Huntsville, AL, 35806
Make CHECKS PAYABLE TO TRINITY United Methodist Church
Times: 10am - 4pm Daily
Questions: email us at haitifooddrive@gmail.com
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