Dispatch from Dr. Warren Johnson (continued)

Dr. Warren Johnson is the Director of the Center for Global Health at Weill Cornell Medical College

Written January 29, 2010 in Port-au-Prince, Haiti

• According to a senior Haitian government official, they expect to have the broad elements of a master reconstruction plan in several weeks. The rebuilding should be comprehensive with provision of water, sanitation, schools, clinics and jobs.

• Although the last significant aftershock was several days ago, many people, from all strata of society, still sleep outdoors. There has been no rain since the quake- a torrential rain would add to the misery of the homeless and be another disaster as the flood waters from the surrounding mountains make new channels through the city.

• The trauma of the quake and fear for the future are evident in the faces of the GHESKIO staff. One of the GHESKIO staff lost her only child, a 16 year old girl, and 8 other members of her family. She has returned to work and offers a smile, but her eyes are blank.

• None of the GHESKIO staff volunteer their earthquake stories but will confide if asked- after the earthquake one group of 10 immediately set out on foot from GHESKIO to find their families. It was a 3 hour walk through blocked streets, past the dead and injured, and through the dust from destroyed buildings at night. One of the physicians arrived at her home to find it almost completely collapsed. She learned that her mother, daughter, and two nephews were entombed in the house. Working alone in the dark she was able to extricate her mother and her severely injured daughter- not the nephews. She accompanied her daughter to Miami for care and she will return to work at GHESKIO when commercial flights resume.

• A funeral service was held for Marise Thimothee, a senior GHESKIO microbiologist, in the yard behind her collapsed home where she died. The GHESKIO staff cannot attend or pay respects for all the family and friends lost- there are too many.

• The GHESKIO AIDS and Tuberculosis patients have virtually all returned, many with minor injuries. PEPFAR has replenished the medications lost in the quake.

• The refugee camp at GHESKIO is becoming more entrenched. The feeding system utilizing paid street vendors to provide free food was abandoned when thugs in the camp threatened the vendors and demanded money. There is still no security, no perimeter wire or wall to restrict flow, no lights and no latrines. The adjacent road and ditch is a cesspool. The mood in the camp gets ugly because they have limited food and sources. The GHESKIO Community Advisory Board (made up of GHESKIO patients) has conducted a census and divided the camp into “cells” of 10 families for communication and provision of services which have not yet arrived.