Thursday, April 29, 2010 

Team arrives in Haiti

President's Palace (White House) in Port-au-Prince, Haiti

The 3rd Forward In Health medical team arrived in Haiti Wednesday March 21, 2010.

We were driven through earthquake devastated Port-au-Prince. The tent cities are endless. People have constructed tin shacks along the cement median of a main road in the city with concrete blocks and tires on the side of the road to prevent cars from hitting them. Mounds of rubble line the sides of the road. A large church, thought to have been the cathedral, is in ruins. The President's Palace, the "White House" sits collapsed with an idle bulldozer in front of it. There are no obvious signs that work has been started.

Around all of this life tries to go on.  Stores and outdoor markets are open. The streets are becoming more congested. However there are no signs that the demolition and removal of destroyed buildings has even begun.

The team arrived in Grande-Goave at Mission of Hope with our directors Lex and Rene Edme. The team will be sleeping outside in tents or on a cement patio. Tomorrow we travel to Les Cayes, about 90 miles away, a 4 hour drive if all goes well.

Everyone is excited about beginning but especially those who have never been to Port-au-Prince are stunned by the poverty and destruction.

12:49 PM | |

 

Team is home after a great week in Haiti

The medical team returned Wednesday night after a week in Haiti.  The trip was a success in many ways.  We did not have any internet access and updates will be posted soon.  In brief we sent a medical team and surgical team. Both were busy and significantly helped those that we saw.  Unfortunately there has been little improvement in the conditions in Haiti since the earthquake.  People have had to try to return to a life as normal as possible while living in tents and makeshift shacks, some even along the median of the road!  Schools in Port-au-Prince are open if they remained standing and the university reopened this week.

9:22 AM | |

Friday, April 16, 2010 

Trip Preparation Packing Continues

Packing continues for the medical trip leaving Wednesday March 21st. 19 people will be carrying a total of 38 hockey bags of medications and supplies into Haiti. Each bag weighs 50 pounds, so we're bringing down nearly a ton of supplies!  This is in large part due to the generosity of the many organizations and people who have provided support to Forward in Health since the earthquake. Tomorrow, Saturday, the students from the Forward in Health student group will help finalize packing.  Currently our garage and entry room are filled with supplies and packed hockey bags.
 
Thanks today to John's Sport Shop in Gardner for delivering "The Mother of All Hockey Bags" to carry down crutches.  Also special thanks go to Girl Scout Troop 30619 from Hubbardston for delivering supplies and cash.
Dr. Michael Gaudet from our board acquired $10,000 of testing supplies to diagnose Malaria and personally purchased additional tests to be used to detect Typhoid fever.
 
Finally Oakmont High School held a dance for Forward in Health and collected $369. This money is crucial as there is always a need to buy medications in Haiti or obtain labs/x-rays at the hospital.
 

10:13 PM | |

Thursday, April 08, 2010 

Thanks to Haverhill Elementary Schools

A huge thanks to the students and teachers of Tilton and Pentucket Lake Elementary Schools in Haverhill, Ma. Each of the school's students and staff worked together to raise $1,000 each for Forward in Health and our work in Haiti. The donations have already been used to buy medications for the upcoming April medical trip to Haiti. The students devised various ways to raise the money including bringing in spare change and buying days off from homework. John Mulqueen met with the students and staff of each of the schools to accept the donations. A special thanks to the principals of each school; Diane Connoly at Pentucket Lake Elementary and Mary Beth Maranto of the Tilton School.

7:45 PM | |