healing changes everything
I’m posting a couple of news items for you. These were done before the team went into the country.
ABC News interviewed Dr. Scott Nelson. You can watch it here. He appears at minute 3:35.
CURE DR executive director Steve Bostian was interviewed by Mission Network News. Go here to hear the interview.
Remember you can donate to help the medical relief efforts by going here.
The CURE Haiti Relief Team has safely landed in Port-au-Prince. More details to follow Friday morning Eastern U.S. time.
Good news! We just received word that the CURE Haiti Relief Team has departed from Santo Domingo and is onroute to Port-au-Prince!
Good morning.
Here is the latest information on CURE International’s relief efforts.
A team of five CURE personnel is scheduled to fly to Port-au-Prince from the Dominican Republic.
They are:
Dr. Scott Nelson, orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Dielika Charlier, a pediatrician and Haitian, Lucia
Hernandez, a nurse, Susan Beemer, a nurse, and Steve Bostian, CURE’s executive
director in the Dominican Republic.
Once they land in the country, they’ll establish a base at the home of Dr. Charlier’s mother and
coordinate with organizations on the ground to provide medical care to Haitians. The situation is
very dire, so their expertise is desperately needed.
The plane will also be carrying 500 pounds of medical equipment.
The AES Electric Company has generously donated a large generator as well as a truckload of
food, water and medical supplies in support of the CURE relief efforts. Arrangements are currently being
made to get this equipment into the country.
We hope to get in touch with the team once they are in the country and provide updates as they
come in.
Here’s how you can help:
For those of you interested in helping earthquake victims, CURE has established a relief fund.
You can donate in one of two ways: Go here and give an online donation.
You can also give through your cell phone.
Simply text CURE to 85944 to give a $10 mobile gift right now.
Please also pray for the Haiti team that have they have a safe flight, for the logistics
involved for getting into the country and that they are able to get started as quickly as possible.
Please continue to pray for the people of Haiti as they try to cope with this terrible tragedy.
More info as it comes in.
We now have a page where you can make a donation to help the people of Haiti.
Go here to find out more.
Yesterday, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit Haiti near the capital city of Port-Au-Prince.
CURE operates a hospital in the neighboring country of the Dominican Republic in the city of Santo Domingo, and we have a CURE Clubfoot Worldwide program in Haiti.
We have received an update from Steve Bostian, our executive director at the CURE hospital. Here are some of the main points:
In the D.R., although the quake was felt in Santo Domingo, there were no injuries reported at our hospital. The city subway was closed as were schools as a precautionary measure, but the tsunami warning that had been issued has been lifted.
CURE has sent two orthopedists to the border to aid with the injured. They are currently waiting for assignments. The hospital team is also working with other agencies to provide medical assistance in the country. Click here to support our emergency response efforts to help the people of Haiti
There is no damage to the city of Cap Haitien where CURE regularly sends mobile teams. We are waiting to hear news from members of our CURE Clubfoot Worldwide staff in Haiti.
Please pray for the people of Haiti.
We will update this info as it becomes available.
Good Monday from Pennsylvania. We were hit with a major (for us) snowstorm over the weekend, so it looks like we will have a White Christmas this year!
We have some news from a much warmer location. Dr. Scott Nelson from our hospital in the Dominican Republic just updated his blog about his team’s most recent trip to Haiti.
You can read it here.
More news to follow this week.
Good Wednesday morning…
A few quick updates for you.
Dr. Scott Nelson has updated his blog on his most recent trip to Haiti. As always, it is fascinating reading.
CURE has teamed up with a great organization called Wonder Kids to help support children at our hospitals. Wonder Kids offers fun and inspiring Christian books and music for kids of all ages. Now, whenever you make a purchase at mywonderkids.com, a portion of the proceeds goes to help heal a child at one of our hospitals.
And finally,
CURE International has become a Covenant Member for Standards of Excellence in Short-Term Missions (SOE). This is a tremendous honor for our global outreach team and a true reflection on the efforts they all put into planning and executing our short-term trips. In fact, CURE offers many opportunities to volunteer at one of our hospitals. So, if you are interested, find out more here.
Gerry Luongo, CURE’s director of government relations, recently returned from a trip from Haiti. She toured the country with Cross, a nonprofit organization that shares CURE ‘s dedication for reaching the developing world’s children.
CURE has a hospital in the neighboring country of the Dominican Republic. About four times a year, the hospital sends a team led by the hospital’s medical director, Dr. Scott Nelson, to the city of Cap Haitien (on Haiti’s northern coast) to perform much-needed orthopedic surgeries and other procedures on the country’s physically disabled children. A team from CURE was in Cap Haitien at the time of Gerry’s visit.
Gerry shares some of her experiences:
Our schedule was busy. We drove from Port-au-Prince up to Cap Haitien, visiting several Cross programs along the way and ultimately connecting up with CURE and our outreach clinic in Cap. As we traveled, I experienced the people of this lovely country, their often difficult lives and their beautiful smiles.
The outreach clinic started bright and early in the morning as the CURE team started treating patients. People had begun lining up at dawn for a chance to meet with the team.
Dr. Scott Nelson holds a patient who was cured of clubfoot at the Cap Haitien clinic.
Some were there for a follow up appointment for a surgery they had received during Dr. Nelson’s last visit, and some were there in hope of surgery and healing. The patients had clubfoot, tuberculosis in the spine, osteomyelitis and other conditions I am not familiar with. For two days, Dr. Nelson and his team met with and treated as many patients as time would allow.
While watching the docs work, I saw a girl named Alison among the 50 or so patients sitting outside the small clinic area. Alison is a little girl with severe burn contractures.
She was hunched over, and her right arm was fused to her side due to an accident with an oil lamp. Dr. Nelson had seen her during his last visit and had arranged to have a plastic surgeon come to Cap Haitien to begin a series of surgeries needed to free Alison from her own body.
She was just one of the many patients I encountered on my trip. Sometimes, it was a little overwhelming. This is until I looked at the faces of these children with their crooked feet, broken limbs and painful spines and was hit with the realization that God loves each of them. And that CURE is there…bringing them hope. It was both humbling and amazing. I will keep these faces in my thoughts and prayers.
To learn more about Dr. Nelson’s work in Haiti and in the DR, check out his blog.
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