In short - I just want to say "Thank You" - for a lot of reasons... You folks know why.. Your support, enthusiasm, words, advice, suggestions - are simply amazing - my thanks for those.. As well - I do share many with Adrien and his reply last evening was:
"...Say thank you to those people who are praying for us.Say to them,we love them so much.."
Anyway - I know I owe many of you private notes, private thanks for your donations and e-mails back.. I promise you - I will reply - let me get my head above water, OK? As well, as what is happening in Les Cayes right now, I Just had a conversation with Adrien (he stood in line for 3 hours for three hours to use a temporary phone that was set up to call family/friends in the USA). He mentioned the following:
There are vast amounts of people leaving Les Cayes to Port-au-Prince to check on family and friends. However, there is only primary road, which, as he understands is not open. There are several back routes at twice the distance, but he is unsure whether those are open either either.
The hospital in Les Cayes is desperate need of food, medicine, beds, dressings and basic supplies. Many remain on the street waiting for any medical attention at all. I'm sure this pales by comparison to Port-au-Prince.
The next two to three weeks will be critical. As food, water, medical supplies are already in short supply - we can further expect a displacement of people from Port-au-Prince as an influx into Les Cayes and other outlying cities. This will tax an already over-stressed region, and given the condition of the infra-structure in Haiti today, I'm not certain International Assistance will be able to reach these cities in time with adequate basic supplies.
My sincerest thanks to all of you...
And as a further update, there is a slight chance I'll be in Haiti within the next 24-48 hours for search & rescue (I got a call from a local corporation to perhaps assist them, as no one in their team has been into Haiti) - and then help figure out the logistics of getting some basics into Les Cayes. If I am, I'll ask Jenn (my wife) to post any updates, OK??
My Best Always,
John
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