Haitian Earthquake Relief
I write these words in the shade of a tree, smoking a cigar, internalizing the luck of being born into a third generation, middle class railroad family, and not a third world country. I am in Haiti seventeen days after the earthquake. I am part of IMANA’s Medical Relief Team #3.
My Great Friend, Dr. Mehr, from my home town of Hornell, New York, chairs the Medical Response for Disasters Relief. In the past, I have asked him for the honor of assisting him, as he and his teams provide aid to disaster areas around the world. With my diverse background, I felt I could contribute to such a noble cause. I was right. It was an honor to work for such an organization.
So along with eleven other volunteer members from the Islamic Medical Association of North America, embark on a mission to make a difference in the lives of men, women and children in need – from medical care to something as simple as a compassionate smile and a Dum Dum lollypop.
The Arrival:
“Soon you will be able to smell the chaos” said an experienced doctor, as we passed through the dusty border between the Dominican Republic and Haiti. He was right. About ninety minutes from Port au Prince I began to feel it in the air. Other than a damaged bank across from the United States Embassy, the streets appear to be normal. The line for visas was not, I later learned, long at all; it was Sunday and only about a mile long. As the week wore on it would more than double.
Once inside our compound at the Bojeux Park (essentially an amusement park turned medical facility), our team unloaded the trucks of our personal gear and medical supplies, bought and paid for by the doctors. After a briefing, we began providing treatment to the one hundred or more people sitting underneath the canopy, many of whom had been waiting all day.
My job title is “logistics personnel”. In reality, it is a person who runs like hell to get whatever is needed! The idea is this: I provide support to the eleven Doctors as they treat whomever comes through the gate. This helps the local hospitals keep congestion down as much as possible.
I am tired. I have felt exhaustion like never before. From the deeply physical, to the slow, ebbing tide of emotional wreckage. What a strange stew of emotions I have concocted. All this sadness, relief, happiness, anguish and satisfaction has fed my soul.
No matter which religion we choose, God we believe in, or creed we follow, we are all just human. And from one human to another, I know I have made a difference in a place and time where it is not so easily or clearly defined. In the end, I feel real, and that feels good.