What we do to help the suffering Haitian people we do to Christ

My first cousin, Kit Lozes, married Edmund C. Landry, an orthopaedic doctor from Houma. They are presently living in Knoxville, Tenn. Dr. Landry practices at Kennett Orthopaedic Center in Kennett, Mo.

Dr. Landry and his son-in-law’s father, Clint Doiron, were part of a volunteer group based in Huntsville called HERO (Haiti Emergency Relief Organization). They flew down to the Dominican Republic after the earthquake to care for the suffering Haitian population. The group consisted of doctors, medical personnel and other volunteers who carried badly needed food and medical supplies with them.

After the earthquake, the Dominican Republic opened its borders to the refugees from Haiti. The HERO group set up operations in Jimani near the Haitian border. This is home to Clint Doiron’s hospital/medical clinic/orphanage, known as the Jimani Project.

Dr. Landry has returned home but while he was working in the Dominican Republic, he sent e-mail messages to his family and friends. I would like to share some of his personal insight into the magnitude of this tragedy.

“Jan. 20, 2010. We are in controlled chaos, but Clint describes Port-au-Prince as the worst possible of everything. The wounded can’t make it out on their own, and roads in the city other than the main road are mostly impassable.

“About 400 people are on the grounds of the hospital and orphanage. Of the 400 about 150 need surgery. The docs put external fixators on about 80 people and performed ‘a zillion’ amputations.

“The Sisters of Mercy came in with a van of multiple injuries. These Nuns are teachers and didn’t know what to do for medical services. The injuries are 90-percent-plus lower extremities, most with open wounds. We have antibiotics and are giving them freely.

“It is heart breaking to see the suffering of these Haitians. We feel about cried out, and then another situation comes up and one can find four gray-haired orthopaedic surgeons with tears we can’t control. The Haitians sing together in the night, unbelievable. They want to comfort their hurt. I operated on a 14 weeks pregnant, 20ish woman today and through the haze of medication she was trying to sing. Dr. Mike Cobb and I both were red eyed with that. He believes she was singing a religious song of praise to God.

“We had a man come in with 40 percent body burns. He is about 30 and was in his car when the quake hit, a building fell onto his car, and it exploded. I have no idea how he has survived, or how he got here. Dr. Mike Cobb and three general surgeons worked on him for two hours.

“We left the Jimani Project Saturday, Jan. 23. I am left with some striking images from this experience. On Jan. 20, I found two huge boxes of new sheets lying on the grass outside the hospital, a gift from only God knows whom. I carried as many as I could hold, and grabbed a young volunteer to do the same. We then gave all the patients in recovery, which had been on bare mattresses – only (some blood stained) – clean, new white sheets. I wish I could describe the look on the faces of patients and family members. I felt like Santa Claus!”

Commentators often describe the aftermath of Haitian Earthquake as the world’s worst natural disaster. They estimate that the earthquake killed more than 150,000 people and millions are suffering from injuries and lack of the basic necessities.

Maybe we cannot go to Haiti to help out but we can give our financial assistance. Remember what Jesus said, “Whatever you did to the least of my brothers and sisters, you did for me.” I invite you to join me in giving a generous donation to these poor suffering people.