[BHS etree] STUDENT ACTIVITIES: Update on the Relief Campaign and from Haiti

[bhs at idiom.com]

PLEASE do not reply to this email, contact Chris Young
[mailto:cyoung at berkeleyhigh.us] 

What an amazing effort the BHS Community has put forward to raise money for
Partners in Health.  You all, the staff and the student body of Berkeley
High School have raised just about $7200 in only nine days since we started
the campaign.  This is only $800 short of our goal.  

The campaign has been documented and is being supported by other community
organizations too, including the Berkeley Community Media, the Daily Planet,
and Doggie High, a diner across the street from BHS which is donating half
of its proceeds to our fund.

There are two things that are really important about this effort.  One is of
course that the money we are putting forward is going to well-managed relief
work on the part of Partners in Health (PIH).  PIH is clearly one of the
most effectively operating organizations in Port-au-Prince and across Haiti
towards the immediate relief of human suffering there and has done great
work in the impoverished nation for so long.  

But a second tremendously powerful product of this campaign is one that will
endure beyond this critical time for the people of Haiti.  It is the
positive communal energy the students of Berkeley High are experiencing as
they work together on a compassion-driven cause.  Many of them will remember
this experience and use it as an example to empower and inspire themselves,
the organizations and communities they are a part of in the future towards
altruistic ends.  

So thank you again.  

Please review this latest update from the PIH Haiti Program Coordinator for
your information.  And if you are still considering a donation to help us
meet our goal here is the link for our campaign:
http://act.pih.org/page/outreach/view/haitiearthquake/BHShelpHaiti  

With gratitude from the entire BHS Student Leadership Team,

Chris Young
Director of Student Activities
Berkeley High School


Partners In Health - UPDATE
Crisis in Haiti <http://www.pih.org>  

Dear Christopher,

Wednesday morning, a strong aftershock earthquake rocked Port-au-Prince,
temporarily shutting down operations at the general hospital in
Port-au-Prince, as well as several other PIH sites outside the city. Since
then additional smaller quakes continue to disrupt efforts on the ground.

Here's a quick update on our work in Haiti despite these challenges.

PIH's surgical teams continue to race against time to provide surgical care
to earthquake victims in Port-au-Prince. Operating rooms at the central
general hospital (HUEH) in Port-au-Prince are fully operational again after
being temporarily evacuated on yesterday in response to the aftershock. PIH
is still coordinating the relief efforts at HUEH and reports having 12
operating rooms opened 24 hours per day. Across the country, we have a total
of 20 operating rooms up and running. 

To date, PIH has sent 22 plane loads with 144 medical volunteers -
orthopedic surgeons, anesthesiologists, surgical nurses and other medical
professionals - and several thousand pounds of medical supplies to support
the more than 4,500 PIH health care providers already in Haiti. 

Despite these accomplishments, our teams throughout the country continue to
report a great need for additional medicines (antibiotics, anesthesia and
narcotics), medical equipment (anesthesia machines and x-rays), medical
supplies (IVs, tubing, irrigating saline), and water. 

"There are very sick people and too little space and time," reported PIH
Women's Health Coordinator Sarah Marsh from our hospital in St. Marc. She
added that we will lose more patients to infection in the coming days if we
don't find additional medications, and explained that is only for lack of
supplies - not patients - that the surgical team risks performing more
operations. A volunteer orthopedist also working from St. Marc stressed that
we will need full medical teams on site to manage dressings, skins grafts
and other post operative care for another 6-8 weeks. 

Our sites in the Central Plateau and the lower Artibonite are dealing with
increasing numbers of patients and families seeking both medical treatment
and refuge from devastated Port-au-Prince. Finding space and beds for
post-operative care has become the next major challenge. In Cange, PIH's
104-bed facility is overflowing: the church is serving as a triage center
and the school as a recovery room. People are arriving in Cange at all hours
of the day and night; many simply have nowhere to go. 

"Our houses were crushed and our businesses destroyed. So we came to Cange,"
said one man who arrived in a bus with 12 relatives, including his
mother-in-law who was critically injured. In Belladaire, near the border
with the Dominican Republic (DR), up to 1,000 people are camped out at PIH's
hospital in temporary shelter, searching for family members and medical
treatment. We expect that people will continue to return to the countryside,
having lost their family, livelihoods, and homes in the capital city, and
meeting the needs of this displaced population will be a major task in PIH's
long-term rebuilding efforts. 

Finally, recognizing that many of our own Haitian staff, who are working
tirelessly to save the lives of others, have also lost their own families
and friends, PIH is also developing a post-trauma mental health and social
service program to serve both staff and patients. 

The task ahead is a monumental one. And even as we heal wounds, mend broken
bones, and provide basic necessities (food, water, shelter), its true
magnitude grows before our eyes. But we know from 20-plus years of
accompaniment the resiliency of the Haitian people. Through poverty, strife,
hurricanes, disease and hunger, our Haitian friends and colleagues continue
to amaze us. Their determination, spirit, and ability to overcome and
survive is inspirational and humbling. 

Partners In Health is determined to do whatever it takes, for as long as it
takes, to ensure that their struggle succeeds.

With your help, we know we will be able to do so. 

Kenbe fem,

Ali Lutz
Haiti Program Coordinator

Partners In Health
888 Commonwealth Ave, 3rd Floor
Boston, MA 02215