I’m leaving for an urgent trip to Haiti in a few days. Jack from MoM is arriving today. Several of our children are critically ill, some have passed away, parents, church members, and pastors are all affected. We are urgently traveling there to assess and assist. Jack, myself, and our wonderful partners on the ground in the DR and Haiti are going to do our best to bring some semblance of health care and prevention to those who are suffering. There is civil unrest, riots, an election coming up and danger. I know that we are protected. Without Him we are nothing.
For the past week, Jack and I have been planning, implementing and assessing what our intervention can accomplish. We have ordered a lot of supplies from the DR that are being transported to Haiti. Here is what we are doing:
1. Evaluate all the projects for:
· Water sources, supplies, cleanliness, utilization and potential for wells and/or filtration systems: we are taking a supply of water filtration systems with us
· Hygiene and sanitation protocols
· General health conditions of the children and families
o Nutritional
o Infectious
o Document number of people with cholera
o Degree of illness
2. Ongoing treatment
· Plans for referrals to hospitals or clinics for medical care
· Meet with our local MD who we are working with to coordinate efforts
· Visit Justinien Hospitals and Milot Hospital
o Evaluate their ability to care for more patients
o Evaluate supply needs
3. Evaluate collaborative efforts with Konbit Santé and the local hospitals
4. Establish a plan and priorities for our January medical team dependent on the findings from this trip
5. Reinforce aggressive education to prevent any more child deaths.
a. Invite all mothers/children to come to the projects each day: They will get a bowl of porridge and ORS
b. Training for making ORS, hygiene, sanitation, water purification will be done at separate teaching stations that families will rotate through so that each mother/family can clearly see the importance of each and not get overwhelmed.
6. Following the list of registered children each project will keep attendance records each day and follow up with the families that haven’t come.
7. Home visits will be conducted frequently to follow up on assessing sanitation, use of products, and additional education.
8. Any child/family member identified as being at risk in any of the above steps will be either moved to the project for observation and ORS treatment or taken to clinic/hospital for IV treatment.
We have a lot to do. We are anxious, yet comforted by the fact that we will be doing what we know He wants us to do. I’ll be posting to the blog and tweeting as I can starting on Sunday evening (November 28th). In the meantime, during this time of thanks, remember what you have and what you don’t have, and…
In all things, give thanks.
David
