“Even hours of training and drills do not prepare any person for the sheer scale of destruction we are witnessing and our helplessness when facing the local population’s expectations,” the head of Magen David Adom’s team in earthquake-shattered Haiti wrote in a message back home on Wednesday, moments before another quake shook the country.
Jewish community mobilizes giving to Haiti | JTA
Jewish community mobilizes giving to Haiti | JTA
DCS chaplain deploys to Haiti
NEW YORK, 19 January, 2010 — Disaster Chaplaincy Services’ (DCS) chaplain, Rev. Noster Montas is being deployed with a group from the New York area on a 30-day mission aboard the USNS Comfort off the coast of Haiti. Montas is part of a 47 person contingent deployed by the American Red Cross in Greater New York and the Miami Red Cross chapter to be translators on the medical ship. In addition to the DCS chaplain, included in the team are volunteers from the American Red Cross, 1199 SEIU United Healthcare Workers, and the Haitian Americans United for Progress, all of whom are fluent in Kreyol and English.
Montas and the rest of the Greater New York Red Cross volunteers leave tomorrow to meet the USNS Comfort already en route to Haiti. While Montas is out of the country, DCS will be staying in touch with his wife and two children to offer them support through this time.
Montas is a great example of what it means to be a Disaster Chaplaincy Services volunteer. On one hour notice he cleared his schedule for the next month and made himself available for this difficult deployment. His understanding that service is a sacrifice inspires all of us to use the gifts we have been given to help others in their time of need.
Thank you to Vince Porcelli who is our On-call Lead this month and has spent countless hours on the phone and email scheduling and organizing DCS’ local response. And a special thank you to all the DCS chaplains who have deployed to the various sites around the city to listen, companion, and support all those in the Haitian community affected by this heartbreaking earthquake. DCS chaplains continue to be on alert and on call.
Our thoughts and prayers go with everyone on the USNS Comfort and to all the people of Haiti.
“L’union fait la force”–“In unity there is strength”
Peace and blessings,
Rev. Julie Taylor
Executive Director
Donate now to support the ongoing work of Disaster Chaplaincy Services.
Please visit our website for updated information www.disasterchaplaincy.org.
Peres thanks Israel’s rescue team in Haiti
Ynet
Published: 01.19.10, 18:15 / Israel News
President places phone call to members of Israeli aid delegation at field hospital they set up in Port-au-Prince to express his appreciation. ‘You are people’s defense force,’ he says. Yediot Ahronot report.
CNN’s Elizabeth Cohen visits a Haiti hospital where patients are desperate for better medical care.
National Child Stress Network Resources: Earthquakes
Paula G. Panzer, MD, Director of the Martha K. Selig Educational Institute & Center for Trauma Program Innovation at the Jewish Board of Family & Children’s Services, recommends materials from the National Child Traumatic Stress Network.
They were written by experts, for this crisis, with a culturally appropriate lens and review team (the Creole translation is in the works. Check out their information and materials.
IDF Home Front chief heads to Haiti with reinforcements
OC Home Front Command Maj.-Gen. Yair Golan left Monday night to head a second IDF delegation to assist the ongoing relief efforts in Haiti, and will deliver staff reinforcements and additional medicine and equipment to the field hospital in Port-au-Prince. Jerusalem Post report.
Israeli medical unit in Haiti: Where will orphans go?
Lone baby and young girl with broken leg among many injured being treated at IDF hospital. Staff: So many orphans arrive here but where will they go afterwards? Adults also find themselves homeless. Yedioth Ahronoth reports from Port-au-Prince.
Praise for Israeli mission in Haiti: ‘Only ones operating’
Israeli field hospital earns accolades as only aid mission able to do complex surgery in devastated country. CNN reports other missions transfer patients to Israeli base. ABC reports on young woman giving birth there. Yediot Ahronot reports.
Israeli rescuers to stay in Haiti for another month – Haaretz – Israel News
The Israeli rescue crew dispatched to Haiti will remain on the earthquake-stricken Caribbean island for at least another month to oversee a field hospital it set up after the disaster struck there last week, the Israel Defense Forces announced on Tuesday. More from Haaretz