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Local efforts in Haiti to be featured on NBC Dateline

Gretchen R. Crowe | Catholic Herald

Haitians wait for medical care outside a volunteer clinic in December in the mountains of Medor, Haiti.

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Remote Medor, Haiti, was thrown uncharacteristically into the
spotlight during a recent medical clinic hosted in part by a
delegation from Arlington’s Our Lady, Queen of Peace Parish’s
Haiti Committee.

For two weeks in December, the small village in Haiti’s
central mountains was taxed for space and food as dozens of
medical workers and builders descended upon the area – some
literally parachuting from an airplane – to provide
assistance to thousands of Haitians.

Lest the volunteers have forgotten their cameras, crews from
NBC Dateline news, led by reporter Ann Curry, were there to
pick up the slack. The network is scheduled to air a one-hour
program on the medical mission Jan. 9 at 7 p.m., barring any
unforeseen changes in programming. The program marks the
one-year anniversary of the devastating earthquake that hit
the country last January.

OLQP has “twinned” with the people of Medor and the local St.
Joseph Parish since 1997, visiting numerous times and
providing financial support for many projects. The number of
delegation visitors – usually only a handful of people from
Our Lady, Queen of Peace – expanded for this trip due to a
new partnership between the parish and the Knoxville-based
nonprofit Remote Area Medical (RAM) Volunteer Corps.

Sue Carlson, chair of the Our Lady, Queen of Peace Haiti
Committee and an ophthalmologist, said the parish became
connected with RAM through word of mouth and mutual
acquaintances. Since last September, RAM’s founder and
president, Stan Brock, has been a force to be reckoned with,
Carlson said. Within three months, he met with the Haiti
Committee, surveyed the land and organized the trip.

“We’ve had a lot of trouble getting affiliation with other
organizations because as soon as they find out where Medor is
located, they say ‘thanks but no thanks,'” she said. For an
organization specializing in remote areas, “Medor fit the
bill perfectly.”

According to Carlson, NBC had been interested in featuring
RAM, and the organization’s December trip made for a prime
opportunity.

During the first week, a medical clinic, eye clinic, dentist
and veterinarian treated hundreds of patients, many of whom
walked for hours to receive care. Carlson and other
volunteers gave talks on Haiti’s newest plague, cholera,
including what the disease is and how to prevent and treat
it. Pediatrician Dr. Heidi Sampang, an Our Lady, Queen of
Peace parishioner, said that with more doctors present they
could care for adults as well as children. Most patients were
treated with Tums, Tylenol and vitamins, Sampang said.

After three days, the volunteers had run out of vitamins,
most over-the-counter medications and glasses. They made
small care packages with whatever leftovers they could find.

“It was overwhelming,” Sampang said. “We felt so bad because
some we had to turn away because there was not enough time
and not enough meds.”

For even a little, the Haitians were grateful. When you gave
them even a small bottle of bleach or oral rehydration
packets, “it was like you were giving them the world,”
Carlson said.

In addition to the medical work, volunteers and hired Haitian
workers constructed a road to Medor – without it, the trip
from Port-au-Prince takes eight hours via van, truck, mule
and legs – and created an airstrip to enable access for
emergency aircraft.

NBC camera crews, meanwhile, were constantly rolling.
Volunteers interacted regularly with Curry – sharing meals
and even hiking up the mountain with her on the first day.

Carlson said she hopes the attention brought to Medor by NBC
will help Our Lady, Queen of Peace’s efforts in the village.
In addition to needing funding for medical care and clean
water programs, the Haiti Committee needs to raise money to
repair and rebuild St. Joseph Church and the primary school
that was damaged after an earthquake aftershock last
February. The bill is in the hundreds of thousands of dollars
– a truly overwhelming number.

“Without grants or outside donations we can’t do all of the
things that we would hope to be able to do,” Carlson said.
And she hopes the combined efforts of Our Lady, Queen of
Peace, RAM and NBC will be “a dream come true for the people
of Medor.”

Find out more

ourladyqueenofpeace.org

Mark your calendars

NBC Dateline special on Haiti

Jan. 9

7 p.m.

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