6 months after earthquake, Haiti still needs help

PORT-au-PRINCE, Haiti - Six months since the earthquake hit, and much of Port-Au-Prince is still rows upon rows of rubble. On the sides of streets, where houses were once located, tents are homes for families seeking comfort from the stifling heat. In the middle is a medical oasis. It's where the Delray Beach-based Dorsainvil Foundation set up a clinic 10 years ago.

"This young lady lost several family members and also lost a daughter in the earthquake and since then she has been under severe stress," said Dr. Pierre Dorsainvil, an infectious disease physician in Delray Beach, who started the clinic. He told me it was filled with patients after the quake struck.

"From the time we came in after the earthquake to April 4th, we saw over 8,000 patients."

The lines at the clinic are still long, but today there isn't as much need for emergency care. Instead, the demand is for long-term care.

Some Palm Beach County doctors financially support a full-time doctor working in Haiti, and once a month a group of doctors from our area travel to Haiti to provide medical care.

On the day when I was there, the doctors had already seen 150 patients by noon.

Typical is Dr. Doug Barlow, a pediatrician from Boca Raton. Like the other doctors, he's here for five days of examinations.

"This little guy has an ear infection but you can tell when you look at his ears they are red and he has some lymph nodes on the back of his head," he said. "But you have to take a look at how resilient he is. His clothes are spotless. They take care of themselves."

What the doctors are finding are ear and eye infections, bronchitis,and parasites that come from living in tents. They're also finding a large number of cases of diabetes, high blood pressure, chest pains and headaches, the conditions that come from the anxiety left by the earthquake.

Dr. Henry Motijo coordinates the doctors from Palm Beach County who visit Haiti. He says they need more help.

"We still lack significant things we want to expand on if possible and God willing, " he said. As for medicine, he said doctors from Palm Beach County have donated medications from their own supplies.

But, he adds, help is needed as every week hundreds require care.