Mission Trip - March 2-9, 2010
A medical team left Cincinnati airport on Tuesday, March 2, for Gandou, Haiti and returned on Tuesday, March 9 around midnight. The team consisted of: 2 doctors, 3 nurses, 1 dentist, 4 translators, 4 support people
• The situation in the capital of Port-au-Prince is nothing less than a disaster.
• It seems ever piece of open land including the small strips between streets has been filled with tents or makeshift homes made from tarps and pieces of plastic.
• It is very unclear to me how these people are going to survive the next few months as the rainy season comes.
Once the team arrived at Port-au-Prince, at the best it takes another 6 to 7 hrs to get to Gandou
In our specific sister parish Father Nexcene, pastor, and the health workers reported that
• 4 people were killed in the earthquake and many more injured.
• 480 houses were damaged and 636 were completely crushed.
• An estimate of at least 2 thousand people are homeless in the parish.
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• Three members of our team walked through the country side witnessed and documented the destruction to the homes.
• They delivered one of our tents to a family with a baby with Pneumonia whose house was completely crushed by the earthquake and was sleeping outside without any protection.
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• We thank God the newer portion of the rectory and the building we use for a clinic are both still standing and appear to be in ok shape.
• Although the church, school, and old portion of the rectory are also still standing, the archdioceses structural engineer declared these buildings as unusable until their damages are repaired.
• Mass is currently being held outside under tarps.
• School is currently being held outside in tents.
• The place where Father Nexcene stays in the rectory was damaged and he himself has been sleeping in a tent outside the rectory ever since the earthquake.
• This engineer detailed the damages to the Church, school, and the rectory and estimated the costs to repair each building. The total is more than $100,000 dollars.
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• Father has been able to obtain some tents from a Church organization called Caritos and he has provided them to a few people in the parish, but as we experienced when we were there, high winds were blowing the tents all around the sun shine makes the tents extremely hot during the day.
• It is clear there are not near enough tents, they are not going to last long, and are not going to be able to keep people dry during the rainy season.
• Father Nexcene has no way to help the people of his parish. He is looking for help.
• The costs associated with the repair and rebuilding of the people’s homes cannot yet be estimated but the amount is extremely high.
• During our trip we were able to hold our medical and dental clinics as usual and we saw about 1200 total patients through the clinics.
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• Our monthly sister parish meeting will be held on Wednesday March 17 at 6:30pm St. Anthony Parish in St. Bede’s room anyone interested can join us.
• We need everyone to pray for and help us find ways to help these people through this epic disaster
• The situation in the capital of Port-au-Prince is nothing less than a disaster.
• It seems ever piece of open land including the small strips between streets has been filled with tents or makeshift homes made from tarps and pieces of plastic.
• It is very unclear to me how these people are going to survive the next few months as the rainy season comes.
Once the team arrived at Port-au-Prince, at the best it takes another 6 to 7 hrs to get to Gandou
In our specific sister parish Father Nexcene, pastor, and the health workers reported that
• 4 people were killed in the earthquake and many more injured.
• 480 houses were damaged and 636 were completely crushed.
• An estimate of at least 2 thousand people are homeless in the parish.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
• Three members of our team walked through the country side witnessed and documented the destruction to the homes.
• They delivered one of our tents to a family with a baby with Pneumonia whose house was completely crushed by the earthquake and was sleeping outside without any protection.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
• We thank God the newer portion of the rectory and the building we use for a clinic are both still standing and appear to be in ok shape.
• Although the church, school, and old portion of the rectory are also still standing, the archdioceses structural engineer declared these buildings as unusable until their damages are repaired.
• Mass is currently being held outside under tarps.
• School is currently being held outside in tents.
• The place where Father Nexcene stays in the rectory was damaged and he himself has been sleeping in a tent outside the rectory ever since the earthquake.
• This engineer detailed the damages to the Church, school, and the rectory and estimated the costs to repair each building. The total is more than $100,000 dollars.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
• Father has been able to obtain some tents from a Church organization called Caritos and he has provided them to a few people in the parish, but as we experienced when we were there, high winds were blowing the tents all around the sun shine makes the tents extremely hot during the day.
• It is clear there are not near enough tents, they are not going to last long, and are not going to be able to keep people dry during the rainy season.
• Father Nexcene has no way to help the people of his parish. He is looking for help.
• The costs associated with the repair and rebuilding of the people’s homes cannot yet be estimated but the amount is extremely high.
• During our trip we were able to hold our medical and dental clinics as usual and we saw about 1200 total patients through the clinics.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
• Our monthly sister parish meeting will be held on Wednesday March 17 at 6:30pm St. Anthony Parish in St. Bede’s room anyone interested can join us.
• We need everyone to pray for and help us find ways to help these people through this epic disaster
March 2010 Mission Team