Haiti Medics Seek Cargo Lift
As the world rushes to
the aid of stricken Haitians, one medical group that was already on
the ground when the earthquake struck is working flat out to continue
its relief operation in the country.
The well respected organization Partners
In Health founded in 1987 and their medical personnel at work in Haiti
already for 19 years need supplies to address the disaster at their
field hospitals in Haiti that are at work around the clock in Port au
Prince and elsewhere in the country.
Partners In Health and the desperate in
Haiti are reaching out for help, including money and air cargo lift.
PIH is likely the largest and most functional
provider of medical care in all of Haiti and has been for some time.
All 12 of PIH hospitals, clinics, and
medical posts in Haiti are standing and staffed as you read this and
many are receiving a massive influx of patients from Port au Prince.
It’s worth mentioning that Partners
In Health is a ground up operation that works on the basic premise that
local people empowered to get things done works best—so their
operation is no stranger to almost any kind of challenge in Haiti or
in dozens of other locations the group serves in Africa and places around
the world.
In Haiti, the spotlight right now is on
unspeakable misery as an influx of media and military and people have
descended on the tiny country, the size of Maryland all wanting to help.
But as mentioned, at the top as attention
shifts elsewhere in days and weeks ahead—Haiti, like New Orleans
a place that suffered from Hurricane Katrina, will need long term relief
and help and PIH will be there to answer the call.
“Right now we are transporting and
distributing supplies from our sites in the Central Plateau to Port
au Prince, critical in a time where many other medical supplies are
held up outside of the country or at the airport,” Samantha Ender,
Regional Outreach Manager PIH based in Boston, Massachusetts told Air
Cargo News FlyingTypers.
“We expect that the need will be
great and protracted; this crisis will be measured in weeks and months,
not in hours and days.”
 Ophelia
Dahl, Executive Director of Partners In Health (right) shares the PIH
vision:
“Our goal is not to see how quickly
we can leave a community but to rebuild public health systems and infrastructure,
provide training and support for local medical staff, and employ community
health workers as agents of change to break the vicious cycle of poverty
and disease.
“Over time, our success in achieving
these goals reduces our role in providing direct service but not our
commitment.
“We continue to provide valuable
technical and financial support, to bring more resources to bear on
the problems we see, and to focus on filling the gaps in services where
we are needed most.”
Ms. Ender declares:
“Currently, our greatest need is
financial support.
“Haiti is in need of millions of
dollars right now to help meet the communities hardest hit by the earthquake.
“Our Partners In Health facilities
are strategically placed just two hours outside of Port-au-Prince and
will inevitably absorb the flow of patients out of the city.
“In addition, we need cash on-hand
to quickly procure emergency medical supplies, basic living necessities,
as well as transportation and logistics support for the tens of thousands
of people that will be seeking care at mobile field hospitals in the
capital city.”
ACN FlyingTypers readers can
go to http://www.standwithhaiti.org
for updates and donation information. While money is needed, PIH is
also reaching out to the air cargo industry for donated lift of emergency
supplies.
“We also have a need for donated
transportation, including cargo space. While we are still assessing
the situation on the ground and organizing a supply chain for materials,
we would be most grateful for donated cargo space in the days, weeks,
and months to come,” Ms. Ender said.
“We ask the people of the global
air cargo industry to contact PIH with details of what you might offer
and our team will respond at once,” Ms. Ender said. Contact: emergencyprocurement@pih.org.
Partners In Health, 888 Commonwealth Avenue, 3rd Floor, Boston, MA 02215.
Phone: (617) 432-4948. Web: www.pih.org
 Stories
of the world air cargo community coming up big for Haiti continue to
be received during the weekend at Air Cargo News FlyingTypers.
In Miami, Eric J. Williams President G.L.S.G.
Corp. Landstar Agency is spearheading an effort by the Americas Relief
Team (ART) network.
The network includes SouthCom, Coast Guard,
NGO's, carriers, governments and commercial enterprises that are involved
with relief efforts. (teob@americasrelief.org
or marilyn@americasrelief.org).
“We have available lift to Haiti
for air shipments," Eric told Air Cargo News FlyingTypers.
“Select commercial flights are allowed to land.”
Elsewhere, a manufacturer of high brightness
solar lights says they donated $300,000 worth of self-powered lights
but cannot get them to Haiti.
“We are USA-based and made a significant
donation of high-brightness solar-powered lights to aid in the rescue
efforts,” Sol Inc. CEO Rick Schuett writes to ACNFlyingTypers.
“But we are having problems both
getting all our lights down to Haiti quickly, and also finding someone
on the ground in Haiti with a sat phone who can help coordinate the
storage, movement, and installation of our lights.”
Contact: rschuett@solarlighting.com
Air Cargo News/Flying Typers
is standing by to deliver the news and help get the word out. Write
to geoffrey@aircargonews.com
and we will do our best.
Geoffrey |
