HUMANITY FIRST: LOCAL DOCTOR RETURNS FROM HUMANITARIAN TRIP TO HAITI

Some Haitians had wounds so deep he could see bone. He would clean the wounds, give the patients antibiotics and ask them to come back the next day.

Ahmadiyya Times | News Staff |
Source & Credit: The Frederick News-Post | January 30, 2010
By Gina Gallucci-White for The Frederick News-Post

While on a humanitarian trip to Haiti, Dr. Rafi Malik saw many heartbreaking situations.

A 20-year-old woman came to a clinic with a fractured back and pelvis. She had laid on a floor for six days before someone brought her to a clinic in Jimani, in the Dominican Republic.

When Malik saw her, she was short of breath, which indicated to him blood clots could be forming. He wanted to put her on a respirator, but the clinic didn't have any. She died that night.

The Ijamsville resident has worked as an emergency room physician at Washington County Hospital in Hagerstown for the past 14 years. He also works at Frederick Memorial Hospital.

He is a member of Humanity First, an international organization that helps regions affected by disasters, and people who live in poor communities.

Contacted shortly after the 7.0-magnitude earthquake on Jan. 12, Malik was asked to go to Haiti to set up a clinic in Port-au-Prince. Eleven volunteers from across the United States and Canada were recruited for the trip. Several, including Malik, were medical professionals.

He was there from Jan. 16 to 23. It was his first international aid trip.

When the group arrived in the Dominican Republic, it was so late that the border into Haiti had closed for the night. They stopped at a hospital in Jimani, about 2 1/2 hours from the border.

"They were tired," he said. "They asked if we could help them."

There were no beds for the patients, so they sat or laid on the floor.

Many people waited outside the facility to be seen, sitting in dirt.

"The conditions were very miserable," Malik said.

The group worked through the night until the morning when the border reopened.

The clinic was set up about 10 minutes from the Presidential Palace in Port-au-Prince. As they started taking out supplies, people began lining up.

"We started working right away," he said. "People knew we were there to help them."

Malik saw and treated a variety of injures as best he could -- bruises, sprains, fractures and dehydration -- with the limited resources he had.

Some Haitians had wounds so deep he could see bone. He would clean the wounds, give the patients antibiotics and ask them to come back the next day.

He saw a 13- and a 14-year-old girl both with femur fractures. They couldn't walk and had lost blood.

"They were in a lot of pain," he said.

While he treated physical injures, Malik saw signs of post-traumatic stress in many patients. Some were afraid to go home. Some could not sleep.

"There was one who was scared to lean against a wall," he said.

Malik stayed throughout the week treating as many patients as he could. The clinic had to close at night because they had no generator for power. The group was sad to leave, but plans to return.

"People were very appreciative," he said. "We were able to get connected to the people there."

Read here: Local doctor returns from humanitarian trip to Haiti


HUMANITY FIRST USA (HFUSA)
To continue ongoing medical camp and relief operations of Humanity First at their compound near the Presidential Palace in Port-au-Prince, four additional doctors including two renowned Neurosurgeons, Dr. Osama El-Mefty and Dr. Kenneth Crawford have departed for Haiti. The Humanity First, USA team will join the team members from Humanity First Canada which includes 6 doctors and from Humanity First UK team of 3 physicians. Currently, Humanity First has also established a logistics center in Santa Domingo and the Dominican Republic. Humanity First command centers are located in Canada, USA and UK with hundreds of volunteers working around the clock to support the relief work in Haiti.

Humanity First USA is also accepting donations for the relief work. You may donate online by going to http://usa.humanityfirst.org.

About Humanity First, USA (http://usa.humanityfirst.org), a 501(c) 3- registered nonprofit organization, was established in 2004 to restore disaster-stricken and under-developed and vulnerable communities around the globe. Humanity First is a leading non-profit relief organization whose board of directors, management team, and project staff running the day-to-day operations are all dedicated volunteers with diverse professional backgrounds including business, healthcare, and education sectors. Humanity First has been expanding over the last few years to now being a registered charity in 29 countries worldwide.