Source & Credit: Cape Breton Post | January 30, 2010
BY SHARON MONTGOMERY-DUPE
http://www.capebretonpost.com/index.cfm?sid=322792&sc=145
PORT MORIEN — A Cape Breton doctor is heading for Haiti but he’s not going empty-handed.
Dr. Momin Khalifa leaves for Toronto, Monday and will arrive in Port-au-Prince, Feb. 6. He will work with Humanity First.
“I will be carrying quite a bit of medicine and other things, antibiotics and other drugs.”
Khalifa said Cape Breton doctors donated drugs and the Cape Breton District Health Authority donated medical supplies such as masks, gloves and gowns.
“There is a lot of problems like malaria, people dying with infections and so on. The whole thing is we will go prepared with gloves, masks, caps — all those things.”
He said they will be taking generators and keeping a two to three-day supply of diesel and oil on hand.
“I can’t find any of the old time thermometers. You can’t find them in the hospitals, not one. Nowadays everything like that is electronic, you either need batteries or electricity.”
Haiti was hit by an earthquake measuring 7.0 on the Richter scale Jan. 12. It left thousands of people dead and close to a million homeless.
Humanity First is a Canadian-based non-profit charitable relief organization which focuses on assisting the less fortunate around the globe and improving quality of life in under-privileged countries.
Volunteers pay their own way, expenses are not covered by the organization.
“The trip, meals everything, is paid by the volunteer. There are no administration fees, money raised goes to help those in need.”
Khalifa knows what he will be facing, having assisted at the earthquake relief efforts in Kashmir, Pakistan, in 2005.
“You cannot imagine unless you see, the amount of large scale damage done. The number of dead bodies lying down there that we are going to see.
“There is no place to put the dead right now.”
Khalifa has been in contact with Dr. Bibiana MacLeod, one of the co-ordinators of Medical Ambassadors of Canada, who recently returned from Haiti,“I talked to her (Thursday) and got some connections from her.”
MacLeod is returning to Haiti today.
Khalifa said other Cape Breton doctors will be going to Haiti in the near future as members of Humanity First including Dr. Robert McNeil and Dr. Hammad Asim.
Humanity First’s website address is www.humanityfirst.ca.
Read here: Cape Breton doctor heading to Haiti with drugs, medical supplies in hand print
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