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