Haiti Disaster Response Summary

Specific actions taken:

·         Communicated immediately with on the ground team. I was able to speak to Claude Surena to get a brief scope of damage and to talk briefly about expected response priorities. We have responded before to a disaster during the Hurricanes and flooding so the basic response parameters coupled with the knowledge of the Disaster Zone helped a lot.

·         Contacted District leadership and gave them a brief synopsis of the disaster and the intended responses. At that time outlined the priorities as they were understood at the time

·         Requested support from District to set up a process to manage the funds

·         Requested support from Zone Classmates

·         PRID Barry moved to set up DAF and communicated the status of the situation to Global Rotarians and Agencies

 

Specific Challenges faced:

·         Lost total Communication 40 minutes after first quake with the entire country

·         Most of our core leaders were victims of the disaster

·         Organizational control was moving between US / UN and Country Leadership so on the ground priorities varied

·         Air space  was restricted and the main Port was closed

·         The geography and infrastructure of Port au Prince is very restrictive and archaic at best

·         The catastrophic damage is beyond anything that anyone could have ever imagined

·         People all over the planet feel they are the experts and are telling people what they should do that at times conflict with the specific instructions given by the people and Rotarians on the ground in the Disaster area

Systems and processes in place:

·         Satellite phone system from Caribbean Partners

·         Rotary Organization infrastructure District and country wide

·         Passion and commitment to our fellow Rotarians in Haiti

·         Appointed Leader or find someone that can’t get out of it!!!!

Failed Plans

·         Satellite phone use Protocols

·         Satellite phone number list

·         Satellite service provider quality (some phones get no signal)

·         Random inaccurate email circulation by many “ROTARY” organizations

Lessons learned:

·         Have funding accounts in place and published on web site

·         Value of relationships with individuals in each countries is immeasurable

·         Money first, we can always get stuff but we need to pay to get it there

·         In the Bahamas we used Windermere Day Spas’s contact list to plea for supplies. These customers sent the plea to their mailing list and so on and so on. This proved to be enormously successful and has resulted in funds and over 50,000 lbs of supplies, Medical, Comfort and Food.

 

Why Rotary works when other initiatives you see on Television appear not to.

      Rotary International has an establish Region, Country, District and International infrastructure that exists year over year. We know who we all are and what we all do.

      We have a team locally and internationally that understands the power of our organization and what we are capable of, and knows there is an expectation that we do something after these events. We expect the support, and we get it but understand it comes with a burden of responsibility.

      Our on the ground team is relying on the Rotary Infrastructure to help them by sending supplies and funding and know they have to do their part to get it effectively into their communities. They coach us with the advice of a real time community needs assessment.

      The on the ground team wants to be sure that the distribution of assets meets all their personal values which reflect our criteria, fair, beneficial to all, etc because they are Rotarians!

      They do the work in their communities to make their own communities better and to help their neighbours and families.

 

The summary so far is as follows:

Haiti Update January 13th

Dear Fellow Rotarians,

This is the most tragic situation that you can imagine. The support from Rotary and the world has really stepped up to help and thank you for it.

Here is a brief summary of where we are after 24 hours:
We have communicated by Satellite Phone or Satellite e-mail to most of our Haiti Task Force Team. The situation is so grave they are not yet in a position to move or check on others. Currently we know that ADG Ted Lazarre lost his house and his business and he and his wife and child are on the street in front of the Palace with nowhere to go. I received this message from him via his satellite phone and it went dead almost immediately during the conversation. We are trying to coordinate some assistance as soon as we can contact anyone that is in a position to help. We have not heard from PDG Amos and are still working on it. All other Task Force Leaders are accounted for although we have not communicated with all of them.

At this point our priorities are as follows:
In order of priority we are asking for money first and will have a Foundation DAF account available tomorrow and will also have a District Account with detailed information available by tomorrow. I have also spoken to Rotary in the DR and there is a possibility that we can buy goods and services in the DR and Truck them to PaP.

Secondly we are working on getting shelter, Shelter Boxes of which we have approximately 500 organized to start. We are also looking at the possibilities of “Mash" type tents for temporary housing and medical shelters.
We desperately need medicine and food. A number of containers have been organized throughout the District and in America and we are in discussions organizing the shipping of those containers through a number of international shipping companies (Tropical Seaboard) that are working with us.

We need clean water and have 100 Water Boxes on their way from England. Additional water purification and supply will be necessary as we go forward.

Our Haiti Task Force ROTAH N.G.O. has funded immediate relief for the few that it can reach.

We need another day or two to effectively decimate the situation and to have our Rotarians to tell us what they feel they want us to do.

Rotarian Claude Surena our Haiti Disaster Chair is our primary contact on this and is working very closely with the Government of Haiti and the Red Cross on our behalf. God Bless him. By 7:00 PM last night he had over 100 injured people in his yard and was out of food, blankets and space.

I appreciate your patience and concern. Please pray for Haiti and give something in support. Your fellow Haitien Rotarians will get it to where it will serve best.
Thank You
PDG Dick

 

Our Priorities are:

 

We need money first. Send to address below

Shelter

Medical and Food supplies

Water purification items like Water Survival Boxes

Clothing

Let me know what you are doing with District or Club number for our records

 

PDG Dick McCombe

Haiti Liaison

District 7020

 

US$ Payment by Wire Transfer:

Donors should be asked to kindly send e-mail advice of transfer to PDG Richard W. Harris rwh@candw.ky and (state name and email address of any other D7020 intended recipient)

 

Send to: Wachovia Bank, New York

SWIFT Code: PNBPUS3NNYC

ABA Code: 026005092

For credit to: FirstCaribbean International Bank (Cayman) Limited

SWIFT Code: FCIBKYKY

Account Number: 2000192002655

For further credit to: Rotary International District 7020

Account Number 3481106

Reference “Haiti Earthquake Relief”

 

US$ Payment by Bank Draft or Cheque (Check):

Mailed payment must be an official Bank Draft drawn on a US clearing bank or a cheque drawn on a US domestic bank.

(US$ denominated cheques drawn on a bank outside of the continental USA are discouraged as they may be difficult to negotiate)

 

Mail to:

PDG Richard W. Harris

Rotary International District 7020

P.O. Box 557

Grand Cayman KY1-1502

CAYMAN ISLANDS

 

Haiti Update January 14th 4:30 PM

Dear Fellow Rotarians

   This has been a very fulfilling yet frustrating day. On the fulfilling side we have had overwhelming support from everywhere and everyone again. Thank you so very much for all your efforts.

 

The District has asked the Assistant Governors to coordinate a local relief strategy for their regional areas. Through this initiative we hope to coordinate the appeal for support, coordinate / consolidate shipments and promote contribution to our relief funds.

 

We have been able to have communicate occasionally with PADG Caleb Lucien by Satellite phone, but this has been extremely difficult. The needs remain the same with specific emphasis on medical supplies and blankets for right now. We are coordinating with Missionary Flights International to get some stuff flow in and have arranged a few flights from Nassau.

 

We have been able to get Volunteer Doctors and Medical supplies committed and the flights to get them there as well from a number of our regions. We have the Rotarians from District 7710 who have 3 Beechcraft on the ground in North Carolina ready to come down full of supplies. We have a 40 FT container in Athens Georgia rweady to move with $200,000 worth of medical supplies and on and on…..

 

The challenge now is that the airport in PaP is restricting air traffic and some of today’s flights were returned and things are backing up and the PaP Port is closed. We have arranged for approval to fly into alternate sites and to truck the supplies to PaP. This is being studied and will be an option we consider for our shipments. We have received approval from the Prime Ministers office to bring in any relief supplies we wish, however this approval does not guarantee access to the airport and port, so it is more of a comfort than a fact.

 

We have Shelter Boxes, Water Purification Boxes, relief supply Flights, Money and everything else coming in. We now need to position our on the ground team to coordinate it. With the communication that will be difficult but we can get it done.

 

Sadly we have not been able to reconnect with ADG Ted Lazarre and have not yet heard from Amos and we remain prayerful they are OK.

 

Not much more to say today without listing the names of the 100’s of Rotarians throughout our District and others that have done extraordinary things to get us the support we need, but I believe it would be better just to say a heartfelt THANK YOU from Haiti and all of those you are helping. God Bless You!

 

I’ll be in touch with further update tomorrow.

 

PDG Dick

 

Haiti Update January 15th

A great day!

PDG Amos and family are safe! Ted Lazarre has been found and is ok!

 

A very productive day as well. Supplies and money came in in great quantities from everywhere. Our District as always did the extraordinary. One club raised over $39,000 at their meeting, and another one matched it!!!!!! Supplies and funds in every region under the regional coordinators is coming in quickly and in great quantities. Great work clubs and Rotarians. I am sorry that I can not give you exact figures but the funds are going to a number of regional accounts and I am not sure of everything and would not want to mislead you.

 

On the lighter side, we had one flight leave from Nassau to Haiti with medical supplies and a Doctor Ageebe and a Nurse Fountain. Not everything went as planned but we made progress. The plane got there with the supplies which were picked up, but we lost the Doctor and Nurse.  OOPS!

 

We finally found them but the old challenge of communication was interesting. I got a mixed message that they had been dropped in Port de Paix. I could picture them standing on a vacant dark lonely runway looking for someone they may be comfortable staying with until they were found, but in fact they had been left in Cap Haitien at a hotel whose name they did not know and no phone contact for.

 

The good news is in texting them on their Bahamian cell we were able to ascertain where they were and it was the same hotel we had stayed at when we visited the Cap Haitien club so we were able to use the satellite phone and communicate with Rotarians on the ground in Haiti and by tomorrow at 11:00 they will be on their way to Pignon to help the wounded at Dr. Guy Theodore’s Hospital.

 

The challenges remain that the Port is closed, the airport in PaP is over taxed and on occasion has to turn flights away, and the communication systems are restrictive. We are working around those. We are working with D-4060 (Charles Adams) on a plan to ship by sea to the DR and tranship over land from the DR to Haiti. We need to overcome the availability of trucks, the boarder and the inland challenges but with their help I am sure we can.

 

In speaking to Shelter Boxes they expect to have 2900 on the ground over the next few week. 900 are there now, and 1000 are on the way with the balance to follow.

 

We have a container of medical supplies in Atlanta that is going to be transferred to a DC-3 tomorrow and will be in route to Haiti by Sunday. A number of relief flights from other countries have gone in as well. Our Jamaican Rotarians in concert with the Jamaican Government and Coast Guard have sent in an army of supplies and people and are continuing to build their relief efforts.

 

We have 4 flights (Twin engine) leaving Nassau tomorrow for Haiti followed by a DC-3 on Sunday. The 3 Beechcraft from North Carolina to Haiti are due early next week and we will have 4 planes on the ground in Nassau for the remaining 2 weeks available to us and all we need to cover are the fuel costs.

 

The DAF is set up and we have full exposure on the international Web Sites

 

Tomorrow is another day!

                        Successes to follow!!!!

 

PDG Dick

 

Haiti Update January 16th

A great day, I am wrong, an EXTRA ORDINARY day !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

We were able to communicate by phone with a couple of our Team in Haiti today, but our Satellite phones did not work. It did not matter we knew what we had to do.

            Claude Surena who has been one of our Primary Contacts in the Haiti disasters has been designated as the National Coordinator of the Health Commission they are putting in place. That is a huge responsibility that he accepted at the insistence of the President Preval. Congratulations are due to him.

            Our priorities Remain:

Money

Medical Supplies

Blankets, clothes, and Shelter

Food

Water

 

The Bahamas Clubs today collected in excess of 50,000 lbs of medical supplies, blankets and food. We sent out 5 twin engine flights to Cap Haitien, of which 2 were scheduled to go on to Les Cayes. They were turned back to Cap due to rain.

Tomorrow we have 10 twin engine flights and 1 DC-3 leaving loaded with medical Supplies to be dropped in Cap Haitien and Les Cayes. We are working closely with the Methodist Ministries and they are bringing back departing missionaries on the return flights. We have another 6 flights schedule Monday

 

The Jamaica Clubs together with their military connections are flying in supplies and returning with Jamaican nationals. Their proximity and the availability of these resources makes them extremely effective. They are coordinating the flights with inbound supplies and staffing with Claude Surina as well. Thanks Claude

 

Many of the regions have raised large sums of money. As I said yesterday I have not had a chance to confirm these amounts but hope to do so for you soon. I hope that the note below clarifies the need and importance of the fundraising by all of you across the District

 

These fund raising initiatives are VERY important. While everyone wants to get or collect something to send, it becomes painfully clear very quickly that the challenge to get the stuff to where it needs to go on the ground is impossible. The benefit to the most needy diminishes by the day. Many Rotarians can beg the supplies necessary but many more must do what they do in the fund raising department because that’s what gets the job done.

 

We will probably sent $150,000 to $200,000 worth of goods down to Haiti in the next 2 days, but it will cost us close to $50,000 to do so. The $50,000 will get the goodwill on the ground where the needy will actually benefit and they will do so while the need is still there.  Without it, we would have $200,000 sitting in a warehouse. A point to remember!  Goods in a warehouse while they rebuild the port or arrange for shipping after commercial shipping opens will be to late for anybody.

 

 

Our container of medical supplies in Atlanta that was going to be transferred to a DC-3 tomorrow has hit a snag and further details will follow. Our 3 Beechcraft from North Carolina are ready to go and we will coordinate that tomorrow.

 

Haiti Update January 17th

 

Today’s update will be brief.

      We got 11 flights off the ground and in the air for Haiti today. Of those flights, 10 will go into Haiti and one will go to Inagua. The flight time from Inagua is less than an hour and much easier for the small planes so we are stockpiling there

 

One flight has left from the BVI and is going through Puerto Plata in the DT and on to Cap Haitien tomorrow. We are hoping that after clearing in Cap it can fly on to Pignon. We will know this later.

 

We  have 3  pallets of Medical Supplies in Vero Beach and are working on the flights to get that to Nassau and on to Haiti with our Bahamas Methodist Habitat partners.

 

T&C has organized some more Shelter Boxes and they will be sent shortly. Nathan has a container on the way to Miami and we will know more about the delivery method soon.

 

We have asked for an indication from the on the ground medical team for specific medical Supplies needs and I will post for you as soon as I get it.

 

I believe Michael Terrelonge will be starting a blog for us. Look for his announcement