In the Beginning...

I will be leaving for Haiti this Sunday, February 14 to help relief efforts to victims of the 7.0 magnitude earthquake that hit on January 12.

As I prepare to leave, please be assured that I have training and experience when it comes to disaster response, even though I suspect that nothing can prepare anyone for seeing what has happened in Haiti.

I'll be working with Linking The World, a non-government organization (NGO) that has been connected with a community-based organization (CBO) in Haiti since long before the earthquake. The UN has agreed to provide my team with troops who will be with us 24/7. We will also have a private security company that will shadow us during the day.

I will be helping with humanitarian efforts, focusing on a specific orphanage in Port Au Prince. This orphanage started the year with over 80 children. As of today, 61 of those children have been accounted for and are staying with host families, but keep in mind that these families themselves have very little, if any, resources.

In the best of times, Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. Before the earthquake, four out of five lived in poverty, and there were around 1 million homeless. Half the population of Haiti was under the age of eighteen. You can imagine that now the situation is much worse. What we know now is that over two million people are homeless and in the streets. Over 212,000 dead bodies have been collected from the streets and out of the rubble.

My team has a number of tasks.

Our main goal will be to gather all of the children that were at the orphanage and return them to a central and secure facility. We will also help with reunifications of children with their families and caregivers, as hundreds of thousands of children have become separated from those who love them. Children in this situation face increased risks including malnutrition, disease, human trafficking, sexual trafficking, exploitation, and emotional trauma. In addition to Linking the World, a number of groups – including UNICEF, the Salvation Army, the Red Cross, Save the Children, and the local government – have set up safe spaces for children. We are in a race against the clock to provide more children with safe shelter, protection, and lifesaving emergency food and medicine.

Some of the children we need to help, including many from this particular orphanage, have been given up due to poverty, and are not by definition orphans. That's why one of our goals will be to identify those children and begin the process of finding their parents or relatives. This will also help us make room for more children that have lost both parents.

All of the children in Haiti have experienced a very traumatic event and have a very high chance of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Our team members will work with the children to identify any signs of PTSD and start the rehabilitation process. Kids in Haiti have always had to grow up very quickly, but after the earthquake, this will be even more true. We want to help these children see themselves as survivors instead of victims. These children are the future of Haiti.

To be of the most help, our team consists of three French-speaking child psychologists that will start a dialogue with each child. We will continue to document their progress and work with local staff so that they can continue to do so long after aid workers are gone. We will not in any way be facilitating adoptions. As a matter of fact, adoptions of Haitian children must be stopped until all efforts of reuniting them with their family have been exhausted.

I'll share with you the reason I believe in this small orphanage and cause. Please know that I admire and have a deep rooted love for large NGOs. I grew up with parents who were commanding officers in the Salvation Army, and I've seen first hand the tremendous amount of work these organizations do in times of need, at all levels. Their organization and resources are paramount in times of crisis because they have the ability to mobilize and take action immediately. I still strongly support groups such as The Salvation Army, Partners in Health, and the Red Cross, among others.

However, for a number of reasons, my focus is on this small, local CBO. They are already on the ground responding and will be helping in the country for a long time to come. By working with this group, we will also help empower the local Haitians to work together to care for this center, which will continue to hire local Haitian staff and buy supplies locally. All this contributes to rehabilitating their local economy as well. There are amazing teams already in the field saving countless lives. The Haitians themselves were the true “first responders”-- neighbors pulling neighbors out of shattered homes, tending to lost children and finding ways to survive. Part of the healing process for everyone will be to continue rebuilding their communities.

I understand that I am going to Haiti in unpredictable and ever changing conditions. The situation can easily get worse before it gets better because as aid comes in, people become more anxious. The threat of chaos remains, especially in a country where riots were already prevalent before the earthquake. As their rainy season approaches, the high number of buried bodies are likely to lead to a sharp increase in infectious diseases. Many fear that Haiti will get a second wave of deaths from waterborne diseases. A possible health epidemic is right around the corner, and kids will be the most affected as they are most vulnerable. During the past four days, our group has been providing inoculations and vaccines to all of their children and whoever else they could reach. My dad, who is a missionary, just received his vaccinations yesterday! He left for Haiti so fast that he did not have time to get them done in the States. I'll have to give him a hard time for that one!

I am taking all of the precautions that have been advised by aid workers already in the field. During the past weeks, I have been communicating with teams from other organizations such as the Salvation Army and the UN, a wonderful contact in Atlanta who has been coordinating all communication, and even with relief teams from Korea.

I created this blog so that my friends and family can be updated on my progress and status while I am in Haiti. But I am also calling for action.

Right now we need supplies for the aid workers. By bringing these supplies with me and my team, they will go straight to the workers instead of getting stuck in the ports. This list is compiled from e-mails and web conferences I've had with the team already in place. These supplies will allow us to stay in and fully assess the situation, document it and use it as a resource in creating a long term, comprehensive plan for the children at this center. We will also use the information and documentation as a resource to find sponsors from Korea, Japan, and the United States for each child at the center. If you can help with any of these items, even if it is just a couple cans of insect repellant, please e mail me directly at mina@minachang.com

This is what is needed that have not been donated already! Such a short list, we can do it!
*Hard candies in sealed wrappers
*DEET 50% (Haiti is getting swamped by mosquitoes and flies, which carry disease. As more trash piles up, situation gets worse, and the teams are going through insect repellent fast)
*Anti bacterial wipes (They REALLY need tons of this!!)
*Crayons
*Small toys
*Solar chargers for computers and cell phones
*Fully stocked medical kits
*Medical gloves
*Masks
*Air beds with pumps
*Tents
*Sham-wow towels - this will be used for everything! (I know big fluffy towels sound better but no water means no way to wash or store)
*Flashlights
*Global phones with prepaid minutes
*Sharpie markers
*Sticky labels for attaching to a patient bed (waiting for surgery, waiting for x-ray, waiting for medication, etc) to avoid redundant work ups by different docs and case workers
*Hair elastics (amazing how hair can really get in the way for patients and aid workers)
*Protein bars
*Nuts
*Snack bars
*Sealed cookies foods that air workers can keep in pockets and eat throughout the day)


THANK YOU to everyone who has donated desperately needed supplies! We have
2 way radios
Camera (use for documenting the sessions with the children and child psychologists)
Scrubs for medical workers (no way to wash soiled scrubs)
Medicines:
* Malaria prophylaxis (either chloroquine, Lariam, Malarone, or doxycycline)
* A quinolone antibiotic, such as Levaquin or Cipro
* Over the counter pain medicines for adults and children