Haitian relief worker shares reflection on the devastation and struggles of the earthquake-torn country
Issue date: 2/9/10 Section: News
By Jocelyn Murray
Staff Writer
Even though life has continued to proceed as normal here at Loyola University Maryland, life for the Haitians affected by the earthquake this past January will not return to normal for months.
Fortunately for the people of Haiti, they have dedicated men and women, such as Sister Karen Schneider of Johns Hopkins University, who spend their entire lives helping developing countries in various ways.
This past Monday, Sister Karen spoke to an overcrowded audience in the basement of Knott Hall, telling Loyola students, faculty and administration about the work she had just been doing in Haiti post-catastrophe.
"This is good for me to do - it is sort of a therapy session for me. I get therapy and can inform you all of what's been going on at the same time," reflected Sister Karen.
Sister Karen, who specializes in pediatric medicine, has traveled to Haiti over 20 times participating in relief work and had another trip planned on January 16. Days before she and her group were scheduled to leave, the 7.0-earthquake struck the tiny nation. Sister Karen and crew were finally able to travel down to begin their work the Friday after the devastation.
"Everything was in rubble…place after place that we went, just rubble everywhere," said Sister Karen referring to the devastation that she saw upon her arrival. As she began her slide show, she shared some surprising statistics of the Haitian population; for example, the life expectancy of a Haitian is 47.4 years compared to 77 years for an American.
With over 200 orphans killed immediately following the earthquake, there was literally, a pile up of children who needed immediate and severe medical attention. With no hospitals to use of their own, the United Nations transformed two of their huge storage tents in hospitals.
Sister Karen described the conditions in which they were administering care and performing medical procedures: "Basically, there was one foot between each cot, with four rows of cots, each 40 cots deep. And only the patients got cots, we did not."
Staff Writer
Even though life has continued to proceed as normal here at Loyola University Maryland, life for the Haitians affected by the earthquake this past January will not return to normal for months.
Fortunately for the people of Haiti, they have dedicated men and women, such as Sister Karen Schneider of Johns Hopkins University, who spend their entire lives helping developing countries in various ways.
This past Monday, Sister Karen spoke to an overcrowded audience in the basement of Knott Hall, telling Loyola students, faculty and administration about the work she had just been doing in Haiti post-catastrophe.
"This is good for me to do - it is sort of a therapy session for me. I get therapy and can inform you all of what's been going on at the same time," reflected Sister Karen.
Sister Karen, who specializes in pediatric medicine, has traveled to Haiti over 20 times participating in relief work and had another trip planned on January 16. Days before she and her group were scheduled to leave, the 7.0-earthquake struck the tiny nation. Sister Karen and crew were finally able to travel down to begin their work the Friday after the devastation.
"Everything was in rubble…place after place that we went, just rubble everywhere," said Sister Karen referring to the devastation that she saw upon her arrival. As she began her slide show, she shared some surprising statistics of the Haitian population; for example, the life expectancy of a Haitian is 47.4 years compared to 77 years for an American.
With over 200 orphans killed immediately following the earthquake, there was literally, a pile up of children who needed immediate and severe medical attention. With no hospitals to use of their own, the United Nations transformed two of their huge storage tents in hospitals.
Sister Karen described the conditions in which they were administering care and performing medical procedures: "Basically, there was one foot between each cot, with four rows of cots, each 40 cots deep. And only the patients got cots, we did not."
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