One Year Later: Remembering those lost, celebrating the resilience of the living

This Wednesday, January 12, 2011, marked the anniversary of the devastating earthquake that struck Haiti just one year ago. HAS and the Friends of HAS commemorated the event in a number of ways, which we'd like to share with you now.


In Haiti, at the Hanger Clinic at HAS, a special remembrance ceremony was held. Photographer Martha Rial uploaded a small album of photographs directly from Haiti that day. To view the photographs, click on the image above! More pictures from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette website can be seen here. For more media links relating to the earthquake anniversary, visit HAS's "In the News" page by clicking here.


In Pittsburgh on January 12th, an exhibition of artwork from the collection of the Friends of HAS Haiti went on display at the Andy Warhol Museum in Pittsburgh. The show, titled UPSIDE DOWN: Haitian Art in the Aftermath of Chaos, included works from both before and after the earthquake. If you are in the Pittsburgh area and have the opportunity, this exhibition will be open to the public through the end of January. For visitor info at the Warhol, click here.

(Special thanks to Bill Bollendorf for lending some pieces from his own collection to the show, as well as to Miller Frames, and Caliban Bookshop!)

Work For Haiti: An Audio Slide Show by Martha Rial

Click above image to view audio slide show!

January 19, 2010 Evening

My father turned 87 years old today.

Many this last week have commented that “anpil moun ap soufri anpil anpil. Se la viv an." Many people are suffering very very much. This is life.

This is usually followed by “Bon dje pral ede nou.” God will help us.

The recognition of suffering as part of life is not said with condemnation – or resignation. It is an acknowledgment of the situation in which they now find themselves.

Faith here is powerful. I remain deeply moved each time I hear expressions of faith in the midst of this.

The hospital halls and outside courtyard areas remain occupied.

More steam in. We continue to get the very severe cases.

Today there was a reassessment and discharge of those who were ready. Or in some cases not ready, but nothing more could be done.

This is a difficult reality. “Bon dje pral ede yo.” God will help them.

Our staff has worked, and continues to work, non-stop to provide care and they are, along with many supplies, stretched to the limit.

On surgical rounds this morning we methodically moved from patient to patient. Our docs making decisions about how to handle each situation.

They were greeted with relief and questions.

During what is mostly a very serious process we found laughter. A gift from a very special patient. In the midst of an outdoor area sat a woman. One of those incredibly beautiful elders whose faces defy description. She is blind. On her bed sat her young grandson.

I’m not 100% certain of what she was saying, but it was heartfelt and insistent and not to be ignored. She was giving us all what I believe was a piece of her mind. And her assessment of the situation.

With every attempt to move on came another commentary. Our quiet surgeons soon found themselves stopping for affectionate banter.

The entire ward was drawn in.

A new team of surgeons arrived this morning. They went immediately to the operating room. Rumor has it that they are very energetic and determined.

With this increased capacity to provide surgical intervention comes the increased need for post-operative nursing.

If I could wish for something else to arrive today it would be more nurses and pain medications.

And Dad, I’m wishing you a happy birthday.

MASH - Tuesday, January 19, 2010

The following reflections were written this morning by Denise English, physical therapist, and director of our Rehabilitation Technician Training Program, who has been working at HAS since before the earthquake.

Today I wake to the sound of helicopters overhead.

Our doctors and nurses who were stranded in PAP returned on Sunday.

A team of surgeons arrived. The US Coast Guard brought them in from Ft Lauderdale.

Much needed back-up for our staff. Also a sign to those waiting that indeed the rumors were true. Help was coming.

Dr. Maibach [HAS boardmember and former medical director of the hospital] was in Port Au Prince when the quake happened. He spoke at morning medical meeting yesterday. He expressed his deeply felt sense of having returned home – home here to HAS.

The team from Ft. Lauderdale was to work through last evening and into the early morning – we heard the 3:00 am beep of the vehicle taking them to Cap Haitien. They will be exchanged for an arriving team.

It took them 48 hours to get here. Long circuitous route. They are hoping for a more direct trip home.

Aircraft continue to pass above us. Dawn is breaking. Soon they’ll be visible.

I’m remembering Radar O’Reilly.