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US Psychiatrist Calls for more effort to help Haiti
VOL note: I first met Dr Jeffrey Satinover at a reparative therapy conference for homosexuals in London and I was tremendously impressed with him as a person and as a psychiatrist. He is a Jew but he has been profoundly affected by his reading of C.S.Lewis in his study on human nature. I am posting this because I believe in what he is doing for those caught in the snare of homosexuality and his concern for the least of these.
Dear Family, Friends, Colleagues,
Beginning approximately May 12, I will be in Haiti for three weeks with a colleague, providing direct patent care and advising Save the Children on how to structure psychiatric care going forward--I say "psychiatric", but it's larger and subtler than that. A new crisis is about to emerge there: Hundreds of thousands of families are living in transient internal refugee camps, packed together like sardines. Charles MacCormack, President of Save the Children has been on site for major disasters during his tenure in the NGO world. He has never seen anything like this. Just before I arrive, the rainy season will begin, and in spite of hundreds of outdoor trench latrines being dug daily, it is hard to imagine how such camps--most in low-lying areas--will not yield terrible epidemics, cholera the worst, once the downpours begin.
A few weeks ago, the Wall Street Journal reported on the critical need to move these people back to permanent shelter. What almost all media miss, as did the WSJ, is that a major obstacle is the widespread conviction that the spirits of the wandering dead prohibit such a move: There are many homes otherwise quite inhabitable. (There is little fear of more earthquakes, as was initially reported.) It is critical that we quickly find a way to work with Haitian spiritual leaders, with respect, and with the utmost sensitivity to differing worldviews. Similarly, the New York Times just reported on the critical lack of psychiatric care in Haiti, especially given the severe psychological trauma most families and communities there have been through.
Save the Children, Oxfam and the International Red Cross are now providing 80% of the relief efforts. They have done a remarkable job--almost everyone now has food, water and (the most) rudimentary shelter. But looking ahead the situation is extremely bleak and world attention has already drifted. There is essentially no Haitian government left, and no military at all. The United States does not wish to become involved in running and reorganizing (yet) another country. The UN lost almost all its staff there and has been unwilling to attempt to take over. The potential for disaster going forward is beyond imagining. If there is a light at the end of tunnel, it is the character of the Haitian people: They are very gentle, long-suffering and deeply committed to mutual charity, rooted in their unique religious beliefs--beliefs terribly mischaracterized in Western entertainment.
I apologize for this mass distribution. If you are interested in helping this effort going forward, I urge you to consider a donation to Save the Children at
http://www.savethechildren.org/countries/latin-america-caribbean/haiti.html
If you wish to earmark your donation more specifically, or to reference the effort I am now organizing, please contact
1-800-728-3843
Save the Children U.S. Headquarters:
54 Wilton Road
Westport, CT 06880
(203) 221-4030 (8:00AM - 5:00PM EDT)
(800) 728-3843 (8:00AM - 5:00PM EDT)
twebster@savechildren.org With thanks and affection,
Jeffrey Satinover
