Yesterday´s mission was a success. We first surveyed homes that were damaged or destroyed by the earthquake. Then, we talked to los bomberos (the firemen), who are the first-responders here in Honduras, to figure out how we could best help. They told us that 25 families whose homes were destroyed were temporarily relocated to a school not too far away, so we decided that our mission would be to give these families food and supplies. These are unfortunately people who didn´t have much to begin with, even before the earthquake. Thankfully, none of these people were in need of medical attention.
I don´t have time to go into a play-by-play of the day, because we´re heading back to Tegucigalpa momentarily, but I´ll write more when I get back home, and I´ll also post some pictures.
On Monday, we´ll be visiting the orphanage in Tegucigalpa that was described in the RTF newsletter. Then, we´ll be flying back to the States on Tuesday, a day earlier than expected. I will need some time for reflection to unpack all of my thoughts and impressions from this mission. It was such a gratifying experience overall.
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Helping the earthquake victims
I am exhausted after a day full of helping people whose homes were destroyed by the earthquake.
We headed out first thing Saturday morning to meet with los bomberos (the firefighters), who are the real first-responders in emergencies like this, survey homes that were damaged by the earthquake, and to figure out what we could do to help. We sat down with el comandante of the firefighters, a stout man with a deep voice, thick Honduran accent, and intelligent black eyes, who carries an air of authority and respect due his position.
The most pressing need, he told us, was drinking water. The earthquake ruptured the pipeline that brings water to Puerto Cortez, leaving a large chunk of the city without potable water. To address this, the fire department has its only three tanker trucks filling up their tanks with water from the unaffected portion of town and distributing water to the city´s 120,000 inhabitants.
Indeed, as we were driving around town, we came across a crowd of women and children with water buckets surrounding one of the fire trucks. It was slowly making its way through the neighborhoods to distribute water. There wasn't any sense of panic, since plenty of water was to be had, but I did feel tension as people in the crowd made sure they got the water they needed. The air was heavy with smoke from fires lit to signal to the firefighters that water was needed. Women chased after our truck down a dusty road to ask us to tell los bomberos to stop by their neighborhood, too. Little children lugged 5 gallon buckets heavy with water from the main road arteries all the way back home.
El comandante told us about two dozen families whose homes were destroyed by the earthquake and were living temporarily at a local public school. It's amazing that there were so few injuries, for such a strong earthquake, and that there was no need for outside medical aid. But their homes were destroyed. Whole families were sleeping outside underneath blue tarps.
We toured the neighborhood where these families live. It was apparent that these people had so little even before the quake hit, but now, what had been modest houses before were definitely not livable. A major problem is that there is no drainage system, so rain water collects underneath the houses and rots the wood. The earthquake just sped up the inevitable. One family allowed us to tour their house, which should be condemned and demolished since the floor had caved in and stagnant water lay in the kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom. This poses obvious health concerns: respiratory ailments and skin conditions due to mildew and mold, not to mention an increased risk of mosquito-born illnesses.
I was agonized to see people living in such conditions and know that there wasn't anything I could do about it. Rescue Task Force is an organization with a modest budget; it's structured to deliver maximum impact with little money through targeted missions, usually in emergency conditions. Rebuilding homes was not in the scope of our mission.
Instead, we decided to help these 25 families whose homes were destroyed by giving them food and basic supplies like diapers. This sounds like a simple task, but it took a lot of coordination with two community organizers who were running the temporary shelter. With their help, we put together a grocery list and, a pack of kids in tow, walked to the local grocery store. Each family got a sack that included food basics such as eggs, milk, flour, rice, beans, and oatmeal, as well as other goodies.
Keeping track of what we purchased was a challenge, as was communicating to the sales clerks what we wanted. It was like playing a game of telephone: Andrea talked to me, I translated into Spanish to our Honduran guide Richard, who then made sure that the sales clerk got it.
I am so thankful for my Spanish because it allowed me to interact directly with the kids. I looked at them, happy and laughing in the grocery store. They were only allowed inside because we told the manager that they were with us, and we were spending big money. It occurred to me that maybe the kids didn't understand what we were doing for them and why. So I gathered them around me and explained to them that we were here to help them and their families because their homes were destroyed by the earthquake, that it's good to help people who are less fortunate. And I told them that I hoped that they would remember this day, what it feels like to be given help, and that maybe one day they could help someone else who needs it. In the middle of all the grocery store fun, it was a brief 30 seconds or so of seriousness. If what I said, or what we did together through Rescue Task Force, made an impression on even one of the kids, that is the real and lasting difference that I hope to have made in coming down to Honduras.
We headed out first thing Saturday morning to meet with los bomberos (the firefighters), who are the real first-responders in emergencies like this, survey homes that were damaged by the earthquake, and to figure out what we could do to help. We sat down with el comandante of the firefighters, a stout man with a deep voice, thick Honduran accent, and intelligent black eyes, who carries an air of authority and respect due his position.
The most pressing need, he told us, was drinking water. The earthquake ruptured the pipeline that brings water to Puerto Cortez, leaving a large chunk of the city without potable water. To address this, the fire department has its only three tanker trucks filling up their tanks with water from the unaffected portion of town and distributing water to the city´s 120,000 inhabitants.
Indeed, as we were driving around town, we came across a crowd of women and children with water buckets surrounding one of the fire trucks. It was slowly making its way through the neighborhoods to distribute water. There wasn't any sense of panic, since plenty of water was to be had, but I did feel tension as people in the crowd made sure they got the water they needed. The air was heavy with smoke from fires lit to signal to the firefighters that water was needed. Women chased after our truck down a dusty road to ask us to tell los bomberos to stop by their neighborhood, too. Little children lugged 5 gallon buckets heavy with water from the main road arteries all the way back home.
El comandante told us about two dozen families whose homes were destroyed by the earthquake and were living temporarily at a local public school. It's amazing that there were so few injuries, for such a strong earthquake, and that there was no need for outside medical aid. But their homes were destroyed. Whole families were sleeping outside underneath blue tarps.
We toured the neighborhood where these families live. It was apparent that these people had so little even before the quake hit, but now, what had been modest houses before were definitely not livable. A major problem is that there is no drainage system, so rain water collects underneath the houses and rots the wood. The earthquake just sped up the inevitable. One family allowed us to tour their house, which should be condemned and demolished since the floor had caved in and stagnant water lay in the kitchen, bathroom, and bedroom. This poses obvious health concerns: respiratory ailments and skin conditions due to mildew and mold, not to mention an increased risk of mosquito-born illnesses.
I was agonized to see people living in such conditions and know that there wasn't anything I could do about it. Rescue Task Force is an organization with a modest budget; it's structured to deliver maximum impact with little money through targeted missions, usually in emergency conditions. Rebuilding homes was not in the scope of our mission.
Instead, we decided to help these 25 families whose homes were destroyed by giving them food and basic supplies like diapers. This sounds like a simple task, but it took a lot of coordination with two community organizers who were running the temporary shelter. With their help, we put together a grocery list and, a pack of kids in tow, walked to the local grocery store. Each family got a sack that included food basics such as eggs, milk, flour, rice, beans, and oatmeal, as well as other goodies.
Keeping track of what we purchased was a challenge, as was communicating to the sales clerks what we wanted. It was like playing a game of telephone: Andrea talked to me, I translated into Spanish to our Honduran guide Richard, who then made sure that the sales clerk got it.
I am so thankful for my Spanish because it allowed me to interact directly with the kids. I looked at them, happy and laughing in the grocery store. They were only allowed inside because we told the manager that they were with us, and we were spending big money. It occurred to me that maybe the kids didn't understand what we were doing for them and why. So I gathered them around me and explained to them that we were here to help them and their families because their homes were destroyed by the earthquake, that it's good to help people who are less fortunate. And I told them that I hoped that they would remember this day, what it feels like to be given help, and that maybe one day they could help someone else who needs it. In the middle of all the grocery store fun, it was a brief 30 seconds or so of seriousness. If what I said, or what we did together through Rescue Task Force, made an impression on even one of the kids, that is the real and lasting difference that I hope to have made in coming down to Honduras.
The morning after....shock
I woke up this morning to an aftershock, but it was over before I could even get out of bed and stand in a doorway. Looking on the US Geological Survey website, I found the following information:
MAGNITUDE DATE TIME LOCACTION
4.5 2009/05/30 06:33 OFFSHORE HONDURAS
4.6 2009/05/29 12:51 HONDURAS
4.5 2009/05/29 02:45 OFFSHORE HONDURAS
4.8 2009/05/28 09:06 OFFSHORE HONDURAS
7.3 2009/05/28 08:24 OFFSHORE HONDURAS
MAGNITUDE DATE TIME LOCACTION
4.5 2009/05/30 06:33 OFFSHORE HONDURAS
4.6 2009/05/29 12:51 HONDURAS
4.5 2009/05/29 02:45 OFFSHORE HONDURAS
4.8 2009/05/28 09:06 OFFSHORE HONDURAS
7.3 2009/05/28 08:24 OFFSHORE HONDURAS
Friday, May 29, 2009
Puerto Cortez, Honduras
It´s such a relief to finally settle down into a hotel after 24 hours of traveling. We took a red-eye from LAX to San Salvador then hopped over to the Honduran capitol Tegucigalpa, where we met up with Jim, Dr. Claudio, and our guide Richard. From there, we drove a rickety pick-up truck north across Honduras to Puerto Cortez, the city that reported the most damage and was closest to the quake´s epicenter 60 miles off the coast.
Andrea called me yesterday, as I was frantically getting ready for the trip, to downplay expectations for the magnitude of disaster that we would be seeing. What little was reported in the news seemed to indicate that damage was limited to only a few buildings and bridges and that only a handful of people were injured or killed. However, Rescue Task Force volunteers with friends from this region were telling of much more extensive damage than that. The possibility was even raised that the current president of Honduras might be suppressing news of earthquake damage to keep the national dialogue focused on his efforts to ammend the Honduran constitution to allow him to stay president past his term limit.
So, we were really heading into an unknown. In fact, as we wound our way around the mountain roads and approached Puerto Cortez, I noticed how life seemed to continue uninterrupted: Friday night marketplaces materializing on the side of the road, groups of people walking or riding bikes to the local hang-out, peasants hauling loads of bananas or firewood to sell and make their living. I didn´t see any cracks or other evidence of structural damage, even after we arrived here.
The plan is to scout out the reports of leveled homes first thing in the morning and assess the need for our aid; if none exists, we´ll head back to Tegucigalpa, help out at the orphanage there, then fly back on Monday. "This is the business of rapid response disaster relief," Andrea says. Sometimes there are false alarms.
On a side note, Rescue Task Force has been on the news all day today after news crews descended on us at the airport while we were waiting for our rickety rental pick-up truck. Everywhere we stopped, people recognized us from the news casts. After dinner tonight, a little boy walked up to me and said ¨Thank you for helping us!¨ in surprisingly good English. It was very touching. I do hope that we have the opportunity to do some good while we´re here, even if the need for our help isn´t as dire as we originally thought.
Andrea called me yesterday, as I was frantically getting ready for the trip, to downplay expectations for the magnitude of disaster that we would be seeing. What little was reported in the news seemed to indicate that damage was limited to only a few buildings and bridges and that only a handful of people were injured or killed. However, Rescue Task Force volunteers with friends from this region were telling of much more extensive damage than that. The possibility was even raised that the current president of Honduras might be suppressing news of earthquake damage to keep the national dialogue focused on his efforts to ammend the Honduran constitution to allow him to stay president past his term limit.
So, we were really heading into an unknown. In fact, as we wound our way around the mountain roads and approached Puerto Cortez, I noticed how life seemed to continue uninterrupted: Friday night marketplaces materializing on the side of the road, groups of people walking or riding bikes to the local hang-out, peasants hauling loads of bananas or firewood to sell and make their living. I didn´t see any cracks or other evidence of structural damage, even after we arrived here.
The plan is to scout out the reports of leveled homes first thing in the morning and assess the need for our aid; if none exists, we´ll head back to Tegucigalpa, help out at the orphanage there, then fly back on Monday. "This is the business of rapid response disaster relief," Andrea says. Sometimes there are false alarms.
On a side note, Rescue Task Force has been on the news all day today after news crews descended on us at the airport while we were waiting for our rickety rental pick-up truck. Everywhere we stopped, people recognized us from the news casts. After dinner tonight, a little boy walked up to me and said ¨Thank you for helping us!¨ in surprisingly good English. It was very touching. I do hope that we have the opportunity to do some good while we´re here, even if the need for our help isn´t as dire as we originally thought.
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Honduras earthquake relief mission
The plan for this weekend up until a couple hours ago was to fly out to Denver to scope out housing. That plan changed this morning when I got an e-mail from Rescue Task Force describing the 7.1 earthquake that struck Honduras at 2:20 AM this morning (see quoted text below). I called up Andrea and Gary to see how I could help, and to make a long story short, I'll be going down to Honduras to help with the disaster relief efforts. I am very thankful to Southwest Airlines for their extremely flexible ticket cancellation policies, as well as to my boss for being fine with me taking such a last-minute vacation.
Back in January, I volunteered with Rescue Task Force for a different type of mission, providing basic medical and dental aide to the indigenous people of the Miskito Coast who live lack such services. We ran a free clinic out in the jungle, and people trekked for days in order to get anti-worm medicine or get a tooth pulled. That experience was eye-opening and transformative in that I got a glimpse of the profound gratification from helping people - people who truly need help - that lies before me as a future doctor.
This relief mission before me now is much more of an unknown. Talking with Andrea, an executive officer of Rescue Task Force and the team leader, even she doesn't really know what to expect once we're there. It's very exciting. I'm looking forward to helping the victims of this earthquake in any ways that I can.
Back in January, I volunteered with Rescue Task Force for a different type of mission, providing basic medical and dental aide to the indigenous people of the Miskito Coast who live lack such services. We ran a free clinic out in the jungle, and people trekked for days in order to get anti-worm medicine or get a tooth pulled. That experience was eye-opening and transformative in that I got a glimpse of the profound gratification from helping people - people who truly need help - that lies before me as a future doctor.
This relief mission before me now is much more of an unknown. Talking with Andrea, an executive officer of Rescue Task Force and the team leader, even she doesn't really know what to expect once we're there. It's very exciting. I'm looking forward to helping the victims of this earthquake in any ways that I can.
Rescue Task Force (RTF) and World Emergency Relief (WER) are responding to the 7.1 earthquake that struck Honduras at 2:20 AM this morning.
Team Leader Andrea Stone will depart from Los Angeles tonight and fly to Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras where she will meet with RTF team member Jim McNeely, coming from Atlanta. Upon arrival they will meet with our Honduras coordinator, Dr. Claudio Casas who is assembling a local team of Honduran doctors and volunteers – veterans of many RTF jungle missions.
The orphanage that WER-CA sponsors has sustained heavy damage to the dormitory. Thirty-six of our orphans have been moved into the office and the dining area.
Jose our local warehouseman’s home was destroyed. He, his wife and baby are the first of probably many to move into our WER warehouse.
Mission Details to follow as the day progresses. We are in contact with colleagues at the Fire Department in Honduras and the combined team will be coordinating our disaster relief activities with them for help to isolated areas that the Fire department will not be able to immediately assist.
Note to Supporters:
We need help!!! This is a 9-1-1 call for help from our friends in Honduras of so many years. We are responding on faith. Please, can you help send this team…
Donations:
Via website: www.rescuetaskforce.org
Mail:
Rescue Task Force
864 N. Second St. #340
El Cajon, CA 92021
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Hurry up and wait
Getting into medical school is like traveling: a lot of hurry-up-and-wait. Now, I'm waiting to hear back about my financial aid package, which should come sometime around the first of June. I will be very relieved once I know that funding for my education is secure. I am also knee-deep in the housing hunt, which despite the conveniences of the internet, is rather difficult to do while living in another city. I'll be flying out to Denver at the end of the month to look at neighborhoods and potential places to live. It's all very exciting! But in spite of my excitement and eagerness to start already, I'm savoring these last few months of freedom before the real grind begins.
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
After the dust has settled
It's been a week or so since I learned that I would be heading to Colorado for medical school. My excitement for what's to come has only grown stronger over the past week as the disappointment of UCSD's rejection fades.
I decided on a tentative Last Day of Work: Friday, July 24. I contacted the admissions office and told them that I was "most likely" going to be matriculating. The 2009-2010 academic calendar isn't ready yet, but I did find out that the White Coat Ceremony will be held on my birthday (!), information that my parents needed so they could make plans to attend. I started the craigslist search for housing and have booked airfare to check out different neighborhoods in person to see how safe they are. A bunch of people I met during the open house have been very helpful in pointing me in the right direction or steering me away from bad areas.
Each of these steps have made the fact that I'm about to start medical school feel all the more real, even as I am literally fulfilling a dream. It's a wonderful feeling.
My future classmates have set up a group on Facebook for the Colorado University School of Medicine, Class of 2013. They seem like a great group, and I'm looking forward to getting to know them better. One guy who lives in Denver was kind enough to post a map of restaurants, bars, and things to do in Denver.
I decided on a tentative Last Day of Work: Friday, July 24. I contacted the admissions office and told them that I was "most likely" going to be matriculating. The 2009-2010 academic calendar isn't ready yet, but I did find out that the White Coat Ceremony will be held on my birthday (!), information that my parents needed so they could make plans to attend. I started the craigslist search for housing and have booked airfare to check out different neighborhoods in person to see how safe they are. A bunch of people I met during the open house have been very helpful in pointing me in the right direction or steering me away from bad areas.
Each of these steps have made the fact that I'm about to start medical school feel all the more real, even as I am literally fulfilling a dream. It's a wonderful feeling.
My future classmates have set up a group on Facebook for the Colorado University School of Medicine, Class of 2013. They seem like a great group, and I'm looking forward to getting to know them better. One guy who lives in Denver was kind enough to post a map of restaurants, bars, and things to do in Denver.
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