News

Update Maribel Delgado January 19

FROM Maribel Delgado, ICM’s Dominican Republic Project Coordinator for Church Construction and Mini Bible College Distribution

According to Maribel, many Haitian refugees are looking to the Dominican Republic for relief and safe haven as they grapple with their daily needs following the massive earthquake of January 12.  On Tuesday, January 19, Mirabel was able to provide an initial report from the field. She described the scene and conditions in the Dominican Republic which the ICM staff and volunteers face. “The impact of the devastation in Port-au-Prince is mainly being felt right now by the Dominican Republic churches along the southern area and along the Haitian border.

“The hospitals are all full, so we are working to open the churches and set up [a medical care facility] ….they are bringing many, many injured people over the border to receive care. The need is enormous.  The churches are all opening their doors to provide shelter for the refugees.

“This is a very rural area so there is no power or energy. People are desperate.  Bodies are decaying. Please pray for protection of health and safety from harm of those who are offering aid.” Maribel said that the second quake that hit Haiti on Wednesday created more damage, and was felt in the Dominican Republic.

Tuesday and Wednesday Maribel spent time traveling into border areas with Haiti to assess the best location for the medical relief effort. Wednesday afternoon she headed to Jimani, the capital and the second largest city of the Independencia Province of the Dominican Republic, to survey the city and its suitability for the mission. Jimani is located approximately 40 miles due east of Port-au-Prince and is one of the two main thoroughfares to Haiti.

According to Maribel, approximately 18 doctors from Richmond, Va. have volunteered to work with ICM in the medical relief effort.  The team is composed of mostly pediatricians. A pulmonary doctor and a facial/plastics doctor are also expected to be traveling with them.

Maribel also said that the team will fly into the capitol city of Santa Domingo, Dominican Republic, January 29. She will be arranging for transportation, food, water, etc., and said that people are having great difficulty getting into Haiti because roads are so bad.

The majority of the medical needs she is seeing so far are broken legs and arms….mostly adults who have traveled all the way into the DR. Regarding non-medical needs, she said the pastors of partner churches in the Dominican Republic are all offering shelter in the ICM churches for the refugees.

The medical initiative presents a number of challenges. As of the time of her first report, there was no gas on the Dominican Republic side of the border and supplies were also scarce, because these items are all being directed to Haiti….Maribel said that the team will have to buy all their gas and supplies farther from the border—toward the central part of the country and transport it to the medical mission.