Area organizations giving aid to Haiti
Recovery impeded by tropical storm
Pittsburgh-based organizations are joining aid efforts as a tropical storm pours rain on Haiti just days after a 7.2-magnitude earthquake struck the country’s southwestern region.
Teams from the Hôpital Albert Schweitzer Haiti are coordinating a “large logistics campaign” to evacuate patients from the affected area and take them to hospitals further away that haven’t been destroyed or overwhelmed.
The Hôpital Albert Schweitzer is based in Haiti’s Lower Artibonite Valley and headquartered in Pittsburgh. It was founded by Larry Mellon — a native Pittsburgher and heir to the Mellon fortune — with his wife, Gwen, in 1956.
This week, the hospital’s CEO, Jean Marc deMatteis, has been joining the U.S. Coast Guard on helicopters to help evacuate patients.
“Bridges are either damaged or roads are washed out with mudslides, so helicopter is pretty much the only way right now,” Mr. deMatteis said by Zoom call on Tuesday.
The area impacted by the earthquake, mainly Les Cayes, is about four hours outside of Mr. deMatteis’ hospital.
“All the area hospitals there are either severely damaged or completely overwhelmed, and so we’re stepping in to be there to accept patients that require surgery,” Mr. deMatteis said.
It isn’t clear how many patients will be evacuated to Hôpital Albert Schweitzer.
The hospital has also partnered with World Central Kitchen to provide meals. As the need for search and rescue teams subsides in the coming days, Mr. deMatteis’ team will shift into a “very large feeding operation,” to those displaced by the natural disasters.
In the midst of trying to help people recover from a major earthquake, Tropical Storm Grace made landfall Monday night, putting a temporary halt to the Haitian government’s earthquake response.
“[There has been] tons of rain,” Mr. deMatteis said. “It has complicated the situation immensely, because there’s mudslide dangers now, localized flooding. Today has been even more challenging.”
Haitian officials warned that some areas could get up to 15 inches of rain.
In the midst of the storm, Mr. deMatteis flew on the last helicopter out of Port-auPrince Monday night with a 14- year- old boy and his father. The family’s house had collapsed during the earthquake, killing the boy’s mother and four siblings.
“The situation is dire,” said Bishop Leon Pamphile, who is from Haiti but has lived in Pittsburgh for over 50 years.
Bishop Pamphile is the executive director of FLM Haiti, an organization that provides education, literacy training and more to Haitian people, as well as being a bishop with the Church of God in Christ.
“The point is well proven that Haiti is prone to natural disasters, and they never have a chance to really recover,” he said, noting the 2010 earthquake that killed about 200,000 people. “You make five steps forward and 10 steps backward.”
Many of the churches Bishop Pamphile oversees were destroyed, he said.
The FLM Haiti team has already begun looking at
ways to provide food and medical service, as well as looking more long-term at rebuilding houses and churches, Bishop Pamphile said.
Brad Henderson, president of Pittsburgh Kids Foundation, a nonprofit that provides a variety of health services in Haiti, said many of his employees are still waiting to hear from family members who live in the southwestern region.
“A lot of them have families and friends in the affected areas. Some have heard and gotten bad news, some have gotten good news. A lot of them are still waiting to hear what’s going on,” he said.
The Pittsburgh Kids Foundation is mobilizing a medical team from their hospital in Haiti to serve people in the zone most hard hit.
“They really are in need of all the basics right now, but especially medical help,” Mr. Henderson said. It’s just been one thing after another. People are just devastated down there. [They’re] very resilient, always have been, but it’s a lot for sure.”
On top of the earthquake and tropical storm, Haitian
President Jovenel Moïse was assassinated just over a month ago, which has fueled continued political unrest and gang violence. Mr. Henderson noted that the country has also seen a recent spike in cases of COVID-19.
Haitian officials raised the death toll from the earthquake by more than 500 on Tuesday to 1,941 after Tropical Storm Grace forced a temporary halt to search and rescue efforts, a delay that fed growing anger and frustration among thousands who were left homeless. It was estimated that 9,900 people are injured.
Hôpital Albert Schweitzer, FLM Haiti and Pittsburgh Kids Foundation are all accepting donations for their relief efforts on their websites.
“It’s Pittsburgh citizens that started this hospital 65 years ago, and the fact that we’re here in place and can respond like this. I just want them to know the difference they have made and continue to make in literally saving lives,” Mr. deMatteis said.