I hit the ground running, and it feels like I haven’t stopped since I arrived.

Each day blends into the next and I’ve fallen into a routine. Life is about necessity and you sleep when you cannot take one more step, eat when you are so hungry you have to, drink water when you can.

Falling mangos can hurt and swollen feet hobble. You mustn’t forget to take your flashlight to the bathroom and look for unspeakable hazards before committing to one.

Have your camera ready to go at all times, keep your valuables on you (passport, money), keep your nails short, and smile as much as possible — hopefully someone will appreciate it. Hug as many people as you can in a day, and cry when you feel the need.

I am on the logistics team here, which means we try hard as a team to make sense of the chaos, implement systems and processes to keep track of it all.

We wear many hats. I move around every day trying to find answers for people. When the disaster first happened, the focus was saving lives.

Now that it is slowing down from that initial chaos, we have to effectively capture the full scope of the project and answer many questions — like how many amputations have been performed?

How many deaths? How many surgeries, births, orphans, transfers, discharges, staff?

The list continues.

Three days ago I held a baby that won’t eat and his body is eating itself. I saw a C-section while I was removing a deceased person, and behind me doctors were performing an amputation.

Every day I find new challenges, like chasing down rumours an orphanage was abandoned and children are starving.

We are co-ordinating chaos in a harsh environment. We plead to Promess (World Health Organization) with a surgeon for enough blood to save a man’s life. I find myself calming a nurse who just couldn’t hold in the emotions.

I have taken over the orphans. This means I will coordinate with UNICEF and New Life to find placement for these children.

Sometimes I wonder when it will be my turn, when will I have had enough? It’s difficult to watch the suffering and close the doors because we just don’t have enough nurses or beds.

One of the volunteers who has been here since the beginning went to the supermarket in Dalmas to help remove another level of concrete.

I listened in horror as he shared the sights he saw. There were body parts protruding from concrete, and flies — more flies then he’d ever seen. A local man was sawing people in half trying to remove their bodies. Today a nurse told me an orphanage needs baby formula and wood for coffins. Tomorrow I will go and assess the need.

How many are suffering? How will Haiti ever recover?

Tamara Palinka, a former area resident whose mother, Kate Millar, lives in Cochrane, has been on the ground in Haiti since Jan. 25 with the University of Miami’s Project Medishare and has agreed to send updates on the chaos caused by the 7.0 earthquake Jan. 12 and following aftershocks.

Related Stories

No related posts.

• Filed under News | You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.