News from Kristy Engel via @constantcontact

News from Kristy Engel via @constantcontact

The 1st Walk-a-thon "Walk for your health!"

On Saturday July 3rd the Good Samaritan Hospital sponsored it's first walk-a-thon to initiate it's new Wellness Program. The program started after the death of one of our employees who was only 40 years old. She died of a heart attack while working. After her death I began talking with the hospital administrator, Moises Sifren, and the assistant medical director, Franklin Bido, about the need for our hospital to start a wellness program. It would focus on preventative measures that employees could take to avoid complications of diseases such as diabetes, hypertension and heart disease. We will also focus on monitoring our health as well as encouraging employees to begin and exercise program. As a hospital, we should set the example for our patients in regards to good health and healthy lifestyles. The walk-a-thon was the beginning of this endeavor! It was a very hot day, around 100 degrees, but we had well over 300 people participating. There were employees and their families as well as invited guests, volunteer medical personnel and over 80 American's!! I've posted several pictures from the event.
Following the 5 mile walk-a-thon through the streets of La Romana, there was a concert by Rayos de Luz and Orquesta Maranatha in front of the Maranatha Haitian Baptist Church.
Our next objective is to get as many employees as possible signed up for health screening exams and started on an exercise and healthy eating program. We plan to build a walking/running track on the hospital grounds as well as a gymnasium at the hospital that would be available to hospital employees and the physical therapy patients.
This is just the beginning. Eventually, we hope that our program will encourage other businesses and hospitals to set the same example and begin employee wellness programs.
Please keep us in your prayers as we begin and let me know if you would be willing to help in any of these activities!
May God bless you!
Kristy

New website!!!

Please visit my new website at: http://kristynurse.org
I will be adding new pictures and stories so please visit often!
Also, if you are a team member, team leader or would like to know more about how you can get involved in the work we are doing in La Romana, this is the website for you!! There is lots of information for teams so that they are prepared for their trips.
Thanks for all of your help!
Kristy

Update: Week 3 in Haiti

In a brief phone conversation last night (Feb. 4th), Kristy wanted everyone to know that the team in Haiti this week is safe, and working very hard in difficult circumstances. On Wednesday alone, the team treated 527 patients. On Thursday, from what we understood (between background noise, connection static, and unfamiliar names), they were in Carrefour, an extremely poor and distressed area of Port-au-Prince, and saw over 400 patients. This week's team is spending all of their time in Port-au-Prince, or just outside of town.

Please continue to pray for the health, safety, and strength of all who are volunteering their time and skills to minister in Jesus' name. May their gifts of presence provide hope and comfort to each person they encounter.

On another note, you have undoubtedly heard of the missionaries who were arrested in Haiti for attempting to transport children across the border into the Dominican Republic. Media sources in our country have described them as "American Baptist," meaning that they are Baptists from America. They are not in any way a part of, or associated with, "American Baptist Churches USA," the denomination in which Kristy serves through International Ministries. For further clarification, click here.

posted by Soozi Whitten Ford (Convener, Kristy Engel's MPT)

Last Week's Experiences in Haiti

We left late on Monday (January 25) for the second week of medical clinics in the tent cities of Port au Prince. We had a team of 15 with us from the University of Massachusetts and others from Connecticut, Maine and California. In addition, a group of Dominican physicians and volunteers joined the team to help us organize and work in the clinics.

As we loaded our 50-passenger tour bus at the hospital, we were told that we would soon be switching buses because a different bus was responsible for taking us to the border. When we arrived to the location for the bus switch, the new bus had not yet arrived. We had to wait about 45 minutes for its arrival and then moved all of our bags before departing again for the border. A small delay, but we were on the way!

Just outside of Santo Domingo, an engine alarm sounded on the bus and we pulled over only to discover that the fan belt had shredded, and we had to wait for yet another bus to be driven to us from La Romana so that we could continue our trip. This time we had to wait three hours! By about 5:00 a.m. the second "new" bus arrived and, once again, we switched the bags and continued on our journey.

With several hours left to drive, we realized we would miss the border crossing with security. Although we wondered how that would be, it posed no problem. Over the next few hours with stops for bathroom breaks and coffee, the traffic became thicker and after so long on the road, several began getting car sick. We eventually left one doctor with a pastor friend of ours in Jimani because he was too sick to make the rest of the trip into Haiti.

Two hours more and we finally arrived where we were staying in Haiti. Although the reconstruction of the building still was not finished, we went ahead and loaded up some trucks with our medical supplies and headed out to our first clinic. (Several were praying that our "home away from home" would be finished by the time we returned!) After seeing over 200 patients the first day in a tent city with more than 2000 people (which had doubled in size since our visit the previous week!) we returned to the dorm to find it freshly painted and cleaned. It was a sight for sore eyes and tired bodies! A construction crew worked all week to make new bathrooms for us and to make sure that we were as comfortable as possible. The cooks from the mission in La Romana were with us to make sure we were all being fed.

The second day, I worked with an ER doc from UMass to triage patients in the tent city of Da Da Dou in Del Mas 3. She and I saw several cases of pneumonia in kids as well as a lot of malnutrition. This tent city had also doubled in size and was home to several thousand people. One of our American nurses had a cardiac problem during the clinic and, with the help of the Haitian police, we were able to transport her to the University of Miami field hospital at the Port-au-Prince Airport. When we walked into the hospital, I saw a familiar face - a surgeon I worked with in Limbe, Haiti but hadn't seen in over 12 years! Dr. Mike Sheehan yelled my name across the tent and we smiled as we laughed at how strange it was to meet again like this. He helped to make sure that our patient was well and had the medicines she needed, and then helped to coordinate future care that we might need at their hospital. While we were there they found out they were out of Rocephin and, wouldn't you know it, we had several thousand dollars of Rocephin back at the compound that we weren't using! We told them we would bring it and they were very happy! We returned to the hospital the next day with the medicines and also brought wheelchairs with us that were very welcome. We traded these supplies for our much needed vitamins.

The next day we saw over 200 patients again and on the final day we saw 300. Overall, we saw almost 1000 patients in four days. I had several meetings with important figures that want to help with our work as well as making connections with medical facilities and supply centers. It was an amazing and tiring week for all.

We return to Haiti again tonight (February 1)with another large group of 50+ people. We will continue to run medical clinics and do food distribution. (In the photo at right, Pastor Bob Beaumont is delivering much needed food to a family.) Over the next several weeks, we still need doctors, physician assistants and nurse practitioners to help fill the needs of our medical clinics. If you are able to help in those areas, please contact Angela Sudermann (angela.sudermann@abc-usa.org). Your prayers and financial support are also still very much needed. If you are interested in donating funds to this project, please share your gifts to the One Great Hour of Sharing Offering through an American Baptist Church (with "Haiti relief" on the memo line) or give online (click here). Another way to donate is through the mission hospital in La Romana (click here) Please continue to support this work that will build bridges between the DR and Haiti as well as uplift those who are so desperate to know you care!

Many blessings,
Kristy

Associated Baptist Press Article

As most of you are aware, Kristy again returned to Haiti this week with another medical team, including many from the U.S., including the UMass. Although the fan belt broke for the bus they were riding in - at 3 a.m.! -and put them behind schedule for about 3 hours, they were still allowed to cross into Haiti without any problems. Prayers for their ministry, health and safety are appreciated.

Although the dates are incorrect, the Associated Baptist Press provided a nice article on Kristy's ministry. CLICK HERE

Continue to check the International Ministries' website for current information. CLICK HERE

Posted by Rev. Soozi Whitten Ford (Convener, Kristy's Missionary Partnership Team)

Wednesday Morning Update

Two medical staff, Denny Morachel and Jean Claude Succes, returned to La Romana late last night with a few patients from Haiti. Denny reports that all is well and that the team saw about 500 patients yesterday afternoon prior to his departure, and that they expected to see approximately 200-300 more. Denny is pictured here with one of the patients.

Cell phone service remains nonexistent and the team reports that they are fine following the aftershocks this morning. Your continuing prayers for the team are appreciated.
posted by Soozi Whitten Ford on behalf of Kristy and her MPT.

Tuesday's Update

Kristy and team departed from Good Samaritan Hospital in La Romana just before midnight on Monday. Traveling on two large commercial buses, there are approximately 80 persons on this team as Kristy has described in her previous post (below). Ten trucks with food, medicine, and medical supplies departed earlier in the evening, anticipating longer travel time over difficult and hilly roads. Volunteer personnel in La Romana were notified that the team arrived safely in Haiti before 8 a.m. this morning.

Your prayers for endurance, safety, and wise decisions will be very much appreciated as this team ministers in Jesus' name over the next few days. Also, pray for the volunteer medical personnel journeying from the U.S. who will be arriving in La Romana this weekend in preparation for the second team, departing next Tuesday.

(posted by Rev. Soozi Whitten Ford, on behalf of Kristy's Missionary Partnership Team)

date correction

I have a date correction....the third trip to Haiti will be on Feb. 2nd not the 3rd. Thanks!

Update #3

Here's the most recent news...
I am heading to Port-au-Prince with a group of 75 individuals (about 30 medical personnel) and we will be running 3 different clinics in approximately the same area. We will be setting a limit of consultations each day and my job will be to manage and help run the three clinics. I will not be doing consults as I'll be needed for questions and administrative duties that running the clinics entail. We will have one American volunteer with us, Dr. Bob Chagrasulis, who has a long history of working with us in La Romana and much experience in trauma surgery. As far as we know, this trip will not include surgery but there are many things a trauma surgeon can do to help, especially when he speaks French and some Spanish!
We will be bringing around 6 trucks with food and medicine to be donated and used in the clinic. The food distribution will happen in a separate location and involve many of the individuals that are not medically related. The 75 of us will travel in buses to the border and then cross together with a security detail. We will be met on the other side (in Haiti) with another security detail to help with the escort into Port-au-Prince. Pastor Coulange, the Haitian pastor we will be working with, is coming to La Romana tomorrow to cross the border into Haiti with the group of volunteers. We are planning a second medical trip on January 26th which I will also lead and another on February 3rd. The trips on the 26th and the 3rd will contain many American physicians, NP's, nurses and EMT's. At this time we are not taking non-medical volunteers. The trip on the 26th is already full and headed up by physicians associated with UMass. We will also bring other Dominican staff at that time.
MANY have asked how they can help. The best answer I can give you right now is two-fold. First, we need your prayers. Prayers for safety and strength as this will be a very difficult voyage for all of us on both an emotional and physical level. Second, we need your finances. For us to purchase the medicine and cover our transportation across the border and back (it's a 7 hour trip or longer, depending on the roads) we really need the finances to make this easy. There are a couple of ways that your money can directly come to the work that we are doing. First, online donations can be made on www.laromana.org and this will directly go to an account that the hospital can access. The other way is through International Ministries, the mission I work with, also through online donations at: www.internationalministries.org. I know that financially things are very difficult for many of you but I ask that you be generous. Each of you know me and my reputation as well as the reputation of the mission in which I work. Please believe that we are trying to do the best for those who are most needy and we want to provide all of the needed services we can but this does cost money. Clothing donations are not currently being taken but if you are traveling with a medical team that can bring extra medications to our site, that would be wonderful. If you are not part of a mission team but would like to join one, International Ministries would be glad to help connect you with a team that is coming. You can find information about volunteering at their site above.
Again, thank you for your prayers and for your concern. I believe there are many things that have happened to make sure that I was right here at exactly this time to be able to serve in the ways that God has gifted me. Your continued support helps to keep me here and make this work possible. Many blessings and I will update you when I return from Haiti on Saturday.
Remember, Do what you can, with what you've got, in the moment you're given. That's all that we're called to do.

Haiti update from La Romana #1

Here is the first update on La Romana, Dominican Republic and our efforts to help with the earthquake disaster in Haiti.
For more information: www.internationalministries.org

Kristy Engel, MSN, CPNP