Haiti still in need 6 months after earthquake
Posted - 7/19/2010 at 8:37AM by Naomi Pescovitz



TUCSON - Six months since the earthquake in Haiti, Tucson-based aid organization World Care says there has been a decrease in donations.

Describing it as "donor fatigue," they say donations have dropped since the first two months since the disaster.
Both World Care and Tucson doctors who recently volunteered in Haiti say the Haitian people still need our help.

"Do what you can. In my capacity, I gave medical care," Dr. John Hettiarachchy says.

Hettiarachchy spent a week volunteering in Haiti and came back on the Fourth of July. The video he captured there shows what the Haitian people still face, six months after the quake.

In Tucson, Hettiarachchy is an anesthesiologist. In Haiti he found he would have to put all his medical training to use, caring for a nine-year-old girl hit by a bus.

"They did not have an intensive care physician available so I functioned in that capacity," Hettiarachchy says.

"Over the course of a week, I was able to get her off the breathing machine, and discharged from the ICU with her family."

Dr. Luis Esparza volunteered in Haiti right after the earthquake. He went back a few weeks later.

"The air wasn't quite as bad but in terms of buildings and just organization it was still hopeless," Esparza says.

Esparza says now that it has been several months, the public should know Haiti still needs support.

"You don't ever hear about it anymore and the need there is still, it's so great that most people have no idea how bad the situation is there," Esparza says.

If you want to help in Haiti, World Care says they need hygiene supplies. Or you can make a monetary donation. World Care is located at 3538 East Ellington Place, Tucson, AZ 85713.


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