Articles by Martina Fuchs

Port-au-Prince, Haiti
February 2, 2010
By Dr. Martina Fuchs and Michael Lear

Real Medicine Foundation will open its first clinic in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, tomorrow, Wednesday, February 3!

Patients have already been lining up yesterday when they saw first signs of cleaning, carpentry, stocking medical supplies in a 2-story building in Pernier 19, Port-au-Prince. We’ll have 3 examination rooms on the first floor as well as waiting and triage area, and 3 examination rooms on the second floor – pediatrics, internal medicine, minor surgery, OB/Gyn including deliveries and day beds.

We’ll also have our own lab and will provide rehabilitation, physical therapy and prosthesis outreach for the many amputated earthquake victims. Lab equipment and Ob/Gyn exam table are being secured in Santo Domingo, DR, with the generous support of our angel, Mirtha Cabral. We are working in collaboration with The Jimani Project group in Haiti and are very excited about this new partnership. Everyone has been fantastic, making this possible in record time.

Following our global model, we will employ a Haitian Medical Staff and provide support through our volunteer network of international physicians and nurses, as well as medical supplies.

Photos to come shortly.

Port-au-Prince, Haiti
January 31, 2010
By Dr. Martina Fuchs and Michael Lear

At a meeting today with the US Army and the World Food Programme, we were updated that everyone is very aware of the precarious food and water situation. The extent of the disaster is of a magnitude that no one has ever experienced before.

Today, a 2-week effort was launched by USAID and the UN to feed the nearly 2 million homeless earthquake victims. 10,000 metric tons of rice, beans and oil are coordinated per day targeting at least 1,700 families per day through 16 distribution points. Because there are no warehouses to store food, distribution efforts are coordinated with the US military to ensure security during distribution. What is important to mention and what we experienced personally, is that there is no violence. People are very peaceful, though the despair is palpable.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8489790.stm

Brief situational update:
Food and shelter remain the priorities for assistance to hundreds of thousands of people in need. Health priorities include mobile clinics for first aid, psychosocial support and post-operative care. Cases of tetanus have been reported. Suspected cases of measles were confirmed as chicken pox. The WASH Cluster is reaching almost 500,000 people a day with water. The port has been declared unsafe for incoming ships following an in-depth assessment. Port-au-Prince airport is operating at peak capacity with an average of 120 incoming flights per day. The Government reports that some 340,000 people have now left Port-au-Prince with the largest number of arrivals in Artibonite department.

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Port-au-Prince, Haiti
January 30, 2010
By Dr. Martina Fuchs and Michael Lear

Refugee camp – St. Peter’s Place, Petionville

On Friday, January 29, we got an overview of at least 10 refugee camps holding hundreds of thousands of refugees, that seemed to be very much out of the way and not in the spotlight yet. We were led by 3 young Haitian men, one of them who lost his house in the earthquake, was living on one hour of sleep per night and was trying to help the victims of the earthquake as much as he could with the resources he had left. Under his guidance, we bought food to give out, especially to the children, as well as basics such as soap. He was very passionate in his upset wanting us to see thousands of homeless earthquake victims who had not received food and water and supplies to cover their most basic needs.

The situation was very similar in all of the camps: hundreds of thousands of persons side by side on cement, protected only by tarps, if at all, infants lying on cement – a sea of humanity none of us had ever seen before to such an extent.

Children fought over food in despair. We spoke with community leaders and they told us that they would receive food sporadically, but not consistently so they couldn’t count on it. They were trying to help each other with the little they had left. We had children grab food out of our hands so violently and desperately. It was heartbreaking.

All of these people had lost their houses, or their houses were damaged so badly that it was and still is unsafe to go inside. There are people who tried and they got injured or killed trying to get their possessions, records, and memorabilia. Soccer fields filled with homeless earthquake victims, the garden of the prime minister, filled with refugees, seas of children and adults everywhere.