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Charles King and Dr. Vaty Arrive in HaitiBy Charles King January 17, 2010 In the wake of the earthquake that hit Haiti this week, Housing Works President and CEO Charles King, and Housing Works Medical Director Vaty Poitevien, a Haitian native, left New York today to go to Haiti and assist PHAP+, a Haitian coalition of PWA-led organizations, to provide desperately needed medical services and supplies to Haitians living with HIVAIDS. King will be blogging as much as possible during the trip. He reports to us from Port au Prince: On our way out of Santo Domingo, we were joined by Maraceli Guzman, our truck driver, Ambiorix DeJesus's wife. His truck is a 9-year old Daihatsu, well used and with bald tires. Loaded with all the supplies, it wasn't so nimble as we might have hoped. Finally, at 1:30 in the morning, we pulled over in Barahona, still 100 kilometers from the frontier. We found two inexpensive hotel rooms to sleep the six of us for three all-too short hours. Five o'clock yesterday morning, we were back on the road, filling up gas tanks, getting more drinking water and three tins of sardines for breakfast. At 8:30, we finally arrived at the frontier. Jockeying, waving papers, and alternatingly pleading and yelling, while constantly moving our convoy forward, we managed to make it out of the Dominican Republic in less than 15 minutes, without even showing our passports. The Haitian border was all but abandoned. No one even waved us through, so we just kept on driving. With most regular passenger and commercial traffic suspended, the road was almost empty of the usual bustling traffic. In fact, the countryside was surreally beautiful and serene. We stopped to resolve to a new debate about whether we should go to San Marc as we had been asked two days ago or look for a safe staging area for PHAP+ in the capital. The argument was settled when we got an e-mail from Nadine Juste-Beckles, executive director at Housing Works' East New York clinic, that Diaspora's clinic in Port au Prince was still standing, and Diaspora's Carine Jocelyn had offered to building for our use. We all agreed that if there was the possibility of a clinic for PWAs in Port au Prince, we had to give it a shot. Amazingly, by 10 am, we were in the heart of Port au Prince. Nothing can prepare you for the scenes of devastation or the odors -- buildings pancaked, bodies being picked up and solemnly laid on top of each other in the back of a garbage truck, official rescue workers with equipment and machinery, while next door people dig with their bare hands. The worst sites are the collapsed schools and hospitals, from which almost no one escaped, and the stench of death is pervasive. Thousands of people are camped on top of rubble or in any open space, even in the streets. Relief and gas lines are long and everywhere. Meanwhile, some Saturday markets are bustling.and folk are cooking and washing laundry on sidewalks. After several false turns blocked by rubble and weak bridges, we finally found our way to the HIV Country Coordinating Mechanism Offices (CCM-Haiti). The building is unsafe, but several community leaders, including Edner Boucicaut, are living in the yard. It was Edner's e-mails pleading for our help that persuaded us that we had to make this trip. After lots of tearful hugs, we quickly split up tasks. Vaty, Patrick, Edgar and Jobanny took the SUV to go to Vaty's parents' home. Edner, Gabriel Pau-lmoise of Konesans Fanmi, and I went in search of the Diaspora Clinic. And Maraceli and Ambiorix were urged to get naps in anticipation of their long journey back to DR tonight. Unfortunately, the Diaspora Clinic was structurally unsound, standing, but ready to fall at the next trembler. Fortunately, we were able to assure that the caretakers are safe, living in the backyard. The clinic had a lot of medication and nutritional supplements, especially for children, and other medical equipment. So we gathered it all to sort and add to our donation. The courtyard was full of people laying on sheets, side by side, many so frail and lethargic that we had to step over them as we carried improvised containers out to the jeep. Fortunately, the public health association, learning of our efforts, offered us another location that seems reasonably secure. So we have now unloaded the truck, helped by an enthusiastic team of volunteers. We were just finishing unpacking the truck, about 3:30 yesterday afternoon, when Patrick, Vaty's husband, called. They found her mother's and father's bodies in the house. They are burying them in the back yard. They will join us with inventory when they are finished. Read all of King's posts at housingworks.org/activism Please consider donating to Housing Works' relief efforts in Haiti. Every dollar makes a difference!
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Charles King Blogs From Haiti  Charles King Charles King is the president and CEO of Housing Works which has been providing services since 1990 to homeless men, women, and children living with HIV and AIDS in New York City and beyond. King is one of a handful of people living with HIV at the head of a major AIDS organization. He cofounded Housing Works with his life partner Keith Cylar. When Cylar passed away in 2004, King took the reins. Born and raised in a small town in Texas, King attended Yale University's law school and divinity school and was ordained as a Baptist minister by an African-American church in New Haven, Connecticut. He conducts a weekly Bible study course at Housing Works' Keith D. Cylar House, where he lives in a small, book-lined studio. King also leads Housing Works' advocacy department and has been arrested dozens of times. Subscribe to Charles's Blog:
Recent Posts: March 2, 2010 - The UN Responds to Calls for Haiti AIDS Strategy, but Activists Are Skeptical March 1, 2010 - UN and UNAIDS Must Address Needs of Haitians With HIV/AIDS February 22, 2010 - A Slow Recovery in Haiti February 16, 2010 - Haiti Progress: St. Marc Clinic Opens, ARVs for Patients Secured February 14, 2010 - On Haiti Day of Prayer, Activists Discuss Long-Term Goals for HIV Clinics A Brief Disclaimer: The opinions expressed by TheBody.com's bloggers are entirely their own, and do not necessarily reflect the views of TheBody.com itself. |
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