Operation Help The Help

Back to Haiti in 6 hours to work on the Humanitarian Emergency Platform and be a Liaison for the UN WFP and the NGOs who are having trouble navigating the ridiculous hoops. Operation Help The Help is underway!

Due to the sharp rise in violence, its highly recommend to have body armor before going, particularly armor that defeats the 7.62mm nato round. My armor weighs around 42lbs with the carrying MOLLE gear attached.

More later. Due to arrive in Port-Au-Prince @ 1545 hrs/ 1645hrs EST

New video

Sorry for the lack of posts. Ive been readjusting to work and everything else. This weekend i have a bunch of video blogs Ill be posting for just about each day I was there. Ive gotten some awesome feedback from those who have seen them, and been highly encouraged to share them with everyone. I may have one or two up tonight. Ignore the fact that in the first couple of videos I'm at a loss for words. Also I should mentioned I have been asked by a few groups to go back and assist again soon, and I think I will. Maybe this time with a little more planning I can get more support from a larger area. I thank everyone who has helped so far. First video blog is up under day one at the bottom of the page.

-Justin

New set of rules

From this point on you will have to go backwards in reading my posts. Im back dating the blogs from what I have stored. Also I need to figure out the picture section so you will be able to see the pictures.....too many to include in the posts. I continue to work on this as Im stuck in the DR airport today and FLL airport tonight.

I had about a bag left of supplies and I dropped those off to a hospital that is still accepting patients who need critical care from the the city. At some point officials and the UN will be dragging people out of the city, and depositing them into staging areas where they will later be implanted into a "new Port-Au-Prince" Its pretty erie to see now, but I still dont understand why millions still choose to stay inside the city.

Minimal post

With minimal bandwidth using satillite data modem, I cant post all of the pictures, videos and text I wish to. Im in a compound inside of Citie de Soleil with a few UN international police officers, and Ill be in the Dominican Republic by tomorrow and hopefully by then I can do a full update. Over 360 pictures, 30min of video and some rediculous stories. Civil unrest is growing each day and still 100s of thousands have not been fed or seen by doctors. I worked with 11 different organizations and 6 different countries. Im tired, hungry, I need a shower, I dont remember what color my socks used to be, I need a shave, and Im craving meat. Did I mention a beer? Ive accomplished alot, and gained some serious experience. For those of you who have memebers in the armed forces,... the affected areas look liked post iraq..... some military officers I worked with say it might be worse.

Powerbars and gallon jugs of water have been my best friends as well as multi vitamins....and the body armor. 90+ degree weather and the sun are brutal. Ill be backdating my posts and I will be on tomorrow. So check back throughout the day.

Missing the US, beef, beer, and shower....warm shower and toilets.

Justin

P.s. and deordorant.

Eggs,cheese, rice, potatoes, Repeat

Love the beans and rice with cilantro, but Im already tired of Powerbars, eggs, cheese and potatoes. I require beef daily, and Im already going through withdrawls. I almost snuck out to slaughter me a goat, but I figure that would be some kind of sacrilege seeing how this is a Christian church group.(maybe not?) Here are a couple of videos from today. I was given a crash course in first aid and triage. At this point im wearing the body underneath as Im not sure what kind of threats are in the area.

My connectivity to the internet proved very useful when it came to figuring out what meds to use. Check out the descriptions in the videos.











While at this hospital, I perform the roles of pharmacist, triage nurse, security, and technical support. My communications system allowed doctors who speak 3 different languages to understand what medications to alternatively use, and also decode the different meds brought, as they were also in 3 different languages.












More of the hospital.

This is no Motel 6

Up and at it early. Headed to my group just outside of Port-Au-Prince. Im separating from the church group. Many mosquito bites, slept on concrete, and it was a sticky 81 degrees that night. Breakfast consists of some eggs(they dont refrigerate eggs or cheese down here....) and a biscuit. Thank goodness for the PowerBar god. Vitamins to take care of mineral loss during heavy sweating, and after looking at my arms and legs ...I think Ill pop some of the doxycycline to prevent malaria. What I failed to mention was the amount of Rx drugs people donated to bring down here, I can thank them enough. I later learned that other medical teams got friends and family to donate old medications they had..duffle bags full.

The ride into Port-Au_Prince is sobering, but the damage looks surprisingly minimal compared to the TV. As you get closer to the center of the city, it becomes worse. There is also something they call devastation factor. Alot of the buildings look like they were ruined before the quake, and I hate to say it, but like they didnt loose much.

Around Midday I have setup 2 comm links, and Im looking to connected the church group with me, as they declared that their aid is being held up in a port in northern DR. DR Customs have been ignoring inbound cargo and container ships labeled as Haiti aid, but it was discovered that a few companies were sending Mercedes Benz and BMWs in those containers, among drugs and other contraband. I had arranged for a Dominican helicopter to drop me in to a town where the group was, named Love Child(...not kidding) but a US navy officer advised of the time it will take for arrival plus their reliability. He suggested a "real transport"..........

Yeah thats right, my multi-million dollar ride... I was firmly told no pictures...so someone else took some for me... they just didnt know Id be strolling on out. (I dont want to hear any taxpayer dollars comments! I got alot accomplished that day.)

The makeshift hospital @ Love Child community.

Hit the ground running....

It was a fairly uneventful flight, minus the kid behind me getting sick, and for anyone who has flown before....monkey see monkey do. At the end of the flight after completely making a debacle out of my Dominican Republic customs declaration,(and totally not answering questions pertaining to my luggage) I ended up being engaged in conversation by a couple of guys who were on a church mission. They asked for my contact info and plans, and I proceeded to explain my own mission with my group that was awaiting in Haiti. I realized at that moment that Im here to help groups just like them, and with a few details still not cleared up by my team, I decided to stay the night with this group. We were all going in the same direction and area, and I felt they could be of some use to me as well. I later found out this group, Proyecto America contained over 200 for this mission to Haiti.











We head to San Cristobal for the night, and the night morning we head to a town called Jimani, DR. Its the last town before the border and it has become a staging area for many teams. Its also home of a high powered microwave link Ill be sure to take advantage of later for linking purposes later. We ended up staying in church(where else would a church group stay?) that appeared somewhat secure with a compound wall around the property.

I pretty much kept to my self, but news travelled quickly about my compact with the group. They described me as a miracle...to this day Im not sure I see that. I did find my self feeling like I was on survivor....which each person in this enormous group,having their own skill. Mine seemed to be communications, connections with government officials, "McGyvering" things that dont exist that we need or fixing them.....oh and that I have almost 200lbs of medical supplies. This group had 5 doctors, and about 10 nurses, an EMT all from Uruguay, Peru, Florida, Columbia, and a few other countries. I had things they clearly did not have and they have been on missions before...just not one immediately after a disaster.
On that first night together, there was alot of commotion outside, and I learned that people from the poverty stricken neighbor were coming to the church gates, some looking for handouts, others for spiritual support, and one in particular, was looking for transport to the DR airport. The child was only 8, and a US legal resident. The church group wanted to pay the $100 to send this child by bus to the airport, so he could be sent back home.
To ensure this wasnt a scam, I made a few phone calls to some immigration people I have worked with before, and verified the US resident ID, and passport. We also arranged for transport that we were confident would ensure the child's delivery to the airport and help check him in. We learned later he made it to his home town in Orlando, FL.

Oh yeah.....nows a good time for a little flashback story. Back in highschool when I had a choice of languages I decided to take french. Yeah, well with my father learning spanish, he advised....no protested...no...still hounds me about not choosing spanish. Everyone around me speaks either spanish.....or spanish with the exception of some Haitians who have been to DR. The french will help me later, but Im in a for a severe crash course in Spanish.

Final confirmations, destinations

USAID contact confirms travel arrangements. Apparently the Isidro Airbase is home to the Dominican Airforce, its unclear which military (US or DR) will be my transport, but it sure beats the 9+ hour bus ride to Haiti. It also allows me a specific drop point as opposed to following the embassy bus route which is currently being dictated by UN peacekeepers. The US Embassy bus is heading to Haiti each day picking up US citizens that need to be repatriated. Citizens can also leave via Port Au Prince via the PAP airport on an outbound military plane.

Map of drop area and where supplies are needed.

I have a confirmed spot on a helicopter tomorrow at 07:30AM, but I get into Santo Domingo tonight around 9:45....so Ill be spending the night at the airport. Im hoping to actually sleep...Ive been running on adrenaline.

I went for a walk outside after being cramped in here for so long and found a Red Cross disaster relief truck sitting outside. I can only imagine their supplies are headed for Haiti.

I found my way to a Walmart to pick up a few supplies I missed at home and found someone in line who is from Haiti. He give some awesome tips about how to navigate areas, and that little bit of french I kind of payed attention to, will be very useful.

I seem to have found a way to unlock my world phone, but it might not take effect until Mon. Im hearing of some reports of NGO(non-governmental organization) relief teams "overstocking" areas....while you might think that's impossible giving the massive amount of people needing help... the last thing these people care about are 10,000 rolls of toilet paper in one tiny community.

Ive checked the weather for the next couple of days and Im a little concerned about the weather thats coming up soon. Thundershowers... concern for the people there, and concern for communications....electronic hate water, and the weather does tend to suppress radio signals.

The wait begins...

Check in and arrival went pretty smoothly this morning. I did turn one bag back to the car, as it was going to sky rocket the already ridiculous cost. Thankfully the ticket agents were helpful in telling me how to transfer my equipment to the med bags and get away with it. They did give me a small discount for which I'm thankful. I truly appreciate all the donations and support I have received. For those of you with a sour taste in your mouth for the airline.....its not the worst out there.. Still had people sniffling and sneezing, and crying...just like the bigger airlines.

The body armor went through without a hitch after identifying myself to half of congress, and thank god for zip up combat boots. Personally, I like to get dressed and undressed once a day...but that's not the case when you fly.

I'm estimating that around 290lb of supplies and equipment are headed to Haiti with me. My equipments probably only 14lb....

Had some Subway...the last decent food for awhile now...

As far as communications are concerned Ive run into a few issues and resolved one so far. My world phone from Verizon has both CDMA and GSM capabilities.....before I get into that, its time for me to spout off some knowledge and help you understand. I mean what else am I going to do in the airport for 7 hours?

Simple terms. In the US, there are 5 major companies Verizon, ATT, T-Mobile, Sprint, Nextel and a collection of "mom and pop" companies that serve tiny spots in their region or state. Lets forget those mom and pops. With in those 5 major companies( for those of you who know sprint and Nextel merged....they still operate much differently) are 3 fundamentally different types of technologies. How they work isnt really important for my point here, so lets skip that. One type is iDen, which is inherent to Nextel only...its basically proprietary. That's why you can not roam onto another phone network when using their service. Next is CDMA which is used by Verizon and Sprint. CDMA is kind of a dinosaur who has tried to become "hip" and adapt with time, and most will argue that its generally slower then the next technology Ill speak of in a minute. But the best part of CDMA, is that its a little bit more reliable if used by the right company. While speed for data on the network is slower its footprint is much larger out of all 3 of the technologies.

Think of it this way. You have a town with a bunch of roads in it. Isn't it easier to repave a road then to bulldoze, level, and pave a new one where non existed?

Finally there is GSM. Both ATT and T-mobile use GSM. It stands for Global System for Mobile communications. See the idea is in the title...global communications. .....yeah minus the fact that we are Americans and we decide to buck the system whenever we can. Im just saying..... Fahrenheit, Lbs, inches, miles, football thats not used mainly with your foot....can you see where Im going here? Most of the civilized...and even uncivilized world uses the same frequencies for GSM 900mhz and 1800mhz. So in the US, we use 850mhz 1900mhz. The point Im getting at here is if you have a US GSM phone(ATT or Tmobile)..unless the phone says world phone which has all frequencies... you cant use it out side of your country. So if your not asleep.... I go back to my Verizon world phone. Verizon is owned by the giant UK company, Vodaphone who has GSM contracts around the world. In order for me to use MY phone outside the use, you have to use their SIM card which uses their list of phones companies in other countries. It just so happens that Haiti would cost me up to $3.99 a minute! But if you buy a SIM card for your GSM from the country your visiting, like I have for Haiti...its only $.49 a minute. The other option is to have your phone company give you the secret "unlock code" to allow other companies SIM cards in the phone....and you guessed it, Verizon will not do that.

Ill find either a local phone there or use the other phone I have which can be temperamental at times.

Im pretty sure I just lost 80% of my followers with this article...

I have yet to see any type of aid going to Haiti or DR from this airport, starting to make me wonder whats going to hit me in the face on the other side.

My contact through USAID has been amazing at finding me ways of transport through Haiti. My backup option is the embassy transport bus to Haiti in search of US citizens needing repatriation. So far I have a helicopter transport set from the San Isidro airport. Im landing at Las Americas International airport. Here is a map.

The begining......

If your reading this blog, then you know how this story

began. If you haven't seen the article, then here it is

http://www.theday.com/article/20100127/NWS01/301279925/-1/NWS

I should clear up one misunderstanding that a commenter had, I am NOT nor is anyone else being sent by Infragard, or any other branch of the government. This telecommunications company was already in the country providing internet services for a couple missions to provide support, and when the earthquake struck, they shifted gears, and asked their employee who is an Infragard member, to reach out to other member with skills in infrastructure.

I am not being paid to do this, nor are they any kickbacks.

Now that we are clear on that.......

This all started with me asking a few people to fill my duffle bag with a few medical supplies to really pack my bag. What I got were commitments that blew my mind. I began thinking that I should invest in some heavy duty luggage, and so I began looking for companies to donate luggage for this cause. I never really thought anyone would donate.....with the economy tanking like the titanic,...just ask the negative commenters on the article, and on the one about the National Guard helping out.

The reality of this is, that I am stressed, I am tired, I am cranky, but Im pushing on. Things have only really come together in the last couple of days.The request for luggage was made on the 21st, and after some vetting of my story through my employment(helps to work for a police department) my request was granted and shipped that night. By Monday the 25th, I had learned the 5.11 Tactical luggage was to arrive on the 27th originally, but after the kind people at 5.11 shipped, I noticed the tracking info stated an arrival of the 28th. My thoughts turned to scrambling for other luggage...more cost to me. At this point I actually had only 2 boxes of supplies with commitments for more. Some departments backed out for budget issues(understandable) and so I began to worry. To make a long story short, Id like to thank Hartford Fire and the Training Academy, Norwich Fire, Poquetanuck Fire, East Lyme Fire, New London Fire, Common Cents EMS supply in Old Saybrook(especially for the OBGYN kits) civilian donors, the pediatrician who gave me some great stuff, monetary donors.... Im pretty set with the luggage now with all the donations. I have some thank you cards to be written when I get back. I also want to thank my employer...the police department was awesome today, by transferring calls to me out on the road and taking info regarding my endevour.

Its a daunting task ahead of me. Its now 23:29 and I just NOW unloaded my car. I was quite tired of stopping for stoplights and being hit in the head by medical supplies from behind me.Time to pack............ Im leaving the house at 02:00.....no sleep. They always say when you prepare for things like this, day 1 is always the day before you trip... you dont sleep.