HAITI - LEST WE FORGET

From NOLA.com:

Dr. Yvens Laborde saw Louisianians suffering after Hurricane Katrina, and he has seen first-hand the devastation a massive earthquake brought to his native Haiti on Jan. 12.

As difficult as it may be for some New Orleanians and their neighbors to conceive, the medical director at Ochsner Medical Ochsner-West Bank said, the post-storm landscape of the U.S. Gulf Coast pales in comparison with the total devastation in the Haitian capital city of Port-au-Prince and the surrounding region.

But Laborde said he recognizes a common element in the aftermath of both disasters. “A hope that springs eternal,” he calls it.

“I’ve seen the degree of pain and suffering that crosses all boundaries: age, class, pretty much from one spectrum to the other,” Laborde said of Haiti. “Everybody has suffered, everybody has lost a family member, and everyone at this time is in a significant state of mourning and suffering. But I have seen the strength of our spirit, a resilience of our people."

Laborde, whose first post-quake medical mission spanned three weeks, said of his fellow Louisianians: “What I would like for them to do is identify themselves with that journey,” then build on that bond “to partner with Haitians” in recovery.
....

Dr. Charles Rene, a Haitian-born obstetrician-gynecologist, was already on the ground. Rene worked at the undamaged Hospital St. Joseph in La Vellee, a village near Jacmel, where he has for years served as medical director, returning several times a year to provide patient care and supervision. Anthony Allen, a physician’s assistant who specializes in emergency medicine and traveled with the group, said the damage and its effects “were on a much greater scale” than anything he’d seen previously.
....

The communicable diseases are an even greater threat, Laborde said, as the rainy season approaches with so many Haitians having inadequate shelter. “We have to have a way to keep people dry during the rainy season,” he said. Shelters are also an absolute necessity to keep people away from areas vulnerable to mudslides once the rainy season starts. In the meantime, Laborde said, Haitians are sleeping outside, scared of aftershocks collapsing already damaged structures, but still vulnerable to the almost certain mudslides turning the wrecked landscape to an avalanche of rubble and debris.

The scale of the catastrophe in Haiti is far greater in numbers of dead and injured and destruction of infrastructure than the the disasters of Katrina and the federal flood, but I pray that folks in and around New Orleans and in the rest of the country remember and respond appropriately to the dreadful conditions of the people of Haiti who still need our help and will for a long time in the future. I fear that the devastation and the plight of the people in Haiti are fading far too quickly into the mists of memory, despite the fact that the people in the country remain in a desperate situation.

For the Poor and the Neglected

Almighty and most merciful God, we remember before you all poor and neglected persons in Haiti whom it would be easy for us to forget: the homeless and the destitute, the old and the sick, and all who have none to care for them. Help us to heal those who are broken in body or spirit, and to turn their sorrow into joy. Grant this, Father, for the love of your Son, who for our sake became poor, Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

For the Oppressed

Look with pity, O heavenly Father, upon the people in Haiti who live with injustice, terror, disease, and death as their constant companions. Have mercy upon us. Help us to eliminate our cruelty to these our neighbors. Strengthen those who spend their lives establishing equal protection of the law and equal opportunities for all. And grant that every one of us may enjoy a fair portion of the riches of this earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

(From The Book of Common Prayer, p. 826, with slight editing)

Here's the link to a video of Dr. Yvens LaBorde talking of his experiences in Haiti.

UPDATE: My charity of choice for aid in Haiti is Episcopal Relief and Development.