Two Western Massachusetts organizations are moving ahead to help with rebuilding efforts in Haiti.
A child receives medical care at Sacred Heart Hospital in Milot, Haiti. The hospital, operated by the Ludlow-based CRUDEM Foundation, has cared for more than 100,000 people injured in the earthquake which hit the nation’s capital on Jan. 12, 2010.Every time Timothy Traynor heads to Port-au-Prince he drives by the same grade school that was flattened a year ago in one of the largest earthquakes in the world. The bodies of 350 children who were killed remain inside.
A year after a 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit Haiti Jan. 12, killing about 230,000 people, injuring at least 300,000 and displacing more than 1 million, rebuilding efforts in the capital city have barely begun.
“Port-au-Prince is still a disaster,” said Traynor, a Wilbraham resident who has spent at least seven months in Haiti since the earthquake. “I have not seen any concentrated effort to clean up the area. There are entire neighborhoods which were squashed ... and so many people who are dead are beneath the rubble.”
But several local organizations are moving quicker to rebuild a school and expand a hospital so each are bigger and better than before.
Traynor, a retired businessman, was in Haiti when the earthquake hit. He was volunteering at Sacred Heart Hospital, which is operated by the Ludlow-based CRUDEM Foundation in Milot.
Once word spread that the hospital was largely undamaged and had doctors and nurses who could care for the injured, it was inundated with patients, many who were critically injured and had been waiting days and even weeks for care.
“We are as busy (now) as we were on Jan. 13. Not only did we have the earthquake and the cholera epidemic, there was a period of civil unrest because of the presidential elections and we had the hurricane,” said Rev. Joni M. Paterson, director of development for CRUDEM.
There are many reasons for the continuing surge in patients. The lack of hospitals in Port-au-Prince pushed people to seek help in Milot, a number of people have migrated north to escape the devastation in the capital and as staff at the hospital offered more care and brought in more sophisticated equipment the reputation has been elevated, Paterson said.
Two women embrace during a religious ceremony held at the Titanyen mass grave site on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince, Haiti, Tuesday. The religious ceremony is one of many events planned to mark the one-year anniversary of the Jan. 12 magnitude-7.0 quake that killed more than 220,000 people and left millions homeless.Since the earthquake, staff hospital set up six large military-like tents to expand its capacity beyond the 73-bed hospital building.
In the past year, staff cared for more than 100,000 people injured in the earthquake, performed more than 800 surgeries, treated more than 800 cholera patients, added a permanent prosthetics laboratory, and developed a 10-person nurses training program for Milot residents, she said.
The hospital also added a machine which distills oxygen used for patients with breathing problems. Previously staff had difficulty obtaining oxygen so it purchased the machine with the help of private medical companies and donations, she said.
CRUDEM is undergoing a campaign to raise as much as $5 million so it can add two delivery rooms, an operating room and a pediatric unit. Staff also hopes to increase to 120 beds, Paterson said.
“On very little money we got a lot done,” Traynor said. “We went to work, we did not wait for the calvary to show up,” he said in reference the huge sum of money raised by the Red Cross.
The American Red Cross released a one-year report of its work in Haiti last week. Nationwide it raised $479 million and has spent or signed agreements to spend $245 million. Some money has gone to emergency relief such as providing temporary shelter for more than 860,000 people, medical care for 217,000 and food for 1.3 million and grants and loans for 220,000 people.
The organization has also spend $4.5 million and expects to spend another $10 million to prevent the spread of cholera.
One of its biggest challenges is working with the Haitian government to locate land owners so permanent homes can be built, the report said.
“There was an overwhelming outpouring of sympathy and donations from the Pioneer Valley and across the country after the earthquake in Haiti, and these donations have made a real difference,” said Paige N. Thayer, Pioneer Valley deputy director of chapter support.
Local residents donated more than $1.2 million through the Pioneer Valley Chapter. Many others gave directly to the main chapter, which is calculated separately, she said.
It wasn’t just money that was donated. Eight children from Haiti, aged 2 to 15, were flown to Massachusetts in February so they could receive intensive care to save crushed limbs or their lives.
Five were treated at Shriners Hospital for Children in Springfield, two suffering burns were treated at the Shriners burn unit in Boston and the oldest child was first treated in the pediatric intensive care unit at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield and then transferred to neighboring Shriners Hospital.
Officials at the two Springfield hospitals said four of the children returned home after about three months of care. The two others who were in Springfield are now temporarily living with families in New York while they continue with treatment. The two children treated at the burn unit remain in the country until the treatment is completed.
Joeli Hettler, a pediatric emergency physician at Baystate, is one of dozens of local medical personnel from the Springfield area and one of hundreds across the country who traveled to Haiti to assist at Sacred Heart Hospital.
When the team lead by Dr. Ian S. Goodman of Baystate went to pick up the children in February, Hettler joined them and volunteered at the hospital for a week.
About two months ago a medical team returned to Haiti and checked on the children.
“Three medically were doing perfectly and (a nurse) arranged to get medical care for the fourth,” she said.
During her stay, she said the American doctors worked under the supervision of the Haitian doctors who run the hospital day-to-day in Milot.
Visiting teams do surgery and work with Haitian staff to teach them new skills, Hettler said.
Traynor said the key to rebuilding Haiti is to develop small cottage industries that will build the economy, which was among the poorest in the world before the earthquake. That is happening in Milot.
For example, the hospital is purchasing food from farmers. The farmers then purchase goods from others and finally those who need medical care can pay the hospital for their services. Patients do pay a small fee for health care, but most of the money for the hospital comes from donations, Traynor said.
“There is no doubt in my mind, that if we don’t give up they will not give up,” he said.
CRUDEM is not alone in rebuilding. The First Church of Christ in Longmeadow, which partnered with the CONASPEH School in Port-au-Prince to provide scholarships for children, is now involved in building a bigger school than the one that collapsed during the earthquake.
“They have a basic framework up and a roof on,” said Mark H. Pohlman, of Longmeadow, who has been involved with the effort through the church, which is affliated with the United Church of Christ. A retired orthopedic surgeon, he has also volunteered at Sacred Heart Hospital.
The original four-story school, operated by a conglomeration of Haitian churches, killed 20 people, mostly nursing students, when it collapsed.
The new building will be stronger and much larger. A year ago about 450 students attended the school, which had a seminary and nursing program as well as kindergarten through 12th grade; when it is completed there will be room for about 1,500 students.
The organization is taking advantage of the rebuilding effort to add new programs to teach different trades.
At 4:50 Wednesday afternoon, the bell of the church at Longmeadow and Williams streets will toll for a few minutes in recognition of the anniversary, according to the Rev. Michael S. Bennett, senior pastor of the church.
Because of media coverage following the earthquake, American International College officials learned about the nursing program and proposed an exchange that would allow Haitian nursing students to study in Springfield, Pohlman said.
“They are very much interested in going through with this,” he said.
Pohlman said he is amazed at how Haitians have been able to handle the hardships of the hurricane, cholera and the political unrest. He has faith there will be opportunities in Haiti but said the first vital step will be to elect a new government which can control the corruption which is so pervasive among the country.
“I think it is going to take a long, long time but it is an opportunity to do things differently and there will be some real progress,” he said.