If you booked or were planning to book your Vancouver accommodations aboard the NCL Star, please note that the organizers have cancelled the cruise ship as of a few minutes ago.   Refunds will be available to anyone who booked their accommodations aboard this ship and instructions follow. 

There are other options available for accommodation - like vacation rentals - so those who are seeking last minute accommodations or alternative accommodations should visit:   www.2010destinationplanner.com.

February 2, 2010. Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It is with regret that Newwest

tammy van dyke is a “serial entrepreneur” and humanitarian who’s greatest passion is sharing the hope of jesus.  in 2001, tammy co-founded world hope missions, a faith-based organization dedicated to helping women and child around the world. to date, world hope missions has helped bring clean water to remote villages, provided food and clothing to communities in need and has helped create small business opportunities for poverty-stricken families. 

Tammy was featured on the january 26, 2010 broadcast of our radio show as a ”travel angel.”  we applaud her for her generous heart, global citizenry and for the legacy of positive footprints she is leaving.  

Americans have recognized black history annually since 1926, first as “Negro History Week” and later as Black History Month and we greatly owe the celebration of this month of Black Heritage, more so, the study of black history to Dr. Carter G. Woodson.  The Harvard scholar was disturbed to find that history books largely ignored the black American population-and when blacks were depicted, they were reflected as socially inferior and stero-typed in a very uncomplimentary fashion.  Today, thanks to Dr. Woodson and others the historical story of how the month-long celebration of African-Americans came about is amazing and inspirational.

During Black History Month, there are many lesser known sites around the country where you can celebrate the month in a unique way.  The African-American Heritage Trail is quite long and the short list that follows doesn’t begin to scratch the surface of the attractions you can visit.

ALABAMA 

What better place to visit and learn about Civil Rights during Black History Month than “ground zero” for the Civil Rights Movement Alabama. The Alabama Tourism Department has produced a Civil Rights Trail brochure that includes Montgomery, Selma, Birmingham and Tuskegee. Each with their unique story.

FLORIDA

The L.B Brown House is located in beautiful Bartow, Florida, and in 2001 was placed on the National Register of Historic Places. Having been built in the 1800’s by former slave Lawrence B. Brown, it contains nine rooms and is 1700 sq. ft. The structure is perhaps the only one of its kind in Florida that was built and owned by a former slave. The L.B. Brown House is now used as a museum to help educate the public about the significant contributions made by African-Americans to Florida history.

In honor of Black History Month, Tallahassee, Florida is hosting THE KINSEY COLLECTION: Shared Treasures of Bernard and Shirley Kinsey, Where Art and History Intersect.  The extraordinary exhibit, showcasing more than 90 rare books, sculptures, paintings, documents, manuscripts and vintage photographs, tells the story of African Americans in the Americas from 1632 to present. The collection is on display at The Mary Brogan Museum of Art and Science in Florida’s Capital City now through March 23, 2010, before traveling to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C.

MARYLAND  

Maryland’s Eastern Shore, celebrates two of America’s greatest abolistionist heroes–Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass.  Both were born on the Eastern Shore, held as slaves on there, and each returned as free people to help others.  Talbot, Dorchester and Caroline Counties on Maryland’s Eastern Shore highlights the history of the abolitionist movement and these two great heroes. 

Baltimore, Maryland has been the site of many significant historical events that helped pave the way for our country’s first African American president. As the birthplace of our national anthem, the city of Baltimore is no stranger to firsts. Home to the first African American Supreme Court Justice, Thurgood Marshall, visitors have the opportunity to extend their inauguration experience into a learning vacation with a wide variety of historical attractions including the National Great Blacks In Wax Museum, the country’s first wax museum for African American history; the Reginald F. Lewis Museum of Maryland African American History & Culture; and the Frederick Douglass-Isaac Myers Maritime Park Museum, site of the nation’s first African American-owned shipyard.

MISSISSIPPI 

The Corinth Contraband Camp and is located in Corinth, Mississippi. A part of the National Park Service’s Shiloh National Military Park, the Contraband Site is called the Birthplace of Freedom. Around the time of Abraham Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, many slaves in the Deep South heard that Corinth was occupied by Federal soldiers. These African-Americans sought freedom in Corinth under the security of the Army. Federal General Grenville Dodge understood what effect the defection of thousands of African-Americans would have on the Confederate war effort. He began to enlist the escaped slaves, who came into his lines as teamsters, cooks and laborers. He actively recruited male refugees, armed them, and put them in charge of security at the newly organized camp. Dodge’s refugee administrative efforts led to the formation of the 1st Alabama Infantry Regiment of African Descent, consisting of approximately 1000 men. The Corinth Camp resembled a small town, complete with a church, commissary, hospital, both frame and log houses, and a street grid with named streets and numbered houses. An American Missionary School operated where eager students of all ages sought knowledge day and night. Today, a portion of this camp has been set aside to commemorate the events which changed the lives of so many
people.

MISSOURI (Independence)

The 1827 Log Courthouse, 107 W. Kansas Avenue , for many years the only Courthouse between the Mississippi River and the Pacific Ocean . This building was constructed by slave Samuel Shepherd and its sturdy walnut timbers served for a time as the courtroom by Administrative Judge Harry Truman before he became President of the United States.  The courthouse is closed November-March for the winter.There is no phone at the courthouse, but information is available by calling Tourism at 816-325-7111 or toll free at 800-748-7323.

The 1859 Jail, 217 N. Main, which operated as the county jail from pre-Civil War time through 1910. The jail was also built by noted slaves who were master stonemasons. The 2 foot thick limestone walls housed famous guerillas such as William Clark Quantrill of Quantrill’s Raiders, Southern sympathizers during the Civil War and famous outlaws like Frank James, brother of Jesse James, and a leader of the James Gang. Phone 816-252-1892.

Woodlawn Cemetery on Noland Road is the final resting place of many prominent black citizens of Independence.

The Second Baptist Church, 116 E. White Oak Avenue, is said to be the oldest African-American church in Missouri. The church was organized in 1864 by a group that first met in 1861 in a one-room house. (Not open for tours).

The National Frontier Trails Museum, 318 W. Pacific, which, in addition to major displays about the westward trails, mountain men and trappers, houses an exhibit of interest entitled: “I Remain Your Affectionate Wife.”  The exhibit spotlights seven original letters to a free black man who followed the California trail. The Gold Rush captured the imagination of the entire nation. Thousand of enterprising people filled with hopes and dreams of wealth migrated to California to “strike it rich”. Among these emigrants was David Brown, an African-American who settled in California. Left behind in Ohio was his wife, Rachel Brown. In these extraordinary letters, she describes her life without her man, her loneliness, and her hopes for a future life with David. Sadly, David and Rachel were never re-united.

The Truman Presidential Museum and Library, 500 U.S. 24 Highway, offers a glimpse into modern black history in a permanent exhibit where the desegregation of the armed forces is explored. One of the interactive “decision theaters” also includes a segment which explains Truman’s actions in pursuing desegregation, an act which was highly controversial at the time. Museum admission: $8 adults, $7 seniors, $3 youth, under 6 free. 816-268-8200 

NEW YORK 

Philipsburg Manor, in Sleepy Hollow, NY, is the country’s only fully staffed living history museum that focuses on the history of northern slavery. 

OHIO 

On Cleveland, Ohio’s Public Square, the Soldiers and Sailors Monument (honoring those who fought in the Civil War) is nearing the completion of a $2 million refurbishment.  In the next couple of weeks we will be re-installing the “broken shackles of slavery” held by Lincoln while he “arms” a freed slave all of which is depicted on one of the interior reliefs.

Ohio is home to the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center and several other Black History-related attractions. It covers a wide range of topics from slavery and the Underground Railroad to genealogy. General admission is $12, children 6-12 are $8, children under 6 are free. You can check out some of the other sites at Passage to Freedom. These include Harriet Beecher Stowe’s house, also in Cincinnati, and free.

VIRGINIA 

Robert Russa Moton Museum, Farmville, VA: Developing museum and historic site is housed in the original building and grounds of R.R. Moton High School where in 1951 the student body walked out to protest unequal conditions. The resulting lawsuit became part of the landmark Brown v. Board of Education case. The museum is the key point of another developing attraction in Virginia, the Civil Rights in Education Heritage Trail.

The American Civil War Center at Historic Tredegar, Richmond, VA: This fairly new museum is the only Civil War museum to explore that war from three equal perspectives - Union, Confederate and African-American. It contains one of the finest collections of African-American Civil War artifacts in existence. 

 By Daryl Michael Scott for ASALH at www.asalh.org

The story of Black History Month begins in Chicago during the late summer of 1915. An alumnus of the University of Chicago with many friends in the city, Carter G. Woodson traveled from Washington, D.C. to participate in a national celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of emancipation sponsored by the state of Illinois.  Thousands of African Americans traveled from across the country to see exhibits highlighting the progress their people had made since the destruction of slavery.  Awarded a doctorate in Harvard three years earlier, Woodson joined the other exhibitors with a black history display.

Despite being held at the Coliseum, the site of the 1912 Republican convention, an overflow crowd of six to twelve thousand waited outside for their turn to view the exhibits. Inspired by the three-week celebration, Woodson decided to form an organization to promote the scientific study of black life and history before leaving town.  On September 9th, Woodson met at the Wabash YMCA with A. L. Jackson and three others and formed the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASNLH).

Carter G. Woodson believed that publishing scientific history would transform race relations by dispelling the wide-spread falsehoods about the achievements of Africans and peoples of African descent.  He hoped that others would popularize the findings that he and other black intellectuals would publish in The Journal of Negro History, which he established in 1916.  As early as 1920, Woodson urged black civic organizations to promote the achievements that researchers were uncovering.  A graduate member of Omega Psi Phi, he urged his fraternity
brothers to take up the work. In 1924, they responded with the creation of Negro History and Literature Week, which they renamed Negro Achievement Week.  Their outreach was significant, but Woodson desired greater impact.  As he told an audience of Hampton Institute students, “We are going back to that beautiful history and it is going to inspire us to greater achievements.”  In 1925, he decided that the Association had to shoulder the responsibility.  Going forward it would both create and  popularize knowledge about the black past. He sent out a press release announcing Negro History Week in February, 1926.

Woodson chose February for reasons of tradition and reform.  It is commonly said that Woodson selected February to encompass the birthdays of two great Americans who played a prominent role in shaping black history, namely Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass, whose birthdays are the 12th and the 14th, respectively.  More importantly, he chose them for reasons of tradition.  Since Lincoln’s assassination in 1865, the black community, along with other Republicans, had been celebrating the fallen President’s birthday.  And since the late 1890s, black communities across the country had been celebrating Douglass’.  Well aware of the pre-existing celebrations, Woodson built Negro History Week around traditional days of commemorating the black past.  He was asking the public to extend their study of black history, not to create a newtradition.  In doing so, he increased his chances for success.

Yet Woodson was up to something more than building on tradition. Without saying so, he aimed to reform it from the study of two great men to a great race.  Though he admired both men, Woodson had never been fond of the celebrations held in their honor. He railed against the “ignorant spellbinders” who addressed large, convivial gatherings and displayed their lack of knowledge about the men and their contributions to history.  More importantly, Woodson believed that history was made by the people, not simply or primarily by great men.  He envisioned the study and celebration of the Negro as a race, not simply as the producers of a great man. And Lincoln, however great, had not freed the slaves—the Union Army, including hundreds of thousands of black soldiers and sailors, had done that. Rather than focusing on two men, the black community, he believed, should focus on the countless black men and women who had contributed to the advance of human civilization.

From the beginning, Woodson was overwhelmed by the response to his call.  Negro History Week appeared across the country in schools and before the public.  The 1920s was the decade of the New Negro, a name given to the Post-War I generation because of its rising racial pride and consciousness.  Urbanization and industrialization had brought over a million African Americans from the rural South into big cities of the nation.  The expanding black middle class became participants in and consumers of black literature and culture. Black history clubs sprang up, teachers demanded materials to instruct their pupils, and progressive whites stepped and endorsed the efforts.

Woodson and the Association scrambled to meet the demand.  They set a theme for the annual celebration, and provided study materials—pictures, lessons for teachers, plays for historical performances, and posters of important dates and people.  Provisioned with a steady flow of knowledge, high schools in progressive communities formed Negro History Clubs.  To serve the desire of history buffs to participate in the re-education of black folks and the nation, ASNLH formed branches that stretched from coast to coast.  In 1937, at the urging of Mary McLeod Bethune, Woodson established the Negro History Bulletin, which focused on the annual theme. As black populations grew, mayors issued Negro History Week proclamations, and in cities like Syracuse progressive whites joined Negro History Week with National Brotherhood Week.

Like most ideas that resonate with the spirit of the times, Negro History Week proved to be more dynamic than Woodson or the Association could control.  By the 1930s, Woodson complained about the intellectual charlatans, black and white, popping up everywhere seeking to take advantage of the public interest in black history.  He warned teachers not to invite speakers who had less knowledge than the students themselves.  Increasingly publishing houses that had previously ignored black topics and authors rushed to put books on the market and in the schools.  Instant experts appeared everywhere, and non-scholarly works appeared from “mushroom presses.” In America, nothing popular escapes either commercialization or eventual trivialization, and so Woodson, the constant reformer, had his hands full in promoting celebrations worthy of the people who had made the history.

Well before his death in 1950, Woodson believed that the weekly celebrations—not the study or celebration of black history–would eventually come to an end.  In fact, Woodson never viewed black history as a one-week affair.  He pressed for schools to use Negro History Week to demonstrate what students learned all year.  In the same vein, he established a black studies extension program to reach adults throughout the year.  It was in this sense that blacks would learn of their past on a daily basis that he looked forward to the time when an annual celebration would no longer be necessary. Generations before Morgan Freeman and other advocates of all-year commemorations, Woodson believed that black history was too important to America and the world to be crammed into a limited time frame.  He spoke of a shift from Negro History Week to Negro History Year.

In the 1940s, efforts began slowly within the black community to expand the study of black history in the schools and black history celebrations before the public.  In the South, black teachers often taught Negro History as a supplement to United States history.  One early beneficiary of the movement reported that his teacher would hide Woodson’s textbook beneath his desk to avoid drawing the wrath of the principal.  During the Civil Rights Movement in the South, the Freedom Schools incorporated black history into the curriculum to advance social change.  The Negro History movement was an intellectual insurgency that was part of every larger effort to transform race relations.

The 1960s had a dramatic effect on the study and celebration of black history.  Before the decade was over, Negro History Week would be well on its way to becoming Black History Month.  The shift to a month-long celebration began even before Dr. Woodson death.  As early as 1940s, blacks in West Virginia, a state where Woodson often spoke, began to celebrate February as Negro History Month.  In Chicago, a now forgotten cultural activist, Fredrick H. Hammaurabi, started celebrating Negro History Month in the mid-1960s.  Having taken an African name in the 1930s, Hammaurabi used his cultural center, the House of Knowledge, to fuse African consciousness with the study of the black past.  By the late 1960s, as young blacks on college campuses became increasingly conscious of links with Africa, Black History Month replaced Negro History Week at a quickening pace. Within the Association, younger intellectuals, part of the awakening, prodded Woodson’s organization to change with the times. They succeeded.  In 1976, fifty years after the first celebration, the Association used its influence to institutionalize the shifts from a week to a month and from Negro history to black history. Since the mid-1970s, every American president, Democrat and Republican, has issued proclamations endorsing the Association’s annual theme.

What Carter G. Woodson would say about the continued celebrations is unknown, but he would smile on all honest efforts to make black history a field of serious study and provide the public with thoughtful celebrations.

Reprinted with permission from Daryl Michael Scott for ASALH at www.asalh.org

Travelers going to Vancouver in February for the 2010 Games who are still looking for accommodations can save big by booking their stay on the Norwegian Star.  Special sale rates that start as low as $275 per night are available through www.vancouver2010cruiseship.com.  Guests can also book rooms by calling 877.254.2010.  All rooms include 3 meals per day, on-board entertainment, daily transfers to Lonsdale Quay where guests can transfer to downtown Vancouver and from the transfer point to the mountain venues in Whistler, and many more amenities.

During the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in British Columbia, the 

Province’s signature celebration site at Robson Square will be bustling 

with exciting and free entertainment every day and night. In addition to 

the live entertainment, sport demonstrations, and large video screens to 

watch all the action of the 2010 Olympic Winter Games, adventurous 

visitors will also enjoy impressive views on the more than 

170 metre (over 550 feet) urban zipline. 

Robson Square is also home to the ice rink at GE Plaza, the BC International Media Centre, 

and the BC Canada Pavilion at the Vancouver Art Gallery so visitors of all ages will 

find something to enjoy. 

Beginning February 12 during the 2010 Olympic Winter Games (Feb. 12-28), daily entertainment 

at Robson Square includes: 

Aboriginal Showcase - A showcase of the talents, traditions and contemporary expressions of 

B.C.’s Aboriginal people with performers including three-time World Champion Hoop Dancer 

Alex Wells, the Yinka Dene Drum Group, Métis Cultural Dancers, Le-La-La Dancers, and 

the Nisga’a Ts’amiks Dancers. 

When: Daily at 12:30 p.m. 

First Nations Carving Exhibit - Located in a temporary gallery on the northeast side of the Georgia 

Street Plaza, will feature Musqueam artist Susan Point and Coast Salish artists demonstrating their 

creative skill. 

When: Daily from noon to 8 p.m. 

BC Kids - Fun programs with B.C.’s best children’s performers including Bobs and Lolo, 

Rick Scott, and The Kerplunks. In addition, there will be amazing acrobatic, circus 

and theatrical arts shows by Vancouver’s CircusWest. 

When: Weekends at noon and 1 p.m.; CircusWest daily at 1:30 p.m., 3:30 p.m., 

5:00 p.m., and 6:30 p.m. 

BC Live - Showcasing B.C. musicians and artists representing all regions and cultures with family 

entertainment to world-beat fusion to B.C.’s best indie bands. Performers include Jim Byrnes, 

Mother Mother, Hey Ocean, Alex*Cuba, The Left, Jaydee Bixby, Said The Whale, 

and the Paperboys. 

When: Nightly at 10 p.m. and 11:30 p.m. 

BC Spirit Showcase: Music! Culture! Community! - Featuring local community and multicultural 

performers, as well as established, amateur and up-and-coming musicians from B.C. Performers 

include M’Girl, Shari Ulrich, Pastiche, Gypsalero, Tiller’s Folly, Alpha Yaya Diallo, Showstoppers, 

Ache Brasil, Strathcona Chinese Dance Company, and Il Voce. 

When: Various show times daily 

BC Street Jam - Engaging performances on Robson Street showcasing the unique talents of the 

best of B.C.’s street artists, including the Stunt Superstar Aaron Gregg, the Checkerboard Guy, 

Junkyard Symphony, and the Bigger Balloon Guy. 

When: Various show times daily and nightly 

Meet The Mascots On Ice - A fun, family show featuring the Vancouver 2010 

mascots and their friends as they skate, dance and sing in celebration of the 

Games.

When: Daily at 1 p.m., 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. 

Ignite the Dream - A spectacular and innovative evening show that will 

light up the sky featuring specialized lighting, pyrotechnics, lasers, projected images, 

and performers high above the ground.

When: Nightly at 9:30 p.m. and 11 p.m. 

For more information, please visit www.yougottabehere.ca.

The people of Haiti need our assistance more than ever.  The needs continue to mount for basic necessities like clean water, food, shelter, clothing and first-aid supplies.  Additionally, many family members have yet to connect with or locate their loved ones. Below is a “Person Finder” to assist families with information.  Also, a long list of charitable organizations that are assisting in the Haiti relief efforts with supplies of basic necessities is provided below.  Please note that some of the organizations will require you to specify your donation for “Haiti Disaster Relief.” 

Prior to offering any financial support, please check resources like Charity Navigator to evaluate the charitable organization.

Person Finder: Haiti Earthquake

Charitable organizations offering support for Haiti: 

•  Clinton Bush Haiti Fund

• UNICEF (1-800-4UNICEF):  UNICEF is deploying clean water and sanitation supplies, therapeutic foods, medical supplies and temporary shelter to Jacmel and Port-au-Prince. UNICEF will also be focusing on children who have become separated from their families to protect them from harm or exploitation.
•  Greater Washington Haitian Relief Committee (GWHRC):  In the Washington DC area, GWHRC, a coalition of Haitian organizations and associations based in Washington, coordinates many of the relief efforts in the nation’s capital.  Their crisis center is currently being hosted in the Haitian Embassy.  Please click here, for a compilation page of other relief efforts in the Washington, DC area.
• Chefs for Humanity: In partnership with the UN World Food Program, Chefs For Humanity launched an online fundraising campaign for Haiti called “1 MILLION in 1 MONTH.”
•  Direct Relief
• Yele Haiti
•  Partners in Health
•  Red Cross: We urge you to specify that your donations should go to the Haiti Relief Assistance, and/or the Haitian Red Cross.
•  World Food Program
•  Mercy Corps (1-888-256-1900)
•  Save the Children
•  Lambi Fund
•  Doctors Without Borders
•  The International Rescue Committee
• Care:  CARE plans to start food distributions using stocks of high-protein biscuits from CARE warehouses in Haiti. CARE has 133 staff who are on the ground coordinating with U.N. agencies and other aid organizations to gather more detailed information about the damage and will rapidly scale up response based on those assessments.
•  William J. Clinton Foundation
•   Meds & Food For Kids
•  Feed the Children
•  Habitat for Humanity
•  Mayor’s Fund for NYC
•  National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (National VOAD)
• Interaction
•  OCHA (The United Nation’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance)
                     ♦ ReliefWeb
•  Pan-American Development Foundation (PADF) 
•  Catholic Relief Services
• World Vision
•  USAID response to earthquake
•  International Organization for Migrations
•  Population Services International (PSI)
• Samaritan’s Purse

The following organizations are accepting SMS donations in the US only:

• SMS text “HAITI” to 90999 to donate $10 to Red Cross relief efforts
• SMS text “YELE” to 501501 to Donate $5 to Yele Haiti’s Earthquake Relief efforts
• SMS text “GIVE10″ to 20222 to donate $10 to Direct Relief

We are in constant contact with the White House, USAID and Doctors Without Borders to bring you timely updates with the activities and situations in Haiti. The following is today’s update from Doctors Without Borders.

1) FIELD UPDATE

On the fifth day of their response to the disaster in Haiti, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) teams on the ground remain focused on trying to cope with the huge demand for life-saving surgery for those who suffered terrible injuries in the January 12 earthquake. They are stretching their existing operating theatres to the limit by working around the clock, while at the same time trying to create more capacity by finding new facilities and transporting in mobile structures.

In the newly established hospital in the Carrefour district, an MSF surgical team carried out 90 operations within 24 hours of getting the theatre usable. The surgical team at Choscal hospital has completed around 90 operations since beginning work there. Another team carried out 20 in a converted shipping container. More capacity is on its way, but the arrival of a twin-theatre inflatable hospital has been delayed because one of the planes carrying it did not get permission to land at Port-au-Prince airport on Saturday and was re-routed to the Dominican Republic. That plane was unloaded earlier today and its cargo is being trucked into Haiti. A plane carrying the other half of the hospital did land this morning in Port-au-Prince, but MSF is still concerned that the delivery of vital supplies are still being delayed.

The conditions in towns outside of the capital, some of which were even closer to the epicenter of the earthquake, are becoming clearer. An MSF team plans to go today by helicopter to the town of Jacmel, on the southern coast of the island. Others have been to assess the needs in Léogâne, about an hour outside of Port-au-Prince. Thousands of people from the capital have fled to Saint ­Marc, an area less damaged by the quake; hundreds of injured people are in the hospital there.

Despite the transport problems, MSF has managed to get in more than 100 extra international staff to help the teams who were working in Haiti before the earthquake. The specialists include surgeons, anesthetists, nephrologists and psychologists. Many had to come by road from the Dominican Republic but MSF has managed to get four cargo planes carrying staff and supplies into Port-au-Prince since last Wednesday.

The teams on the ground say that conditions are certainly not improving yet and that the streets are full of desperate people. The lack of food and clean water is causing further stress.

MSF is still trying to get a full accounting of the whereabouts of its Haitian staff. We know that some have not survived the quake but communications remain difficult and we have not yet been able to trace all our colleagues.

2) VOICES FROM THE FIELD

Isabelle Jeanson is an MSF Emergency Communications Officer who arrived in Haiti this past Friday. On the morning of Sunday, January 17, she wrote:

The situation remains critical. Few aid agencies are in place. Hundreds of bodies are still stuck in buildings. In the entire city, I’ve only seen about four or five trucks and cranes removing pieces of collapsed buildings so they can get the people out.

The smell can be overwhelming in some areas, particularly where corpses are rotting in the heat and where internally displaced persons (IDPs) are gathering. There is no sanitation. There are no showers or latrines, and hundreds of IDPs are gathering anywhere there is open space. At night, when we drive, we must be careful not to run over people who are sleeping on the road. I saw one person sleeping in the middle of an intersection, just to avoid any buildings that fall if there is another earthquake.

Yesterday, we experienced two more tremors. When the medical team started doing their work in the Carrefour operational theatre, the national staff continued working when the first tremor hit. But when the second one happened, the nurses dropped what they were doing and ran. People are still on edge. They’re afraid of sleeping indoors. I am a bit worried myself, and I didn’t even go through the earthquake. (We’re sleeping in a trigano tent in a hotel courtyard because there is not enough room for all the expats at the office.)

Yesterday, MSF teams at Carrefour did several surgical interventions. This was only 24 hours after setting up the operational theatre! This is totally amazing considering that the team went to Carrefour on Friday afternoon to start the setup, only 2 hours after the Head of Mission, a nurse and I myself visited the empty hospital to do the assessment. I am in awe that our teams were able to set up this new and functional operational theatre in less than 24 hours!

Yesterday, we did an assessment in Léogâne, about one hour away from Port-au-Prince. We returned around 6 pm, in the dark. On the way back, we crossed some check points that had been set up by civilians. They were jumping on a pick-up truck that was carrying a load of corpses. They were very angry because the driver was going to dump the corpses in their town. They had set up check points from that point on, all the way to Port-au-Prince, a distance of about 10km (6 miles). People were angry about this. I would be, too, if someone was dumping corpses in my town! When we crossed the checkpoints they let us through, no problem, respectfully.

Small fires burn in the street. The air is smoky and smelly, and parts of buildings– concrete, wires, and debris–are strewn all over the streets. The crowds are smaller where we are based, in Petionville, though there are people sleeping along the lane going up to our other house, blocking access to the road. And last night, though the open windows, we could smell that horrible smell.

That team is under a lot of stress. They have extremely limited surgical capabilities. I spoke to a surgeon yesterday, and he was so frustrated and stressed because he’d seen five patients yesterday who needed immediate surgery, but he can’t do it because he didn’t have a proper operational theater to work in. We need more space to perform surgeries. We need the inflatable hospital, if it ever arrives!

So, it’s getting worse. Patients who were not critical only three days ago are now in critical phases. This means that people will die from preventable infections.  It’s horrible. It’s really so terrible that people are begging for help and we can’t help them all to save their lives!

DONATE TO DOCTORS WITHOUT BORDERS NOW!

Printed with Permission from Doctors Without Borders.

Laurent Dedieu is a logistics supervisor for Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) projects in Haiti. Since the earthquake that hit Port-au-Prince on January 12, he has been in frequent contact with the teams on the ground and helping to organize the logistics of MSF’s response. Here he describes the logistical challenges the teams are dealing with right now.

What are the logistical problems the teams are dealing with today?

Right now we still are struggling to treat patents in very rough conditions. The biggest problem is not having medical structures where we can treat them. But we have been able to find an open space big enough for the inflatable hospital that should arrive tomorrow. So we will have a 100-bed hospital with surgical capacity operation before the end of next week.

What about other logistical factors required for surgery – water, electricity?

We have roughly a week’s worth of water in stock and we have generators for electricity. The hospital is coming fully logistically equipped, including sanitation, x-ray machines, everything. It’s a kind of plug and play hospital.But a big issue will be the supply of fuel. We cannot find any diesel fuel in the city. At the MSF projects I am in touch with, today we have roughly two to three days maximum of fuel in stock. So we need to start work on an emergency supply chain, either from Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic, or from Miami, we don’t know yet which will be the best way.

And how will the teams receive other supplies?Today we have 20 international staff arriving in Port-au-Prince, tomorrow 15 more should arrive. Along with them, two full charter planes are coming with the hospital and medical supplies from our stocks in Bordeaux. This is our top priority. After that the priority is to establish a supply chain. Before the earthquake all the goods were available in Haiti, imported from the US. But those companies will not be able to establish a proper supply chain for weeks maybe, so we will have to organize our own.

Printed with Permission from Doctors Without Borders

Our prayers are with the Haitian people and their familiy members throughout the world.  In the midst of one of the greatest natural disasters, we are appealing for world wide prayers and a call to action for help.  Travel’n On will continue to provide updates and resources over the coming days.  In the interim, we wanted to share the appeals for help from President Obama and Wyclef Jean.

President Obama issued the following statement today:

“Haitians are neighbors of the Americas and here at home.  So we have to be there for them in their hour of need. 

Despite the fact that we are experiencing tough times here at home, I would encourage those Americans who want to support the urgent humanitarian efforts to go to whitehouse.gov where you can learn how to contribute. ”

Wyclef Jean offered the following statement on his blog:

“Haiti today faced a natural disaster of unprecedented proportion, an earthquake unlike anything the country has ever experienced.

The magnitude 7.0 earthquake – and several very strong aftershocks – struck only 10 miles from Port-au-Prince.

I cannot stress enough what a human disaster this is, and idle hands will only make this tragedy worse. The over 2 million people in Port-au-Prince tonight face catastrophe alone. We must act now.

President Obama has already said that the U.S. stands ‘ready to assist’ the Haitian people. The U.S. Military is the only group trained and prepared to offer that assistance immediately. They must do so as soon as possible. The international community must also rise to the occasion and help the Haitian people in every way possible.”

It is imperative that the international community come together to support the relief and recovery efforts in Haiti.  In addition to the Red Cross, there are a few additional resources below that may be helpful to those who are interested in helping our Haitian neighbors. 

The White House

Center for International Disaster 

Interaction

As there are many caring hearts and people interested in helping, disasters of this magnitude also attract scammers so it is important to assess the legitimacy of a charity that you’re thinking about supporting.  Charity Navigator, National Association of State Charity Officials and your state Better Business Bureau are great resources to make sure that you’re donating to a trustworthy charity.