The Adventure Guy Carl Drews new climb for Haitians
By Elaine Starner
December 11, 2010
517
Carl Drew is known to many in Holmes County as the adventure guy. He has pursued many quests that benefit a cause and has often been welcomed to this area to tell his inspirational stories of mountain climbing, kayaking, and bike riding.
As the adventure guy visits Holmes County Dec. 10-17, he brings news of the assignment into which he has poured his life during the past year, an undertaking that might be the most demanding, exhausting, and rewarding mission yet. His goal is to save lives every day in Haiti.
In this season of joy and good cheer, another great wave of death and misery is ravaging Haiti.
Less than a year after the earthquake that devastated the tiny country, an outbreak of cholera is sweeping through Haitis populace. The disease had not been reported in the country for almost 100 years, and some blamed peacekeeping troops for bringing the bacteria to the island this fall. In the wake of the earthquake, the extreme poverty, lack of clean water, scarcity of food, poor sanitation, and strained health care facilities have rendered Haitis people almost defenseless against the epidemic.
An intestinal infection, cholera can be treated by rehydration, but in a country where medical treatment might be hours away, people are dying rather than being saved. Even in areas where care is available, treatment is limited by a shortage of medical personnel, supplies, and proper facilities.
Thus the urgency Drew feels in his search for angels to help save lives in Haiti.
Shortly after the earthquake last January, he and his wife, Heather, gave volunteer time to Angel Wings International (AWI). In 2007, this organization of volunteers began medical missions to Haiti. Four times a year, AWI sent teams of professionals to the country to conduct health clinics, giving care to many people who had never before seen a doctor. During these visits, every volunteer could see the urgent and overwhelming need in Haiti for health care. A vision and passion grew, and AWI began to raise funds for a permanent clinic and hospital in Jacmel.
Then came the earthquake of January 2010, and funds that had been set aside for the new clinic were drained as emergency help and supplies were rushed to Haiti. But the dream was not abandoned. Angel Wings International is committed not just to providing volunteer medical trips, but to changing the entire picture of health care in Haiti.
In Haiti, people die from things no one would ever die of in the United States, said Drew. People could be saved by something as simple as an IV or an antibiotic, but the care and the supplies are just not available. Angel Wings International wants to change that.
Since first volunteering for AWI, Drews days and weeks have been devoted to the vision for a health clinic in Jacmel. Seeing the poverty and the need in Haiti changes the way you look at life, at your own possessions, at the affluent American culture. Once you see, youll see forever, he said, referring to the awareness of great need.
On Nov. 12, the clinic broke ground in Jacmel. Skilled local workers were hired to dig the footer and do the foundation work. The lack of heavy equipment in Haiti means that all work must be done manually. To excavate, men swung pickaxes, and they moved earth and rocks by wheelbarrow.
AWI moves forward with each stage of building only as funds are donated. The dream is to have a functional facility by Jan. 12, 2011, the anniversary of the earthquake. Drew emphasized the word functional. In Jacmel, that means walls and a roof, a place to see and treat patients. Much of the finish work will be done later, as more funds come in.
But every day more lives are lost. At the end of November, the government reported more than 1,700 deaths and 75,000 people infected. The U.N. has projected that 400,000 could contract the disease. Drew puts this into perspective by quoting a per capita conversion to the U.S. population. Such an epidemic in the states would mean 50,000 people dead and 12.4 million sick that could die if not treated. Those numbers, to Americans, are almost unimaginable.
For most people in the United States, it is difficult to imagine what life must be like in Haiti, the poorest country in the western hemisphere. In the last year, its people have suffered through a devastating earthquake, the cholera epidemic, Hurricane Tomas, and a recent chaotic election that left the country in an uproar. People live in tent cities; possessions are often no more than a small pile of clothes on the dirt floor; beds might be pieces of broken plywood; and rivers of untreated sewage run just a few feet from living quarters.
For a graphic look at the desperate need for medical care and a taste of life in the tent cities, watch Drews video at http://www.youtube.com/carldrew. The video is entitled, Haiti still needs help.
The U.N. has called for more funds to fight the cholera epidemic. The United States and other countries have already promised millions of dollars of relief aid. The question might very well be, Where has all that money gone? Hasnt that aid made any difference in Haiti?
Drew explained that much of the money promised by countries has yet to be sent. As with many aid efforts, money does not always make it to where it should go. And the situation and problems in Haiti are so complex, even when money does arrive, its difficult to get things accomplished.
For those friends of Haiti, angels ready to help, Drews advice is to find organizations who already have a presence in the country, who have projects underway and are applying all funds directly to the projects. Angel Wings International is just such an organization. Money donated for the clinic goes directly to that building project. Donors know exactly where their contributions go and can follow the building progress on the website.
Drew is happy to talk with friends who would like to know more about the vision of Angel Wings International. He can be contacted at carl@angelwingsinternational.org or at 260-438-6463.
