AQ 5 - 01.29.10
I will continue to tell more of our story soon, but there is so much to tell about the developments since the earthquake…Our school & church in Port-au-Prince play a large part in who Dawn & Pria are today. So I’m letting you know about the school’s current function:
Our school in Port-au-Prince is “structurally sound” after the earthquake, according to US engineers. It immediately became a triage center. Medical teams come in & out every week or two. This week’s teams are from Virginia, Florida, the Netherlands, Trinidad & Tobago, & Germany. There are three areas of focus: immediate treatment, patient transfer to other facilities for follow-up care, & night shifts at other treatment facilities.
Some areas of the school campus are being used as an operational command center of the US Army.
The school parking lot has make-shift shower tents. Hundreds of sleeping bags are unrolled & rolled up each night & day. Tents give privacy to some air workers & some severely injured patients.
Many of our guards, food service workers, janitors, and other staff are now homeless, and their families have been invited to live on campus. Their children are being cared for & educated along with 66 of the school’s currently enrolled students who returned to school on Wednesday of this week.
For the students, the afternoons are designed to be a time where homework may be done on campus so that students are relieved of the stress of taking assignments home. At all grade levels, teachers are providing special activities related to helping students cope with the earthquake. The school will continue to care for students’ emotional and spiritual health. The school income is very low at this time, & many teachers desiring to remain at school have regrettably been laid off.
The number of children back to school is beyond the school’s expectation, & students who have left Haiti are encouraged to enroll in schools in the U.S. & Canada. They say they do not have space for more students now. They’ll hold spots for currently enrolled students for next year but will not be receiving new students at that time.
Here’s a report from the Dutch administrator of our school today:
The last medical team got back (from off-campus treatment facilities) just before midnight. Another team went on off-campus rotation at 1AM. The internet was not working... At 2AM the designated CS (chauffeur/messenger) came to me:
"Madame, there is a pregnant girl in the music room and she has pain."
Trying not to panic…I went to the girl & started timing her contractions. I woke up one of the German doctors, who woke up another doctor…Communicating between German, English and Creole isn't that easy... I woke up two more doctors when we realized that this young lady was in active labor. We searched in the dark for supplies in the medical supply tent. We searched the tents for an ob-gyn or midwife…Found a midwife at 5:30 AM . (One man) did a great job coaching this girl through labor as he was packing for his scheduled flight out. Our school nurse came just before 8 AM and the 3 of us (midwife, nurse & school administrator) saw the miracle of birth. At 8:10 AM little Talina came into this world. Mother and daughter are doing great.
Our school in Port-au-Prince is “structurally sound” after the earthquake, according to US engineers. It immediately became a triage center. Medical teams come in & out every week or two. This week’s teams are from Virginia, Florida, the Netherlands, Trinidad & Tobago, & Germany. There are three areas of focus: immediate treatment, patient transfer to other facilities for follow-up care, & night shifts at other treatment facilities.
Some areas of the school campus are being used as an operational command center of the US Army.
The school parking lot has make-shift shower tents. Hundreds of sleeping bags are unrolled & rolled up each night & day. Tents give privacy to some air workers & some severely injured patients.
Many of our guards, food service workers, janitors, and other staff are now homeless, and their families have been invited to live on campus. Their children are being cared for & educated along with 66 of the school’s currently enrolled students who returned to school on Wednesday of this week.
For the students, the afternoons are designed to be a time where homework may be done on campus so that students are relieved of the stress of taking assignments home. At all grade levels, teachers are providing special activities related to helping students cope with the earthquake. The school will continue to care for students’ emotional and spiritual health. The school income is very low at this time, & many teachers desiring to remain at school have regrettably been laid off.
The number of children back to school is beyond the school’s expectation, & students who have left Haiti are encouraged to enroll in schools in the U.S. & Canada. They say they do not have space for more students now. They’ll hold spots for currently enrolled students for next year but will not be receiving new students at that time.
Here’s a report from the Dutch administrator of our school today:
The last medical team got back (from off-campus treatment facilities) just before midnight. Another team went on off-campus rotation at 1AM. The internet was not working... At 2AM the designated CS (chauffeur/messenger) came to me:
"Madame, there is a pregnant girl in the music room and she has pain."
Trying not to panic…I went to the girl & started timing her contractions. I woke up one of the German doctors, who woke up another doctor…Communicating between German, English and Creole isn't that easy... I woke up two more doctors when we realized that this young lady was in active labor. We searched in the dark for supplies in the medical supply tent. We searched the tents for an ob-gyn or midwife…Found a midwife at 5:30 AM . (One man) did a great job coaching this girl through labor as he was packing for his scheduled flight out. Our school nurse came just before 8 AM and the 3 of us (midwife, nurse & school administrator) saw the miracle of birth. At 8:10 AM little Talina came into this world. Mother and daughter are doing great.
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