photos - destruction - part 5

This is an old historical school building that is no more. It hasn't been announced yet but it looks like the school year in Port-au-Prince has been lost as so many schools have been destroyed.

Some buildings are standing in the downtown area. Structural inspections will have to be made.

People were sifting through the rubble at this building.

A lot of people were walking around. It was difficult for vehicles to get around all the rubble in some places.

So much damage in so little time. Some people say it took only 5 seconds for buildings to fall. That is how forceful the earthquake was.

photos - destruction - part 6

Old historical "Gingerbread Style" homes were destroyed.

Fallen buildings narrowed roadways downtown.

It looked like a bomb hit.

Some of the downtown streets had very significant damage.

This man is pausing with a friend on the rubble. Downtown is not functioning. There is just too much damage to be cleaned up right now.

haiti update - january 27, 2010

“For the Lord will rebuild Zion and appear in his glory. He will respond to the prayer of the destitute; he will not despise their plea.” Psalm 103:16,17

The last couple of weeks have been a race against time. We have been racing to help and find injured people. The devastation caused by the earthquake is incredible and this translates into many dead and even more injured. It is estimated that 200,000 people died in the earthquake and 500,000 people injured. Missions everywhere have been focusing on finding and helping the injured. We give the Lord thanks that my cousin Jeff Bultje, sister Tanya, Teresa, Marlene and Dr. Karen McCarthy’s team all found ways to get to Haiti quickly to help the injured here in our area. It was a high paced effort by everybody and rewarding to see people getting help. Nobody was spared by this earthquake, from infants to the elderly. We held 4 clinic days here at Coram Deo and 1 mobile clinic in the Petionville area.
The Haitian people are enduring and strong. A woman who had a severe burn to her arm refused to go the hospital for further treatment because she wouldn’t leave her children. She has 4 children and was living with them in a refuge camp in our area. Instead she allowed Dr. Karen to debride her arm without being under general anesthetic as would have been done in the United States or Canada. A young boy endured the pain of a broken hip for almost 2 weeks before his parents brought him to the clinic. He was one of the people who we sent to Fond Parisien where the Love a Child mission is located. They had a triage area there for surgery. Thanks to their efforts he will get his hip/leg surgically repaired.
My cousin Jeff and another Jeff from the Florida team assisted in transporting all the injured in Kimosabee to several local hospitals. We sent some patients to the University of Miami mobile hospital that was set up at the airport and also the Belgian mobile hospital that was set up on the grounds of Laboratoire National on Delmas 33. Some wounds that were treated were not caused by the earthquake. One man had a gunshot wound that needed care. Another man came in with a badly cut finger caused by an argument with a motorcycle taxi driver when the moto driver slashed him with a knife. A boy came running in with a bleeding head after a fall. All were thankful for the care that they received.
The wound care area of the clinic treated many wounds. Some of the wounds were very infected and it was rewarding for the team to see healing wounds over the clinic days responding to antibiotics and wound cleaning. Tanya, Marlene and Teresa worked with other members of the medical team in that area.
Children from Christian Light School assisted with the translating. Manu was one of the translators helping out in the pharmacy. A person is never too young to help another. We visited the refuge camps in the area searching for untreated injuries and found injuries in every camp we visited. Johnny and Tanya sometimes went out and brought people back in wheelchairs who couldn’t walk to the clinic.
The people on this medical team were very determined. Dr. Karen started feeling sick and dizzy during the mobile clinic in Petionville. She laid down and wrote prescriptions out from a bed and continued on until the clinic day was over.
The team came with a large supply of donated medicines and supplies. People who had diabetes were able to get some insulin pills. Others who had high blood pressure received medication to lower their blood pressure. The international community has responded with a large effort to send in mobile hospitals and set up medical teams in different areas. We even saw mobile tents set up in the middle of streets to provide medical care.
Many amputees have been created. Because of the drastic conditions a lot of the mobile hospitals are doing “cut and chop” for serious injuries as there are no facilities and personnel to monitor recuperation of complex orthopedic surgeries. We sent our most difficult orthopedic cases out to Fond Parisien and they were then sent on to the Dominican Republic with the hope that they wouldn’t have a “cut and chop” surgery. The future for all these amputees will be very difficult if they don’t receive prostheses. We will be trying to find care we hope for some of them. Pray for new missions to be established here in Haiti for prostheses. There are only 2 right now here in Port-au-Prince; Healing Hands and St. Vincents. Pray for all missions working in Haiti who are striving to help the Haitian people. There is so much to write about. I’ll write about it in sections. There are many photos too to explain the “story” of what is going on here in Haiti. You can find them on my blog.
That’s all the news for today. Have a good week.
Karen Bultje, Coram Deo.

photos - clinic - part 1

My cousin Jeff Bultje found a way into Haiti through the Dominican Republic and worked hard at finding supplies and helping people. He made a lot of friends with the haitian people.

These are the 3 Muskateers! My sister Tanya (far right), Marlene (middle) and Teresa (left) dropped everything in Canada and found a way into Haiti too through the Dominican Republic. My family is very resourceful and determined and so are Marlene and Teresa!

A medical team led by Dr. Karen McCarthy from Florida came to Haiti too to hold medical clinics. We had 4 clinic days here at Coram Deo and one mobile clinic in the Petionville area. With the help of all these people many people were helped. We give the Lord thanks for people who don't let anything stop them from helping the haitian people.

The last couple of weeks has been a race to help the injured and also find the injured. This man is carrying this child to our truck.

The injured rested on cots waiting to see Dr. Karen.

photos - clinic - part 2

Macdonald helped to translate in the registration area.

Manu chipped in to help translate in the pharmacy area. Several students from Christian Light School handled the translating.

Another student is helping Debbie to explain how to take the medicine to this parent.

This boy had some sort of obstruction in his abdomen. A block hit him on the abdomen and 4 days later he wasn't able to stool. He was one of the children who went to Fond Parisien at Love a Child and then to the Dominican Republic for surgery.

This man had injuries to several parts of his body.

photos - clinic - part 3

We went to all the refuge camps in our area and found this lady who had severe burns on her legs, which were caused by hot oil falling on her during the earthquake. She is a street vendor who was preparing food at the time of the earthquake.

We brought her to the University of Miami mobile hospital set up on the grounds of the airport. While there we made contact with members of the surgical team who are part of the hydrocephalus project and returned to pick up Dorothy and Poutchino so that he could be evaluated.

There was a constant stream of injured being brought to this airport hospital. The lady with the burns was carried from the truck to the triage area. She was operated on within the hour to debride her infected legs.

This rescue team was carrying another injured person.

Jeff was kept busy transporting injured to hospitals. These patients are waiting to be seen in the triage area.

photos - clinic - part 4

This boy patiently waited for his dressing to be changed.

This boy cme in on the last day of the clinic, 13 days after being injured by his falling house. He has a broken hip. We sent him to Fond Parisien to Love a Child, where he was assessed and then sent on to the Dominican Republic for surgery.

Several elderly who couldn't move fast enough were injured.

This baby has a skull fracture caused by a cement block from his falling house hitting him. No age group was spared from the effects of the earthquake.

This lady had a burn that got infected. Dr. Karen wanted her to go to a hospital but she refused as she had nobody to look after her 4 children and they were living in one of the local refuge camps. Dr. Karen debrided her dead skin.