By Sheri Monk

It was learned just after press time had passed that Consul pastor David Manley was on his way to Haiti to help with the relief efforts.
David and his wife Vicki spent seven years living and working in the poverty-stricken country and after hearing about the earthquake, David was determined to return. Last Wednesday, Jan. 13, his feet touched Haitian soil for the first time in 17 years. The Badger will report on David’s experience as much as possible during his three-week volunteer shift.

After landing at Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, David hooked up with a Swedish medical team heading to Haiti’s capital city, Port-au-Prince. Their small convoy was to meet a World Vision group at a small border town to then travel into Haiti under the protection of a United Nations (UN) escort.
“While we waited for arrangements at the World Vision compound, I helped translate and give water to the many patients who had been delivered there. They were in an open building on mattresses on the floor. This was an emergency facility doing triage and surgery. It was my first look at what we were heading into. I was surprised at how quickly my Creole came back to me, and as I spoke with the patients and saw their injuries, emotions washed over me,” David said.
The group then received notice from the border that they could cross under UN protection – if they moved very quickly.
“Panic set in and seemed to carry us all the way into Port-Au-Prince. The closer we got to the city, the more evidence of the destructive force of the earthquake appeared. Houses totally flattened – it was just a tease of what we would see. We hit a huge traffic jam on the way into the city. There had been a serious aftershock, ( 6.0 ) that morning and people were trying to move out of the city. We lost our escort and the Dominican drivers began to panic,” David said, adding he was calm because his previous experience in Haiti had prepared him for the chaos.
He is working out of an American school in upper Port-au-Prince, approximately one mile from the Montana Hotel – the ruins of which have been broadcast frequently on news networks. Quisqueya Christian School, from where David and Vicki worked before, has been turned into an earthquake relief center dedicated to giving medical professionals from all over the world a place to stay. Surgical teams are also organized and transported to hospitals requiring assistance.
“We arrange what hospitals need assistance and send teams out every morning. They basically do surgery all day. We handle all the logistics for their needs – transport, housing, meals and travel in and out. The day I arrived, the U.S. Special Forces also took up residency, so we feel very safe. It also means that we have 24-hour power on generator and water.”
Manley is using is education and training to help volunteers emotionally deal with what they are experiencing and the tragedy they are witnessing, called critical incident stress debriefing. Aftershocks are still common and many (including David for at least one night) sleep outside.
“We have had aftershocks everyday, some very tiny, tiny tremors, others which move the floor and shake the windows. Everyone runs outside when we feel it shifting.”
On his first day of service, the team assisted an eight-year-old boy who desperately needed brain surgery onto a U.S. Medical Mercy Ship, story CNN covered, but never aired.
He says the dead have been moved off the streets and sidewalks and traffic is starting to move through the city. But death’s signature still emanates from the ruins of destroyed homes and buildings.
“There is a smell of death near the buildings which have colapsed and they haven’t even begun to dig through all of that. I hope to travel more through the city in the next few days,” David described.
He says the compound he is working out of has high fences and is very secure and right now, it has access to enough food, water and supplies. Having the main port open will be huge for increasing the rate at which new supplies can flow into the country. A shortage of antibiotics, bandages and the basics of medical care have crippled the country and its survivors – literally.
“There are many people who had operations and were sent away to make room for others who now need serious wound care. In some situations, further amputations were required because of infection,” David said.
Right now, he says the country needs continued medical assistance and food distribution the most. There have been media reports of orphanages being robbed for food, supplies and water. While many don’t understand why aid has trickled so slowly into the country, David says it was always a challenge, even before the earthquake.
“You have to understand that moving about Haiti is difficult at the best of times. Some of the areas which were hit the hardest are just now being surveyed for assistance. Our group sent out teams yesterday and today to research where medical teams were most needed. Some places are very well provided for, but we found several places who still need assistance. I think many organizations are working on this.”
In David’s short time in the country after the earthquake he has experienced many highs and lows.
“Best thing I have seen is the incredible co-operation of the many groups who work out of our campus. Korean, German, Swedish, Dominican, U.S… Sadly, we have no Canadian medical teams right here where I am. Please send one to me. It is awesome to see medical professionals of this quality come and sleep on the ground, eat one meal a day and share a garden hose shower with 100 other people – just because,” he said. “The saddest thing I’ve seen is the ‘heart sadness’ of some of the Haitian people. A young girl came to our gate today. She’s 19, very educated and speaks English. She was on the street and came to ask for help because she lost her whole family. I spoke with her a little and the leadership brought her in and gave her a job to help sort our medical supplies. I gave her a big hug then turned away and cried.”
An unexpected incident which troubles David and his co-workers at the compound happened on Saturday. He says its the worst thing to have happened since he arrived in Haiti.
“A German group with us called Humedica was bringing in an entire 40-foot container of medical supplies from the Dominican Republic. They were apparently in a UN convoy and our people were to meet them and bring the truck up to our campus for storage. They called to say they had arrived near the UN compound, and we waited all day to find them. Our people finally came home at dark, hoping to look again in the morning. Today, we can’t find the driver or the truck. Humanica looked all day for the container – it disappeared. How can a UN escorted container vanish?” he asked.
If people would like to donate to the organization David is working with, they can visit www.quisqueya.org and at the left of the page, there is a link to donate via Paypal. He says he will try to find out what other methods there are for those unfamiliar with Paypal, but also suggested donations could be sent to the Red Cross, Canadian Food Bank, Samaritans Purse and others. The Salvation Army is also involved in the relief efforts, as are hundreds of other international and national organizations.
“Thank you southwest Saskatchewan,” said David.