Struggling to meet demand

The ship was supposed to come in the day after the earthquake hit. Because the port was destroyed in the quake, the half-million dollars' worth of medical supplies the ship would have delivered to Port-au-Prince, needed now more than ever, were rerouted to the Bahamas.

Then again, the hospital to which those supplies were to be delivered was also destroyed.

The supplies were coming from the Centennial-based Project CURE, the Commission on Urgent Relief & Equipment, which is primarily known for soliciting donations of medical equipment and delivering them to needy countries.

Since the earthquake that devastated Port-au-Prince, the most populous city of the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere, the organization has shifted its priorities somewhat in Haiti. "We're not sending equipment right now," said Lana Jefferson Taussig, communications director for Project CURE.

The organization is, however, sending supplies. According to a Project CURE press release, the organization has had some 4,200 boxes of medical supplies delivered to Haiti, with a value of over $1 million. The organization is partnering with other relief organizations to get the supplies into the country.

Project CURE is not generally a disaster relief organization—nor does it work only in Haiti, though it's been in Haiti since 1996.

Project CURE's normal modus operandi is to keep regular shipments of medical equipment and supplies going to developing nations all over the world. In general, the organization ships out two loads a week to various destinations. Compare that to an average of three loads a week since the earthquake to Haiti alone, and it's easy to see that Project CURE has been busy. Added to that, the organization still needs to meet its commitments in other nations.

"We're just trying to keep up," said Taussig.
 

Paul Casey has never been busier. "In the last three weeks, I have been putting more hours in than I ever have in my life," said Casey, director of the Colorado Haiti Project, an organization that's been working in Haiti since 1989. "And I've worked 80-hour weeks before. It's just been non-stop, around-the-clock work."

Since the earthquake, the CHP has been overrun with requests for information, requests to assist, requests to volunteer.

"We've been spending a couple of hours a day just taking down voicemails," said Casey. A relatively small organization, the CHP comprises Casey and one part-time administrative assistant in Colorado, along with 53 staff members in Haiti.

The organization emphasizes a philosophy of long-term development. Running an elementary school, for example, is one of the central tenets of what the CHP does in Petit Trou de Nippes, a region some 80 miles from Port-au-Prince, the primary region in which the organization operates.

"We're not primarily a disaster relief organization," said Casey. Because of that, the influx of work following the disaster has been a lot to handle.

Nevertheless, the CHP is no stranger to relief efforts: When four hurricanes ravaged Haiti in one season two years ago, the Colorado Haiti Project was there.

"It was horrendous to see," said Casey.

Now, with people leaving the demolished Port-au-Prince in droves, Casey said the organization's base in Petit Trou de Nippes will be much more pressed upon to deliver the services it provides.

The CHP, Casey said, intends to keep doing essentially what it's been doing in Haiti all along: agrarian development, drilling wells for clean water, and perhaps most importantly, education and vocational training—except more of it. Casey said these efforts will give people the skills they need to "go to work rebuilding their country."

In the short term, the CHP is trying to help meet the immediate need in the country—getting together a team of medical personnel, for example. "We've already assisted in getting a team to Port-au-Prince," said Casey.

The CHP has partnered with Project CURE to that end: "We got medical supplies from them for our first trip down," said Casey. Though the primary goal of the organization goes beyond relief, the CHP is trying to provide it where it can.

Project CURE, as well, has made some adjustments to the way it operates in order to meet current needs.

In the wake of the earthquake, Project CURE has set up a system where individual donors can bring medical supplies directly to Project CURE drop-off centers. Basically, said Taussig, people can buy things like gauze, bandages, disinfectant, and whatever other medical supplies and bring them in. Then volunteers go through, inventory the supplies, and pack them to be pulled when there's a request.

Taussig noted that much of the huge increase in donations has been intended for Haiti, and that the organization has to sort accordingly. "Everything that people have donated to us to be sent to Haiti is getting sorted to go to Haiti," she said.

As for Project CURE's ship full of medical equipment, it's still in the Bahamas. After opening the port one day last week, authorities decided it was still too damaged and closed it again. All shipments into the country are on hold until the port can open.

Until then, said Taussig, "We're doing everything we can."


To donate or assist the Colorado Haiti Project, go to www.coloradohaitiproject.org.
To donate or assist Project CURE, go to www.projectcure.org.