Dear friends,
I wanted this blog entry to serve as a kind of closure to the Haiti trip- for now. I have wired the majority of the donated funds to Pastor G, and reprint his latest correspondance:
Doctor Eric,
Thank you very much for money, we got it yesterday afternoon.
I am going to buy everything for our orphans children this morning.
May God bless your family and the donators. Special thanks....
The orphans and Nerlande say thank you for your efforts to help us.
More details soon. You,re blessed.
Pastor Geordany
I did my best to take a decent shot of the wire transfer paperwork, but it came out poorly- I hope you'll accept on my word that your help reached a noble cause. The balance of the funds, less than 20% of the total, is being held for me by the hospital, earmarked for MY FUTURE TRIP, date TBA.
I will be rather dormant on the blog for a while but before you know it.....I'll be back to it, fighting the good fight for a small, remote orphanage in a blighted nation.
All my best & thank you,
Eric
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Monday, January 17, 2011
Hopes Dashed by Baby Doc
It is with a heavy heart that I am forced to announce postponement of my medical mission to Haiti.
Things were really looking on the up-and-up with the streets of Port-au-Prince finally settling down after the first round of elections, the ebbing of the cholera outbreak, and the securing of our "safe" air transport in-country. As things were, there was always going to be risk...but hey, it was all about doing the greater good and acceptable levels of risk. However, with the unexpected arrival of long-deposed Haitian dictator "Baby Doc" Duvalier, destablization potential is once again very high. Whether the Haitians feared his iron rule or revered him as a strong leader, matters can decompensate very fast in an already
With today's most recent news and the email from Pastor G, it's just not fair to keep the people worried about me. Haiti could go from calm to a cauldron of civil unrest in the blink of an eye. I could get trapped there- or worse. Volunteers, as the State Department memo I blogged about stated, are being robbed, kidnapped, and killed. And when it comes to recovery efforts, individual unaffiliated volunteers like myslef are last in the rescue pecking order.
As far as the money raised, I offer up options for my generous donators. Write or call me and I will be happy to return your donated funds. However, note the email from Pastor Geordany today:
Dr. Eric,
Sorry to say, our country is not safe enough for you to come.
It will be better to watch on God,s will. Let,s pray and wait.
Please, If God puts in your hands some money to help our children, send it to me as soon as you can before the next trouble in Haiti. Maybe the banks will be closed.
It,s better to send it via MoneyGram and send me exact code number.
More details soon. Try to do the best for us please. God bless.
Your sincere friend,
Pastor Geordany
If you could see in your heart to allow me to transfer the remaining funds to the orphanage for food, supply and gas purchses, we would all be grateful. You just have to let me know. I promise to take a picture of the wire transfer receipts and post it, in the spirit of full disclosure.
I will write more when I know more about future travel plans to Haiti.
Your Friend,
Eric
Things were really looking on the up-and-up with the streets of Port-au-Prince finally settling down after the first round of elections, the ebbing of the cholera outbreak, and the securing of our "safe" air transport in-country. As things were, there was always going to be risk...but hey, it was all about doing the greater good and acceptable levels of risk. However, with the unexpected arrival of long-deposed Haitian dictator "Baby Doc" Duvalier, destablization potential is once again very high. Whether the Haitians feared his iron rule or revered him as a strong leader, matters can decompensate very fast in an already
With today's most recent news and the email from Pastor G, it's just not fair to keep the people worried about me. Haiti could go from calm to a cauldron of civil unrest in the blink of an eye. I could get trapped there- or worse. Volunteers, as the State Department memo I blogged about stated, are being robbed, kidnapped, and killed. And when it comes to recovery efforts, individual unaffiliated volunteers like myslef are last in the rescue pecking order.
As far as the money raised, I offer up options for my generous donators. Write or call me and I will be happy to return your donated funds. However, note the email from Pastor Geordany today:
Dr. Eric,
Sorry to say, our country is not safe enough for you to come.
It will be better to watch on God,s will. Let,s pray and wait.
Please, If God puts in your hands some money to help our children, send it to me as soon as you can before the next trouble in Haiti. Maybe the banks will be closed.
It,s better to send it via MoneyGram and send me exact code number.
More details soon. Try to do the best for us please. God bless.
Your sincere friend,
Pastor Geordany
If you could see in your heart to allow me to transfer the remaining funds to the orphanage for food, supply and gas purchses, we would all be grateful. You just have to let me know. I promise to take a picture of the wire transfer receipts and post it, in the spirit of full disclosure.
I will write more when I know more about future travel plans to Haiti.
Your Friend,
Eric
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Good News, and Gathering Strength....
It certainly has been a roller-coaster ride these last two weeks.
As some may know, and many may not, the Haiti election process has been a fiasco, at best. Allegations of fraud with first round voting have been endemic, and with that, civil unrest in the big cities has been rampant. Between the State Department's memo regarding restricted travel to Haiti, the suspension of commercial air traffic into PAP, and my difficulties in obtaining a bush pilot to fly me inland, my travel plans were very tenuous, at best. Even 24 hours ago I was discussing with my family and colleagues the very real possibility that I might have to suspend my mission altogether.
Call it fortune, divine intervention, or fate, but matters for me have turned around significantly. After hearing real warnings from the Pastor over the last few weeks, he now tells me that things are settling down, the streets are calm, and it is much safer to travel in-country. I have secured for us a pilot who can fly us in and out of PAP airport (no overland travel thru the city), and other security arrangements have been procured.
It is as if an huge obstacle has been removed from my path to the orphanage. While only two days ago I was wondering how I was going to tell my donators the trip was cancelled and how to return funds, now I can proceed with medical supply purchases. My thoughts shift from airlines and emails to ciprofloxacin and fluconazole. I have a master list of medications which I took with me last year, and am ready to place my order for them with our hospital pharmacy, plus a few new ones. Good stuff- Greer's Goo, ibuprofen, urine dipsticks, hydrochlorothiazide; lidocaine with epinephrine, otoscope speculae, gauze wraps, and ceftriaxone. And chloroquine, of course.
Things are a go. T-minus twelve days and counting....
As some may know, and many may not, the Haiti election process has been a fiasco, at best. Allegations of fraud with first round voting have been endemic, and with that, civil unrest in the big cities has been rampant. Between the State Department's memo regarding restricted travel to Haiti, the suspension of commercial air traffic into PAP, and my difficulties in obtaining a bush pilot to fly me inland, my travel plans were very tenuous, at best. Even 24 hours ago I was discussing with my family and colleagues the very real possibility that I might have to suspend my mission altogether.
Call it fortune, divine intervention, or fate, but matters for me have turned around significantly. After hearing real warnings from the Pastor over the last few weeks, he now tells me that things are settling down, the streets are calm, and it is much safer to travel in-country. I have secured for us a pilot who can fly us in and out of PAP airport (no overland travel thru the city), and other security arrangements have been procured.
It is as if an huge obstacle has been removed from my path to the orphanage. While only two days ago I was wondering how I was going to tell my donators the trip was cancelled and how to return funds, now I can proceed with medical supply purchases. My thoughts shift from airlines and emails to ciprofloxacin and fluconazole. I have a master list of medications which I took with me last year, and am ready to place my order for them with our hospital pharmacy, plus a few new ones. Good stuff- Greer's Goo, ibuprofen, urine dipsticks, hydrochlorothiazide; lidocaine with epinephrine, otoscope speculae, gauze wraps, and ceftriaxone. And chloroquine, of course.
Things are a go. T-minus twelve days and counting....
Thursday, January 06, 2011
The Latest From Haiti
Dear reader,
Here is my latest letter from Pastor Geordany; while the situation does not look promising, I don't see how postponing my trip would make much of a difference. I have purchased a rider to my life insurance policy in the event that I am kidnapped or killed (half-joke)....
Dear dr. Eric and Wife,
How are you and children doing? We pray God to keep your family safe, healthty and blessed through this new year 2011.
Here, things are the same, we don,t have Political stability, we always living in trouble. We cannot wait for your coming but my responsibility is to keep you safe in our area. The Haitian people waiting for a good elections results to know if a new President will take place on February 7th, 2011.
Surely this weekend the results will be there. Please, be patience for awhile and I will let you know what to do.
An orphan boy is sick ( Pressoir ) laydown at Hospital. He has a worm inner, he has also typhoid fever and has only nine grams of blood.. Please, let us trust God to find enough money to the bills.
Dr. Eric, do you remember a boy of ten years old who has epilepsy every two months? He is my grandson; can you find special medicine for Him when you came in Haiti? I will be glad if you can do that for me, also I have hard pain in my leg, please, try to find some medicine for me . Thanks.
My wife, the orphans and all the people say; cannot wait to see you.
We love you Dr. Eric. Hello to your friend ( nurse ).
Please let us know how you are.
Your sincere friends, Pastor Geordany and Nerlande
Here is my latest letter from Pastor Geordany; while the situation does not look promising, I don't see how postponing my trip would make much of a difference. I have purchased a rider to my life insurance policy in the event that I am kidnapped or killed (half-joke)....
Dear dr. Eric and Wife,
How are you and children doing? We pray God to keep your family safe, healthty and blessed through this new year 2011.
Here, things are the same, we don,t have Political stability, we always living in trouble. We cannot wait for your coming but my responsibility is to keep you safe in our area. The Haitian people waiting for a good elections results to know if a new President will take place on February 7th, 2011.
Surely this weekend the results will be there. Please, be patience for awhile and I will let you know what to do.
An orphan boy is sick ( Pressoir ) laydown at Hospital. He has a worm inner, he has also typhoid fever and has only nine grams of blood.. Please, let us trust God to find enough money to the bills.
Dr. Eric, do you remember a boy of ten years old who has epilepsy every two months? He is my grandson; can you find special medicine for Him when you came in Haiti? I will be glad if you can do that for me, also I have hard pain in my leg, please, try to find some medicine for me . Thanks.
My wife, the orphans and all the people say; cannot wait to see you.
We love you Dr. Eric. Hello to your friend ( nurse ).
Please let us know how you are.
Your sincere friends, Pastor Geordany and Nerlande
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