A Wonderful Day

Today was a wonderful day! We got up and started the day with sacrament meeting at 7:00am. It lasted about 40 minutes. Then we went to the hospital for the rest of the day. I was assigned to translate in the surgical post op with 2 nurses. I spent 8 hours straight translating, changing bandages and doing wound care. We saw 25 patients. As I was working with these 25 people today it kept bringing back to me why I love the people of Haiti so much. They are such a humble and loving people. I was able to sit and comfort an 18 year old girl who had just come from having both of her legs amputated. Another young girl had fixation rods in her legs and both femurs. I just wanted to cry for both of them. 20 of the 25 patients we saw today had lost a limb and others had wounds where their flesh had been torn entirely off their foot. As I spoke to them and comforted them today my prayers went up to our Heavenly Father asking Him to comfort them. I only wish I could do more. When I asked the girls how they were, they responded I have nothing left but my faith in Jesus Christ. I knew at that moment what I am doing here in Haiti is what Christ would be doing if he were here in person.

UHTF Orphan / Update Summary

With help from Senator Hatch's Office, Haiti Prime Minister, Haiti First Lady, the US Ambassador, ICE agents, various orphan adoption agencies and many volunteers the Utah Hospital Task Force was able to get 141 orphans moved along the complex adoption process in Haiti. UHTF with help from Sun Charter stayed at the airport for hours until this process was complete. UHTF was successful in bringing 66 orphans back to the USA to their families that have been waiting for them for months. The remainder of the 141 are completing final paperwork and will soon be brought back by other orphan relief agencies. We again express our thanks to those who made it possible to unite these 66 orphans with their families.
We would like to thank all the volunteers that made this possible. This is only the beginning of our mission. Our group consists of 19 Doctors, 21 Nurses, 27 EMTs, 23 Construction and 38 Linguists with 45% (57) members of the total group being fluent in French / Creole. We plan to spend 21 days in Haiti Healing - people, buildings and the community. None of these people are paid - they all willingly took time off away from family and work to make this possible. Again we greatly thank all involved and are exited to hear about the good that is and will be accomplished.

(from UHTF website)

Back in Haiti...My Second Mission

January 28
We arrived at the Port au Prince airport on Thursday night at 11:30pm EST. The Prime Minister had not released the orphans to board the plane to leave Haiti. Our group (Steve Studdert) contacted Senator Orrin Hatch and he contacted the airline we flew in on and asked permission for the plane to stay until morning so that Steve could hopefully meet with the Prime Minister, to ask if he would release them. We didn't get to our camp until 3am. We are staying with the 82nd airborn on a soccer field in P au P.
January 29
Well what a first day back in Haiti. It was so difficult to drive down the streets and see so many homes and businesses completely destroyed. I traveled in a hum-v with the 82nd airborn touring Port au Prince to access the hospitals and see the needs. As we went through the streets in the hum-v I had to use a lot of Creole to navigate and was so surprised that after 20 years it came back so easy. Many children and adults have lost limbs. (This is why it's so important to get Healing Hands for Haiti back up and running!) It breaks my heart to see these people suffering as they are. I am so thankful I was chosen to come down with UTHF. My emotions have been up and down throughout the day with the devastation of Haiti and the suffering on one hand and the smiles and laughter from the children and others I talked to today on the other. On a very positive note they were successful in getting 66 children on a plane to Salt Lake City.
We'll see what tomorrow will bring. We will begin building a temporary orphanage, some are going to Petionville and some to Petit de Gave. This was the last area of my mission and where the epicenter of the earthquake hit. They haven't had any help there yet so I'm sure they are in dire need.

This is why Healing Hands for Haiti is so Important!

Click on MSNBC link below

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35103003/ns/world_news-haiti_earthquake/

En Route to Haiti

Doug is officially on his way to Haiti! He is scheduled to land in Port-au-Prince at 11:00pm EST. It was a very somber day yesterday as the kids and I dropped him off at the airport. It was rainy and cold, very fitting for the teary eyed kids I had in the back seat of my car. It's a big sacrifice to give up your dad for three weeks but I reminded the kids how lucky they are to have a dad who is willing and able to give of himself to the people of Haiti. In the scriptures it tells us to "be willing to comfort those that stand in need of comfort." The people of Haiti need to be comforted now more than ever before. I'm so proud of Doug and know that God will keep him safe as he has a great work to do!

MISSION PICTURES

It was only last week that Steve Studdert began circulating an email and then placed an article on Meridian appealing for volunteers with skills in medicine, construction and French/Creole language to come to Haiti to help in this time of devastation. He said, “This is NOT an official Church delegation, but priesthood men being "anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do(ing) many things of their own free will, and bring(ing) to pass much righteousness; For the power is in them...” (D & C 58:27-28).

This morning, just a few days later, after scrambling to get off work for 21 days, receiving inoculations, and leaving behind family members who were jittery for their safety, 125 men and women boarded a 737 jet, leaving from Salt Lake City airport, heading for Haiti.

In an outpouring of generosity, Steve received well over 4,000 emails from people, eager to help, and qualified 850 people for this mission of mercy. If he can get funding, he hopes to fill up three and maybe four more planes of LDS volunteers. Among this first group are 21 doctors, 22 nurses, 30 medical support, 49 construction workers and 70 French/Creole speakers.

As Meridian’s publisher and editor-in-chief, Scot and I are accompanying the group to bring their experiences and the stories of the Haitian Saints back home to you through vivid photography and writing. We will take you there, let you experience first-hand with us what it is like to be on the ground trying to make a difference in Haiti.To read more of this article click here

The Healing Hands for Haiti International Foundation has made significant strides to provide aid to the suffering Haitians at this time. We currently have two medical professionals from our board of directors on the ground in Haiti. Dr. Jeff Randle, just returned after a week of service. To see the efforts and experiences of Dr. Jeff Randle, go to his blog at http://www.chiefhhh.blogspot.com.

As many of you know, Steve Studdert has coordinated a major relief effort in partnership with the Healing Hands for Haiti International Foundation. Many of you have contributed to this Utah Hospital Task Force through Healing Hands for Haiti, we thank you for these donations. Those for whom you have contributed are scheduled to travel this week and will have a life changing experience as they assist in the relief efforts in Haiti.

Although all 7 of the buildings on our property have been completely destroyed, or rendered uninhabitable, we have opened up our campus as a safe haven for two orphanages that were destroyed near our facilities. Additionally, our compound will be used by humanitarian groups for weeks to come.

In the 10 year existence of the Healing Hands for Haiti International Foundation we never imagined such a devastating blow to the people and country that we love and serve. I want to assure you that your funds will be used appropriately in the care of these great people and the rebuild of their beautiful country. To stay apprised of our efforts, follow us at our website- www.healinghandsforhaiti.org.

Thank you again,

Trent Goddard
Treasurer
Healing Hands for Haiti International Foundation

By Scott Taylor

Deseret News

Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2010

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti -- Nothing is routine in Haiti, especially setting up another another makeshift meetinghouse clinic.

Each new day and new location means new patients and new challenges.

On Monday, Jan. 25, the LDS Church-sponsored team of volunteer doctors and nurses responding to medical needs in earthquake-ravaged Haiti set up shop in the Croix des Missions meetinghouse of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The church building is located in one of already-poor Port-au-Prince's most poverty-stricken areas, just a couple of blocks from what has become a key post-quake point at the Gris River.

Heavy street traffic -- including trucks and buses -- has created a crude detour from a closed, unstable metal bridge over lumpy, bumpy dirt roads and past women washing their clothes in the shallow waters. And past pigs and goats rummaging through refuse dumps located oh-too-close to the riverbed.

But inside the gated meetinghouse grounds awaits a veritable oasis -- clean, near-perfect concrete driveways and parking areas, lush lawns, towering trees and a sparkling church building that medical staff says looks temple-like.

The only immediately visible signs of damage are at the front and back of the meetinghouse. On the front wall, a large stone sign -- the Haitian Creole version of the church's name -- has a noticeable crack running through it. Behind the building, the back cinder-block-and-cement wall has fallen flat on its side.

The crowd of homeless staying on the grounds is not as large at the Croix des Missions building as others in Port-au-Prince, such as the Centrale Ward and Petion-ville Ward meetinghouses -- scores rather than hundreds.

From a previous quick visit by members of the medical team, local church leaders learned of Monday's planned visit, and they had prepared for the arrival by lining up folding chairs near the entrance, out of the intense Caribbean sun when possible.

Whenever the staff sets up a clinic, they must transport a dozen or so pieces of luggage and bags containing medical supplies and pharmaceuticals, and then separate everything out in a makeshift pharmacy.

The team set up Monday's clinic in the back of the Croix des Missions chapel, in a tiled overflow and stage area beyond the last row of wooden pews. A clinic-on-the-move means certain items may be in short supply.

Monday's missing supplies included a lack of water and snacks -- not so much for the American doctors and nurses, but rather for them to provide to the Haitians who help at the clinics. Medical students help give basic medical care, English-speaking church members help translate communication between U.S. staff and local patients. And other church members are asked to be logistics volunteers, helping with the flow of patients in and out of the clinic area. Water is also given to individuals who receive pills for medication.

Too few latex gloves have been packed, an assumed bottle of hydrogen peroxide is really one volunteer's personal supply of liquid laundry bleach, and it's been some time since anyone has seen a blood-pressure cuff.

With about half of the original 18-member medical team having returned home to pick up their usual practices and shifts, the clinic is not only smaller in size but has fewer individuals who speak either Creole or French in interacting with Haitian patients and workers.

Ogden, Utah, doctor Jeremy Booth, who learned Creole as an LDS missionary in Florida, and Provo, Utah, doctor Creig MacArthur, whose French was learned nearly a half-century ago while serving a mission in France, seemed like the only people who might communicate with patients.

Provo critical-care nurse David Sindel and Corvallis, Ore., doctor Mark Rampton joined Booth and MacArthur in seeing patients, whose injuries and ailments ranged from broken femurs to the common cold. Alpine doctor Dan Egan oversaw the pharmacy and distributing the medicines, with the sorting assistance of Jeff and Ben Richards, teenage sons of Brian Richards, a Layton doctor who was elsewhere in Port-au-Prince assisting another colleague.

At the start, the clinic seemed to be rocked with challenges -- the missing supplies, only one available Haitian translator, no Haitian medical students to assist, and a line of people waiting for consultation.

Somebody braved more than two hours of traffic-clogged streets to retrieve the needed supplies, and the Haitian volunteers soon started to show up and assist.

From the first patient, a mother of a days-old newborn who just wanted a trained doctor to confirm everything was well with the baby, to the last patient, a man complaining of being short of breath, the day was a success, with certain understandable conditions.

The number of patients is starting to dwindle, while the most acute cases brought to the clinics are being transferred to local hospitals because surgical procedures in the makeshift clinic could lead to more serious problems with infection.

Monday's patient tally was close to 100. by comparison, at the early Centrale Ward meetinghouse clinics last week, each volunteer was treating 75 to 100 patients apiece.

Later in the afternoon, volunteers started to pack up the supplies and wonder if they should consider coming back to the Croix des Missions meetinghouse again on Tuesday or move on to another Port-au-Prince location, either at another LDS building or an existing hospital or clinic.

Just then, word came in about a neighborhood clinic about five minutes away, with an overflow of injured and ailing Haitians needing exactly the kind of care the LDS volunteers can provide. One of the doctors rushed over to assess the needs and the possibilities of setting up there Tuesday, Jan. 26.

More patients for another day. Another reason to repeat the daily routine.

From Meridian Magazine

Something quite miraculous happened yesterday--with one article on Meridian from our own Steve Studdert--we were able to fill a Boeing 737 with 150 willing volunteers to go on a most critical and difficult mission to Haiti. This flight will leave this Wednesday. Many more were not able to come.

We have an immediate need to help this mission. We need cash donations right now. Will you help? Of course, it's tax deductible and will go right to the needs at hand.

The note we received from Steve Studdert this morning tells it all. Please read it to the end:

Wonderful Latter-day Saints have responded in incredible numbers to be part of the Utah Hospital Task Force on its emergency mission to Haiti.

A group of 150 extraordinary volunteer LDS physicians, nurses, EMTs, builders, engineers, and construction professionals will travel by charter aircraft to Haiti next Wednesday for 21-days. We are traveling as the Utah Hospital Task Force.

All expenses are being covered by donations.

These volunteers come from many states and Canada, all are LDS, and many speak French or Creole, languages desperately needed by USAID in the recovery efforts.

Our primary objective is to get the Healing Hands of Haiti medical center back in operation to save lives. This is what the facility looks like since the quake on January 12th:



Our secondary objective is to assist as directed by USAID on-ground coordinators to save lives.

There are more good people wishing to go than there are plane seats, but everyone can help.

Our most immediate need is to finish raising the funds to pay for the aircraft and logistics support, which in the crisis environment is quite expensive.

Though only a few can go, each of us can help by making a donation, and by asking friends and family and employers and neighbors and generous fellow ward members to contribute any amount.

Donations should be given to Healing Hands for Haiti, which is a non-profit tax deductible donation. Donations may be made electronically at www.HealingHandsforHaiti.org with the important designation “Utah Hospital Task Force”. You will see the donate button right as you come to the site.

If you desire to send your checks, donations may be mailed to:

Healing Hands for Haiti International Foundation, Inc.
P.O. Box 521800
Salt Lake City, Utah 84152-1800

Be sure to designate “Utah Hospital Task Force.” Time is urgent.

All funds beyond the travel costs will be used for materials for the Healing Hands of Haiti clinic reconstruction and medical supplies. This is so important to accomplishing our critical mission. Thank you!
--Steve

Blessings and thanks for your kindness and generosity. As always, we are amazed and humbled by you Meridian readers.
--Scot and Maurine Proctor

We received this update for especially needed medical supplies:

Ingestible antibiotics
Orthopedic drills
Patient screws
Sterile gloves
Sterile gowns
Sterile drapes
Sterile anything

If you have access to these supplies please bring them with you. If you have a large supply and would like to ship them to us please respond to this email and we will make arrangements.

This is for all of my friends and family who have a desire to help the Haitian people. A group of doctors and volunteers (mostly former LDS missionaries) are headed to Port-au-Prince next week. Our mission is to rebuild a medical clinic that was founded years ago by a Utah doctor. This clinic had a great history of helping Haitians. As most of you know I served my mission in Haiti and have a great love for the Haitian people. I am grateful for the opportunity I have to serve on this special task force.
Our mission is being financially supported by private donations. Living supplies for the volunteers are being provided by the LDS church, and we are going in under the direct authorization of USAID. If you have the desire to help out in Haiti, this is the perfect method. Here is a link with more information on how to help.