Haiti Relief
As highly skilled members of our local union, we knew we needed to respond and provide care to those who were injured in the devastating earthquake in Haiti. We used our union to communicate with members to recruit volunteers. The response was amazing. We offered to work in partnership with our hospital to facilitate time off for our volunteers and the collection of medicine and medical supplies. Our hospital would only participate if they received an "invitation" from an established organization. We decided to send our first team and to make a connection with an organization that could provide the letter of invitation. We found a American hospital in Jimani, Dominican Republic that immediately recognized the value of our diverse team - 2MDs, 5 Nurses, 2 Paramedics, 1 EMT, 1 Respiratory Therapist and an AFT National Representative who is a Haitian native. We asked the administrators at the hospital to write a letter requesting continued support, to give our hospital the "invitation" it needed. Our hospital changed their requirement to an AAMC certified nationally recognized organization, thus denying us the support we needed.
Despite many obstacles, we made the commitment to continue to send teams of nurses, doctors, techs and other health professionals to care for the hundreds of patients needing care. After 5 weeks and over 50 staff traveling to work at the hospital in Jimani, we are proud to have represented Vermont well in helping to save lives and heal hearts affected by the earthquake. The experience has affected the volunteers, too - challenging them physically, professionally and emotionally. The patients, their injuries and their stories have become part of our lives forever. We have made great friendships with the people we worked with on our Teams and with other professionals working in Jimani.
There are fewer patients (initially over 450 now down to about 60). The needs continue to be very acute. Since this hospital was never intended to be open year round as a trauma hospital, and the patient population continues to change, we are researching opportunities to continue to serve in Haiti. We have been invited to serve as part of a command center in Port au Prince. We are also trying to find alternative travel through military or private sources to eliminate the need for expensive airline travel.
Please email haitirelief@upvaft.org if you would like more information. We are accepting volunteers from across the state of Vermont.We are actively fundraising to continue our work, please pass along information to your friends and families.
Make donations out to:
The University of Vermont (UVM)
Memo Line: Batey Libertad Fund - Medical Teams
We are working with UVM faculty members, Jon and Patricia Erickson who have worked with Haitian people on the island of Hispaniola for over five years. They developed the Batey Libertad Fund to help build a new legacy of sustainable livelihoods and equality by supporting projects in the broad areas of health, education, and human rights at Batey Libertad and in solidarity with other impoverished communities on the island. Projects include community health clinics and advocacy, documentation for citizenship and migrant workers, youth sport and leadership development, HIV/AIDS prevention education, community gardening and home construction and community infrastructure through university service-learning classes. Visit their website at http://bateylibertad.wordpress.com/about/
