Hi All,
In preparation for my next trip to Haiti (leaving this Wednesday) I thought I would give you a little info about what's happening in Haiti this week.
Rampantly unfolding cholera epidemic, wildly underreported. Dead bodies in the streets for days, people too terrified of catching cholera to move them. Children, elderly, pregnant women, men... dying in untold numbers. Clinics overflowing, the fortunate ones get beds with the ass cut out and a bucket underneath, the rest lay in puddles of their own waste on the ground. The first elections since the earthquake.They were rescheduled in the wake of the quake. Given the current situation in Haiti- millions living in tent cities with no electricity or running water while everyone around them is shitting themselves to death- It's safe to say that the peeps are PISSED. Should be interesting.
Riots and protests directed at UN peacekeepers (and certain international aid groups) for suspicions that they brought cholera to Haiti (A position espoused by some of the leading political candidates). It is these same UN peacekeepers that will be responsible for policing the polling stations and overseeing the legitimacy of the election.
Seismologists reporting another earthquake in Haiti "sooner rather than later," following a series of tremors this week offshore.
 
We'll be bringing suitcases full of IV start kits, gloves, IV tubing, IV fluids, rehydration salts and the like. We will be be providing patient care in rubber boots. For ourselves we will also be bringing six liters of IV fluids each- in case we need some TLC ourselves. We have the Chief of Police in Port au Prince on speed dial. Most of our translators will be packing heat (like usual). We will be going to where the greatest need is: Cite Soliel (the poorest and most violent ghetto in the Western Hemisphere and probably top five in the world).  Basically, it's gonna be a shit show. I'm ready.
 
So give THANKS this Thanksgiving. And give MONEY this Thanksgiving. Check out these two websites:
http://mmrcglobal.org/ We work with these guys in the trenches everytime we go. We'll be staying at their house this time, probably in tents on the roof. Big Paul and Little Paul. Read about them on the site. Extreme Humanitarians, they're the real thing.
http://www.raisinghaiti.com Under the "contact us" link you can find out who's who.

 

Liz