Charli Butterfield of the Wheelchair Foundation
As a first hand report of our first trip into Haiti to provide doctors, nurses, medical supplies, wheelchairs, and other emergency supplies, everything went very smoothly.
We departed from the Ft. Lauderdale airport at 9:15 PM for an arrival into Port-au-Prince at 11:00 PM last night. Everything was dark, so we couldn’t see much from the air on our approach. Haiti has a curfew for everyone which takes effect at 7:00 PM, so the team was forced to sleep at the airport until 6:00 AM, when the curfew is lifted. We were then able to travel to our assigned posts. The landing was smooth and uneventful. We were met by the US military, who was very helpful. We were told when we departed Ft. Lauderdale that the US military needed ice. We brought in lots of ice, 15 pizzas, and Coke. The military was very excited and more than willing to assist us in the offloading of all our medical supplies and wheelchairs. They let our doctors, Wheelchair Foundation volunteers, and DC3 volunteers set up a makeshift camp right next to their central base right at the airport. MedShare rendezvoused with us at the airport to help organize the distribution of medical supplies, and Dr. Janette Nesheiwat led several of our doctors and volunteers to a small village where people were desperately seeking and in need of medical attention this morning. Jeff Behring reported that these small villages were living in tents and had very long lines of people waiting for medical attention. They were doing the best they could but were still in need of more medical supplies such as aspirin, blood pressure medicine, thermometers, blood pressure cuffs, etc. We are actively searching for these items to bring with us on our next trip into Port-au-Prince on Saturday. We have another group of doctors and nurses arriving and another plane being loaded with more medical supplies that are being trucked down right now from Medshare’s Atlanta, Georgia distribution center. We are also working with 4 constituents representing the “Clean Water for Haiti” organization. We couldn’t ask for a better group of people to work with. Everyone is really pitching in and doing the best they can to help those in need of medical attention and mobility. I am so proud of our mission, and of those who have volunteered their time and supplies to help.
Charli Butterfield
Thanks for the update. There are many thinking of you all. We’re holding all of you in our prayers and are really touched by your relief efforts. Much love to each and every one of you! Please tell the people of Haiti that the world cares, that we are moved by their resilience and faith. We pray for the healing of their hearts, minds, bodies and homeland.