CLICK HERE TO SEE THE LIST OF SUPPLIES THAT ARE NEEDED

--- 01/21/2010

Bartlesville , OK – Strategic World Impact (SWI), is announcing its mobilization efforts to help those affected by the devastating earthquake in Port-au-Prince , Haiti and surrounding areas. DART (Disaster Assistance Response Team) members are currently mobilizing for relief efforts, which will include providing basic survival items such as rice, fuel, shelter, clothing and Strategic Assistance Kits (SAKs) for the displaced residents of Haiti .

“Along with our partners in the area, SWI DART teams will utilize a supply line from the Dominican Republic to bring over critical supplies to those in need,” said Kevin Turner , president and founder of Strategic World Impact .

“It is vital that we get these supplies in as soon as possible to avert yet another humanitarian crisis for the people of Haiti ,” he added.

SWI has extensive experience in responding to complex humanitarian disasters such as the one in Haiti . Since its founding in 1998, the Oklahoma-based organization has provided critical humanitarian assistance after some of the world’s most devastating disasters, including Hurricane Mitch in 1998, the Indian Ocean Earthquake (tsunami) of 2004, the Pakistan/Kashmir Earthquake of 2005 and the 2008 Kenyan Crisis.

The organization holds annual DART training conferences and has a network of specially trained volunteers and staff members to respond to situations such as the one currently taking place. SWI plans on mobilizing relief teams in Haiti beginning next week.

Turner said the ministry is in need of support for its efforts, which includes volunteers, prayer partners and financial support.

“We need people to give, go and most importantly, pray for our team members,” he said. “SWI is a lean organization with no bureaucratic red tape and supporters can be assured that their contributions will be used to directly impact those in need.”

For more information about volunteer opportunities or how to support SWI in the Haiti relief efforts, email us at team@swi.org or call 1-877- TEAM -SWI (832-6794).  Call-in donations may be directed to 1-877-SWI-HOPE (794-4673).

And may our efforts for these devastated people be blessings to both them and to the Lord.

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Heartbreak at Soccer Stadium by Chip Darius (SWI DART Graduate)
Reported by Chip Darius, an Emergency Medical Technician with 30 years experience and training in disaster medical care.

Friends of BEM,

Victims are encamped at the Les Cayes soccer stadium, a secure walled compound with gates. Tents stand in neat rows, but there are not enough for those needing shelter. The local hospital has set up an aid tent at the field because there is no room for patients at the overflowing hospital. When we arrived there were a few nursing students present, and we offered to help care for casualties.

Word went out among the tents and the injured came forward for treatment. The injuries are serious, needing surgical intervention, but the operating room is a popup canopy with fabric sides that blow about with the breeze. There is a chair to sit a patient in, only the ground to lie down on.

A few heartbreaking cases:
Two sisters in their late teens were treated - one had a deep wound in her thigh, a chunk of flesh missing; the other has multiple deep abrasions to her legs. Both were injured when their home collapsed on them in Port-au-Prince. Their mother and their aunt were also in the home at the time, both are missing and presumed dead in the collapse. Both sisters say they can't sleep or eat, signs of post traumatic stress.

18-year-old Francois had head lacerations from falling concrete in his home's destruction. His left pinky finger was also traumatically amputated in the collapse, bare bone exposed and turning black in the stump. His injuries were severely infected. Dr. Dasne arrived from Les Cayes hospital to help give care, and diagnosed gangrene in both. I assisted as he cut away dead flesh with no anesthesia for the patient, holding a scalpel blade between his fingers without even a handle. Pain and bleeding signaled that he had reached living tissue. Using supplies delivered today by our BEM team, an IV was started and he will receive antibiotics.

After the procedure we learned Dr. Dasne's mother and sister were killed in the quake, but here he is, somehow finding strength to care for others.

The stadium and the region are filled with similar stories of sadness and loss. We pray for relief to speed and meet the need.

God Bless,
Chip Darius