Hi,
As you all know I’m having some RR with the team in the Dominican, Since arriving all I’ve done is wash all my kit, and had to soak it in the bath, and I mean it was filthy, a weeks worth of grime, dirt and dust from sleeping at the end of a runway with a thousand other people.
The response in Haiti has been the largest ever humanitarian search and rescue operation ever undertaken. Teams from across the globe chartered planes to fly in there equipment, Sthil saws, jigger picks and the like. Each team had to be total self sufficient that’s not easy in a country where clean water was not available, no sanitation or toilets each team had to bring enough supplies to live in a field for over a week without help from anyone.
The problems we experienced in the field included bird eating spiders (these were big), the giant stinger centipedes (these were massive) and mosquitoes that were infected with not just malaria but with the strain that makes you poorly and eventually kills you.
Sanitation was a big thing and having a scooby doo even bigger; most teams dug a 6 foot deep hole and surrounded it with crates to enable the person using this 5 star facility to have a little privacy. By day 9 you can image how bad these places had become in the 40C heat. Water was a valuable commodity, however most teams including ourselves carried water filters in case the stagnant water had to be utilised. Fortunately we had brought enough water with us, although rationed we had enough to survive.
Washing was undertaken using baby wipes whilst standing in the field. Food was cooked on Tafs cherished JET BOIL. I carried enough gas to cook over 50 meals whilst in country. Don’t forget that all food was brought with us. There was no local food available. Whatever emergency/field rations were available we ate, chicken dopiaza is not so bad for breakfast when there is nothing else.
To illustrate how filthy I felt, I will use the following analogy. If you remember Charlie Brown, I was the child that was always followed by the flies. On the subject of flies, I’ve been bit that much you could use my legs as a dot to dot book. (Not that you would because that would be silly)
I have met some exceptional people within the short time I spent in Haiti. Not withstanding my own team of terrific selfless professional individuals, I will never forget them. I will never forget the Mexicans, Costa Ricans, German and Canadians who time after time forced themselves into tiny spaces These teams endured and experienced the unthinkable, I witnessed them crawling through decomposing torso's of young children in order to reach and recover a survivor, who had been trapped for days without food, water or hope.
I am still exhausted, I can’t tell you why, but I am tired in a way that I’ve never been before. I was moved by the passion and drive of each of the SAR teams, regardless of their nationality or faith they were relentless in their drive to recue victims, reduce pain and preserve life. Always asking each other how their day had been. Often a look said you had given your all. No one was afraid of giving each other a hug, you especially when a 6ft 7inch German sees you've had a hard day a grabs you, pats you on the back and says ' i know you're doing a great job'. We've all shared the same experience and stared in wonderment at the shear power and devastation that can be caused by such an event.
More thoughts to come I am sure.
Take care.
Che Bruce Haiti 2010
We make a living by what we get, we make a life by what we give.
Sir Winston Churchill British politician (1874 - 1965)
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