February 8, 2010

After an earthquake caused widespread devastation in Haiti on January 12th, the people and children of Haiti need healing, comfort, and protection. Drawing on their expertise, doctors, nurses, social workers, staff and volunteers from Heartland Alliance mobilized to provide on the ground medical and emergency assistance in Haiti, Chicago and Miami.

In Haiti, staff and volunteers made their way to Port-au-Prince by way of Santo Domingo equipped with medical supplies, water, food, tents, and fuel. Thousands of children have received emergency medical attention from three mobile pediatric care units organized by Heartland Alliance in partnership with Children's Memorial Hospital. The mobile medical teams have reached hard-to-service areas, including an encampment inside a soccer stadium where doctors treated infants suffering from sepsis, diarrhea, and extreme dehydration.

In Chicago, hundreds of evacuees who arrived at O'Hare airport from Haiti received support and emergency assistance from teams of Heartland Alliance staff experienced in disaster recovery. Evacuees received overnight shelter, medical attention, food, clothing, and assistance with booking travel to reunite with their families. The staff and volunteers of Heartland Alliance's Travelers Aid program will continue to provide support for any future evacuees who arrive at O'Hare in the coming weeks and months.

In Miami, concerns of child trafficking have spread to the United States with the arrival of orphans who had already been in adoption proceedings before the earthquake. At the request of the federal government, staff from Heartland Alliance's child protection facilities were on hand in Miami to greet Haitian children on incoming flights. Staff provided protective services for the children and reassurance to their prospective adoptive parents. Staff implemented policies to protect all Haitian children entering the United States with the hopes of reuniting with their adoptive parents.

Dr. Beth Dowell traveled to Haiti as a volunteer with Heartland Alliance. She writes, "We were faced with devastating loss on the part of the Haitian people, apparent chaos amongst humanitarian agencies responding to the disaster, and the daily struggles of finding food, water, and safe shelter.  But we encountered amazingly resilient individuals working long hours with compassion and expertise to ease the suffering of the Haitian people. In the end, I have come away from this overwhelming disaster with a renewed admiration for the human spirit of compassion and faith in our ability to bring justice to our world."

Learn more about Heartland Alliance's work in Haiti: http://www.heartlandalliance.org/haiti

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