When the country of Haiti was struck by a massive earthquake on January 12, 2010, hundreds of resident physicians volunteered to help with relief efforts, and dozens have been deployed over the past three months.
Here are some of the images CIR/SEIU Healthcare doctors have shared from their time assisting with Haitian relief:
Photos courtesy of Dr. Tyler Reynolds, Dr. Nailah Thompson, Dr. Mike Drusano and Dr. Jivan Lamichhane
Read more about SEIU's deployed volunteers and relief efforts here.
On February 8, two 1199SEIU RNs flew from New York to the Dominican Republic and were then transported to Haiti to attend to the victims of the earthquake that hit the capital Port-Au-Prince on January 12.
They responded to a call from SEIU for nurses who spoke Creole and had emergency care experience. Claudia Warrington, a nurse at Mt.Sinai Queens Hospital and Marie Fontaine of Jamaica Hospital in Queens, were both born in Haiti. They still have relatives residing in the most devastated areas.
"I saw those horrific photos on TV and I just had to go," said Claudia, leaving two young children with relatives in Baldwin, New York where she resides. Marie of Hollis, Queens learned that a nephew had died in the earthquake. Both volunteered knowing they would have to stay two weeks on their own time and would receive no monetary compensation.
Don't miss their gripping accounts of their time in Haiti--after the break.
More on SEIU's Haiti relief efforts here.
Wyclef Jean stops by the Miami Konbit for Haiti community center ~ Photo(s) by Richard Patterson / SEIU"
On Saturday, Grammy-winning musician and social justice advocate Wyclef Jean visited the Konbit for Haiti community center in Miami, Florida. Even as earthquake relief efforts are underway in Haiti, celebrities such as Wyclef Jean, who was born in Haiti, continue to remind us that support is still needed.
Konbit for Haiti is a long-term initiative resulting from the partnership of leaders from South Florida's Haitian community, prominent businesspeople, elected officials, labor unions and relief organizations. The community center Wyclef paid a visit to this past weekend is part of that initiative, serving as a gathering place and information hub for relief and rebuilding activities happening in Miami, FL and Haiti.
» Read more about SEIU's deployed volunteers and relief efforts for Haiti here.
In the 5 months since a catastrophic earthquake hit Haiti, Americans have reached deep to donate millions and millions of their hard-earned money to help with relief efforts.
As lightning-fast and generous as Americans proved themselves to be during the short-term emergency phase, Haiti needs us to be there for the long haul. The island is still desperately in need of funds, as they begin to pick up the pieces and begin the reconstruction phase of recovery.
As Haiti's dire needs persist in the months to come, they will rely primarily on donations from us to fuel their rebuilding. We can't let them down.
WILL YOU GIVE TO HAITI
Read more about SEIU's deployed volunteers and relief efforts here.
My prayers are with you, and the people of Haiti.Yolanda from Health Care Florida:
I pray that the lord be with all of you, that you may help as many people as you can, and that you return safe from this mission.Carrie from SEIU Local 503:
It's good to know we can help those i dire need. Thanks. We are proud to be affiliated with this.Steve from 32BJ:
Hello i`m from Local 32BJ new york city! i am a member for 27 years. i would like to offer my sincere thanks for your effort, time and thoughtfulness in helping the people of haiti in there most time of need! god bless all of you!There are hundreds more like these. You can send your thoughts and prayers for SEIU members helping in Haiti right now.
For about 40 seconds on Tuesday, January 12th at 4:53 PM, Haiti transformed from an area already devastated by poverty and floods into an apocalyptic nation. I felt pain for them because I worked in Haiti assisting the flood victims in 2008 and I got to know the people of Haiti. After the earthquake, I immediately made plans to go soon as possible.
On January 21st, I boarded a jet with seven other SEIU Healthcare members, a group of about 100 other relief workers, many boxes of medical supplies, suitcases, food and water and flew to Haiti. Finally, we landed in Haiti--and were greeted by the smell of death, gun powder and misery.
The route to Tabarre, Haiti, where we were assigned for the week, was controlled by American and Haitian police officers who were trying to keep the road open and secure so the sea of injured and orphaned people could get to Saint Damien's Hospital. Outside Saint Damien's, people packed every open space in the gardens and the parking lot because there was no space inside.
As soon as we arrived at the hospital, we were immediately assigned to our units and we joined nurses who had been working without relief for many days. The 200 bed hospital was overflowing with 800 patients sitting or lying in every available space.
The conditions in Haiti are bleak. The first night, I slept outside on the ground not far from rats running through the many piles of debris that littered the ground. The rest of the week, we mostly slept indoors on the hospital floor. The Mission provided one hot meal a day and we ate the snacks and energy bars that we had brought with us. We worked 12-16 hours each day in very hot conditions. During the day, the temperature reached almost 100 degrees, but fortunately, it cooled off at night.
Every day, as the people's pain grew, so did the absence of hope. Working side-by-side with nuns and priests, we tried to alleviate their suffering by delivering medical care and love to each patient. We tried to fortify their spirits with smiles, jokes and laughs. Amidst the terror and death, we watched peoples' faces change as we delivered their care with a smile.
The earthquake has turned Haiti into an apocalyptic country. Everywhere we turn, people are weeping for the dead and missing. Entire families are going without clothes, food, and basic medicine. They do not have money to bury their dead.
The country is suffering, but thanks to the good will of all the nations and friendly, helping hands, this country will be reborn. Out of the debris will arise a nation where all Haitians will live in dignity and peace. Lend your hand to rebuild Haiti into a new country where the tears and pain turn into happiness that has always characterized its people.
Angel Ruiz is a Mental Health Tech at the University of Miami Hospital and an SEIU Healthcare Florida Executive Board Member. Ruiz was an RN in Cuba, before becoming a citizen of the United States in time to vote for Barack Obama for President. This is his second trip to Haiti, after traveling there in December 2008 with other members of SEIU Healthcare Florida to assist with the relief efforts following a series of debilitating hurricanes and tropical storms.
It's impossible to describe just how hard the last two weeks have been for the millions of Haitians both in Haiti and in the U.S.. As the hours and days ticked by, the hope of rescuing people has dwindled. The country is faced with the grim reality of the magnitude of their loss while the immense task of recovery and rebuilding looms before them.
Thousands of Haitian nurses, nursing home workers and home care attendants are members of SEIU, and as a union, we have been working to support them and their families in this difficult time. As Haiti continues picking up the pieces in Port-au-Prince and the surrounding areas, our continued support in Haiti will be critical. Just ask Roberson Louis Jeune, one of our members from near Pittsburgh:
Please donate to Partners in Health today and help the Haitian people rebuild their country and their health care system.
(Reposted from SEIU Healthcare PA's website here).
The volume of support from SEIU members inquiring how they can help, volunteering their time, money and services following the tragedy in Haiti has been truly remarkable. In recent days, a truly humbling outpouring of monetary support from 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, who announced they were donating $1 million to the U.S. Fund for UNICEF for Haiti relief.
1199SEIU has tens of thousands of Haitians and Haitian-American members, and union members say they hope their donations will inspire others to dig deep. "I don't think the images we see on TV explain exactly what's going on down there, it's much worse when you see it with your own two eyes because emotion is flowing through your body, it could've been you , a brother, a sister, or even your own child," said 1199SEIU member Stanley Lauradin. "Knowing that many 1199 members are of Haitian descent and have family members in and around Port-au-Prince makes this contribution and the efforts of the union that much more heartfelt," said Caryl Stern, CEO and President of the U.S. Fund for UNICEF.
Along with $1 million, the union has also launched www.WeCareForHaiti.org and a special toll free Haiti relief hotline number at 1-877-875-6561. Video from the donation announcement here, and more coverage at NY1 News & Crains NY.
In the aftermath of the tragic earthquake, more than 1,200 SEIU health care professionals have volunteered be part of SEIU's Help Haiti Initiative.
Right now, dozens of SEIU members are already in Port-au-Prince providing medical care and translation services for survivors and more are set to go each week.
We've created an online card where you can share your thoughts and prayers for those traveling to Haiti.
You should sign that here: action.seiu.org/healthcarehaiti
Our union has established support centers to provide counseling to members and their communities in Boston, New York and Miami. We are working with relief organizations and emergency personnel as Haitian-Kreyol translators.
And we are working day in and out to connect the Haitian community in North America to resources and empower them to play a fundamental role in the reconstruction of a nation.
We'll be sure to share your well-wishes with our brothers and sisters deployed in Haiti.
Originally from Haiti, NAGE/SEIU member Simone Adelugba is a registered nurse in the Critical Care Unit (CCU) at the Baltimore Veterans Administration Hospital. She's volunteered to travel to Haiti to assist with disaster relief in the wake of the earthquake, joining other health care professionals from the union already on the ground.
Right now, dozens of SEIU members are already in Port-au-Prince providing medical care and translation services for survivors and more are set to go each week. We've created an online card where you can share your thoughts and prayers for those traveling to Haiti (like Simone).
SEIU's first team of volunteers arrived safely in Haiti today. Five registered nurses from Allegheny General Hospital are part of the team. Some of them will be working in Port au Prince at St. Damien's Hospital, Haiti's only free pediatric hospital.
John Ziegler and Cece Peterson flew to Chicago last night and then on to Haiti this morning. Before they boarded their flight to Chicago yesterday, they gave a quick interview with WTAE Channel 4 Action News in Pittsburgh. Watch it here.
Shortly after John and Cece arrived at the airport, Ashley Scott, Danielle Thompson and Tiffany Hamilton got phone calls saying that they too needed to leave that evening and had to be at the airport in less than two hours. They threw the stuff they had packed in their cars and just made it to the airport on time.
We heard from all of them today and they are getting down to work. We hope that we'll get the occasional update from them over the next couple weeks, and will post those here. Cece also started her own blog a couple days before she left, so we'll post some of her entries as well.
Reposted from SEIU Healthcare PA's website here.
The first wave of SEIU health care professionals deployed to Haiti posed for some photos at Miami International Airport yesterday, before boarding their plane headed to Port au Prince:
Send a message of support to SEIU's Haiti volunteers here--we know they will appreciate knowing they are in our thoughts and prayers.
More on SEIU's recent disaster relief efforts here.
~ Photo © Rick Friedman / Corbis
SEIU member Gina Etiene (on right) consoles Marie St. Louis at the Haitian Crisis Referral and Support Center set up at the SEIU Local 1199 offices in Boston, MA on January 14, 2010. SEIU provided free phones to people trying to call relatives in Haiti. St. Louis has been trying to reach her family since the earthquake.
* Check out the Flickr set of 1199's Boston crisis referral and support center here. More information on the Boston resource center to assist the victims and families impacted by the Haiti earthquake here or at 1199SEIU's website here.
Reposted from Labor's Lens, a blog on photography and the labor movement by SEIU Photo Librarian David Sachs.
Health care professional and SEIU Healthcare PA member Cece Peterson signed up at SEIU.org to go to Haiti to help those devastated by last week's earthquake.
Today, her personal blog lets us know that she has arrived safely.
Pittsburgh television did a report on her - and other SEIU members - deployment. You can watch that here.
Cece's blog, Cece In Haiti, can be read here.
And, of course, you can send your well wishes to SEIU members going to Haiti to help by signing this online card:
Open-source website Ushahidi (the Swahili word for "testimony" or "witness") launched a platform this weekend that makes it faster and easier for eyewitnesses to report developments on the ground in Haiti based on mobile text messaging.
If you are in Haiti, report emergency info and location by texting 4636.
As one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere, Haiti doesn't have the kind of infrastructure that more developed countries do. But in a crisis situation like this one, their needs are still the same--people needing to locate triage centers, hospitals, and food and water. But an old map would be useless with road closings. Enter Ushahidi's online crisis-mapping tool--which could very well be the future of crisis response.
Using the SMS short code 4636, survivors, aid workers and others can text their info and location to #4636, which allows Ushahihi to map out where there are Haitians in need of medical assistance and make sure that there is action being taken on the emergencies/needs reported into the system.
How does it work? Survivors, aid workers and others can text their info and location to #4636. A web interface then allows Creole-speaking "dispatchers" -- from anywhere on the Internet -- to take the SMS messages off the queue to organize and tag them. The shortcode is operating as a PeopleFinder, with reports of emergencies & missing persons going straight back to the organizations on the ground, translated and with geocoordinates where possible.
SEIU is in collaboration with our friends at MIT and Ushahidi to publicize and recruit translators to transcribe data for the emergency text message service, which groups like FEMA and the U.S. Coast Guard task force (amongst others) are using on the ground.
With help from SEIU's volunteers and others, close to 2,000 text messages have been translated and entered into national people finder database. Thanks to the service, people have been able to get through to relatives overseas and let them know they are okay for the first time. Ushahidi's blog gives some touching examples of the success stories from 4636:
"peter mwen pale avek minouche yo bien 1 317xxxxxxx"
Translation: (Peter, I am talking with Minouche. All are well. 1 317xxxxxx)
And this one, which people were responding to yesterday morning:
"Men se Jean Wani�re m,ap travay lan Unic�f mwen abite kafouf�y ri bredi nimero 11 alentery� mwe gen 2 moun ki anba kay la toujou ?"
Translation: My name is Jean Wani my brother is working in Unicef and I live in Carfour 11 Alentyerye I have 2 people that is still alive under the building still! Send Help!
* TRANSLATORS URGENTLY NEEDED *
A key part of this online crisis response process is online volunteers who are translating the incoming SMS messages from Creole into English--and many more people are needed as requests for help continue to pour in at a rapid rate.
How to volunteer: If you are a computer-literate Creole speaker and want to help with the #4636 Haitian shortcode initiative, we want and need your assistance. Please send an email at volunteerhaiti@seiu.org with your name, email address and phone number, telling us you want to translate text messages.
» Download a flyer detailing how to volunteer here.
How to use #4636 to Report
Anyone, anywhere in Haiti can text messages to #4636 with their location, report a problem or send information about the missing or those found.
More at http://haiti.ushahidi.com/.
"We have to make this a turning point. We owe that to the people who lost their lives."
- Jude Derisme, an internal organizer with SEIU Healthcare Florida
Yesterday we interviewed two SEIU members--a CNA and an organizer--who have been personally affected by the tragedy in Haiti. One of the interviewees is stuck in the agony of not knowing what has happened to her loved ones, while the other knows all too well the heart-wrenching toll such a disaster can have on one's family. These are their stories.
INTERVIEW #1: ROSE MICHELINE ST. JEAN
Rose Micheline St. Jean is a CNA with the Treasure Isle Care Center in Miami, and an Executive Board member with SEIU Healthcare Florida. Rose came to the U.S. about 25 years ago and since the magnitude-7.0 quake hit Haiti, has not heard from a half-dozen of her relatives on the island.
SEIU: How was your family affected in the earthquake?
Micheline: My cousin's house in Port-au-Prince collapsed. She lost two sons and two grandchildren, and broke her leg.
S: What do you want to tell your union brothers and sisters who want to help Haiti?
M: I encourage them to help by donating. They don't want clothes now; please give money. Please get involved.
S: What do you hope for Haiti's future?
M: Nobody knows what God has in store for us. Only God knows why this happened. We need to have hope. To be alive, we have to have hope.
INTERVIEW #2: JUDE DERISME
Through an interview with SEIU internal organizer Jude Derisme, we learned of Jude's unimaginable loss at the hands of the earthquake that hit Haiti. Almost all of Jude's family perished in the quake.
S: How was your family affected in the quake?
J: My grandmother, two uncles and their families lived in the same house in Port au-Prince. There were 12 people living in the house--only 3 survived.
My oldest uncle died and his wife survived. They had five children, ranging in age from six months to 20 years. Three of them--the 6-month old baby, the 10-year old child, and the 20-year-old, died in the quake. Their 5-year old and 10-year olds were pulled out of the rubble, but now they're in critical care and may die as well.
My younger uncle survived, but his wife and both of their two children died.
S: What do you want to tell your union brothers and sisters who want to help Haiti?
J: One of the key things is that we now have a lot of orphan children. We need people in the U.S .to sponsor these kids so they have a future.
We have to learn how to make time for family members in Haiti. We are so busy in this country. We have to be more conscious about reaching out to them. I never reached out to my uncles. I always thought, "I need to call, I need to call." But I never made time. I wish I had reached out to them.
Another thing is we need to rebuild Cam, the wiring company that everyone used to send money to their relatives in Haiti. We can't rely on aid to feed our families.
I hope this will be a new beginning for Haiti. An opportunity for us to rebuild our country. This is a turning point for Haiti. Out of this tragedy, something must come out of this. We have to make this a turning point. We owe that to the people who lost their lives.
Find out what you can do to aid Haiti's victims through our Help Haiti Volunteer Relief Effort.
More than 1,000 individuals have already signed up to help the Haitian people recover from this tragedy via the Help Haiti Volunteer Effort that went live last week to collect information from potential SEIU volunteers. As SEIU members and locals across the country mobilize to bring relief and support to Haiti and our members affected by the disaster, we've widened the scope of these efforts in several ways. First, we're encouraging everyone (not just SEIU members) to sign up and join the mobilization to assist with Haiti relief. You can do so here.
We've already got medical personnel on the ground, many of whom are Kreyòl-fluent, working with allied organizations to provide immediate relief.
DONATIONS: We're currently recommending that people donate to Partners in Health, a premier operation on the ground in Haiti we're working with to identify Kreyòl-speaking nurses. Donate to Partners in Health here.
#4636: The Haitian Shortcode Saving Lives
SEIU is working in collaboration with our friends at MIT and Ushahidi to publicize and recruit translators for the emergency text message service. #4636 permits anyone in Haiti to text their needs to a central database, where the information is then routed to emergency personnel such as the Red Cross, FEMA, USAID and aid groups on the ground. The service also works to distribute information to the multiple people-finder bulletin boards that have appeared on the web. (More details on this initiative and how you can volunteer to be a translator on SEIU's Blog here).
More than 2,000 messages have been translated with our assistance and the success stories of survivors getting connected to services have been inspirational.
Related Posts:
» Send a message of support to SEIU's Haiti Volunteers
» Interviews: Aftershocks of Haiti Earthquake Shake SEIU Communities
» SEIU Commends White House for Granting TPS for Haitians Living in the U.S.
» Haiti Relief Initiative--How You Can Help
As the Haitian people and hundreds of international aid organizations continue to reel from the devastation of this week's earthquake, now is the time for President Obama to step up his support of the Haitian people and finally grant temporary protective status (TPS) to Haitians living in the U.S.
Long before a 7.0 magnitude earthquake ravaged Port-au-Prince this week, SEIU and thousands of advocates, lawmakers, and Haitian leaders have urged the Obama Administration to shift its policy for Haitian immigrants escaping abject poverty and political turmoil. Temporary Protective Status is normally granted to immigrants from countries facing grave disturbances, including armed conflict and natural disasters. No country fits the bill better than Haiti. The tragedy there is of historic proportions.
Thousands of SEIU members like Micheline Charles, an FHU home care provider in Miami, trace their roots back to tiny, impoverished towns in Haiti. They recount stories of political turmoil, violence and hunger. "You don't know what it looks like when you don't have any money and you can't give your children breakfast," said Micheline in a recent video interview.
In Haiti, stories like Micheline's recount a perfect storm of extreme poverty, political turmoil and natural disaster that has led to untold suffering. Just in 2008, four major hurricanes ravaged Haiti, leaving 800 people dead, annihilating more than half of Haiti's harvest, and leaving countless cities uninhabitable. Earlier in the decade, tropical storm Jeanne flooded the northern coast town Gonaives, leaving nearly 3,000 Haitians dead.
While Haiti has enjoyed small windows of political stability, the island has faced near constant political upheaval. Many will recall the coup and subsequent U.S. military invasion that restored power to former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in 1994. A decade later, violent uprisings forced Arastide into exile. Ever since, United Nations forces, Doctors Without Borders, and countless other aid organizations have helped buttress a country that continues to face violent uprisings, natural disasters, and the worst economy in the Western hemisphere.
That is why just 24 hours since the earthquake, SEIU has joined countless advocacy groups, Senators, and community leaders to send letters and make calls urging the Administration to finally do right for the Haitian people and grant temporary protective status. Despite misleading criticism of TPS, it would only be available to Haitians living in the U.S.
Since the earthquake, President Obama has promised the people of Haiti that they "will not be forsaken." SEIU enthusiastically supports the critical recovery efforts and the tremendous response President Obama's administration has already enacted. It only makes sense that the President complete the promise.
It's time to end the deportation of Haitians who have escaped countless miseries in order to care for their families and loves ones. It's time to grant temporary protective status now.
On Tuesday afternoon, Haiti was hit with the most powerful earthquake ever recorded on the island. The quake of at least 7.0 magnitude has devastated much of the capital, Port-au-Prince, as well as having an immense impact on the rest of the island. The Red Cross has estimated that about 3 million people--one-third of Haiti's population--were affected by the quake, with an untold number of people injured and killed by collapsed buildings and homes.
A catastrophe of this magnitude requires everybody's help.
SEIU is home to a large Haitian population with family members directly impacted by this disaster, and we're going to do everything we can to ease suffering and help the survivors get past this tragedy. Our union is developing a relief initiative, Help Haiti, to direct donations from our members, our locals and the general public to effective respite and aid organizations, once a needs assessment has been completed. At the same time, SEIU Healthcare members--nurses, personal care assistants, doctors--are mobilizing to determine the types of direct support needed by the people of Haiti, as well as recruiting healthcare workers for possible deployment once more information is known.
Ways you can help:
Service Employees International Union
Change to Win Federation USA
Canadian Labour Congress
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Change to Win Federation USA | Canadian Labour Congress
1800 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington, DC 20036
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