Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres Giving Medical Care to Earthquake Victims in Haiti
Posted: Friday, January 15, 2010
by Nenita Wells
On October 15, 1999 Doctors Without Borders/Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) was awarded the International Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo .
Medecins Sans Frontieres, a private international medical relief organization was awarded for their extraordinary work in providing medical assistance in more than 80 countries.
According to the Nobel Foundation's statement, " Medecins Sans Frontieres had adhered to the fundamental principle that all disaster victims, whether the disaster is natural or human in origin, have a right to professional assistance, given as quickly and efficiently as possible. National boundaries and political circumstances or sympathies must have no influence that is to receive humanitarian help. By maintaining a high degree of independence, the organization has succeeded in living up to these ideal."
A small group of French doctors who believed that all people have the right to medical care, regardless of race, or religion founded MSF in October 1971.
A nonprofit organization based on volunteerism, provides medical needs of patients and assist local medical workers. There are more than 2,500 volunteer doctors, nurses, other medical professionals, engineers and logistic experts.
MSF performs surgery, rehabilitates local hospitals and clinics, administer sanitation and nutrition programs, trains local medical staff and provides mental health care.
On January 12, 2010 a devastating earthquake of 7.0 in the Richter scale struck near the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince with hundreds of thousands of victims. It is the worst, horrific earthquake to hit the country in 200 years.
The MSF staff and patients have been injured and their medical facilities significantly damaged.
MSF's Trinite trauma center, a 60-bed free-of-charge surgical hospital is seriously damaged. The Maternite Solidarate hospital, a 70-bed emergency obstetrics facility is also damaged.
The MSF staffs have been setting up clinics in tents in place of their own damaged medical facilities. Hundreds of injured patients are being treated at shelters and temporary facilities.
MSF is concerned about the safety of some of its own staff, 800 of them and some have not yet been accounted for because of damaged communication networks. They are sending 70 more staff expected to arrive in the coming days. A 100-bed hospital with inflatable units, two operating theaters and seven hospitalization tents are also expected to arrive, according to Medecins San Frontieres.
To help the victims of the earthquake in Haiti please contact Doctors Without Borders
http://doctorswithoutborders.org
or you can call toll-free at 1-888-392-0392 (24 hours a day, 7 days a week)
or mail donation to: Doctors Without Borders, PO Box 5030, Hagerstown, MD 21741
By Nenita Wells
15JAN2010
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The author was born in one of the 7,100 islands in the Philippines, in Leyte where the famous American five-star general, Douglas MacArthur landed during WWII. She is one of eight children, and she has thirty-five nieces and nephews. She was raised by her parents to be a good Christian. Attended public school both in Elementary and High School in the Philippines. She went to college under the work and study program, earned her bachelor's degree with honors and her first paid full-time job was as secretary to the High School Principal, her first boss was a Benedictine Sister from Germany who was the Administrator of the Catholic school. She lived in New York City from 1977 to 2004 and now lives in Providence, Rhode Island. She loves to read and write poetry.
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More commentsThanks for sharing this necessary information. Doctors Without Borders is needed now more than ever.Thank you Michael for taking the time to read and comment. The Doctors Without Borders served the Haitian community since 1991. They have been saddened by the deaths of their staff and the structural damage of their hospital and health center. Our prayers and thoughts are with them.I appreciate very much the generous five stars.Best to you and yours,~Nenita~
very touching,need of the hour,more articles like this are welcome.Thank you Dr. Ahmad for your kind words. I appreciate your taking the time to stop by, read and comment. Best regards to you and yours, ~Nenita~
Very News worthy! I really enjoyed this article and think you should get hired by a good newspaper!Thank you Matthew for your kind words. I am glad you liked my piece and thank you for taking the time to read and comment. Welcome to Searchwarp.
Best to you and yours, ~Nenita~
Nenita,I appreciate your warm and caring heart. I know about this organization very well. They deserve all the accolades that is given to them. I also want to thank you for give us the contact information at the end the article.Take care and all the best to you and yours.Sincerely,LawrenceHi Lawrence. Thank you for taking the time to stop by, read and comment. Thank you for kind words. The Doctors Without Borders has done a tremendous humanitarian work and MSF has served the Haitian communities since 1991.Be well and God bless.~Nenita~
Thank you, Nenita, for a wonderful article. My church is praying and collecting funds for the peoples of Haiti. I just hope that all the help gets through in time to save people that would otherwise be added to the list of casualties.SandraThank you Sandra for stopping by. I appreciate your taking the time to read and comment. The very first group of medical team that arrived in Port-au-Prince were the Israel medical team with their sophisticated medical equipment, personnel and medicine. Within 48 hours from the time of the disaster they were already treating the injured. In contrast, in my hometown a local church group were organizing clothes, water, non-perishable goods collection. One of the organizers was honest enough to say that the collected goods will not reach Haiti soon but in a month's time.Be well and God bless.~Nenita~
Thanks Nenita! Our prayers go out to the people of Haiti and all those that have joined the recovery effort.Thank you Dan for taking the time to read and comment. Yes, our prayers are with them. Thanks for stopping by, I appreciate it.Best regards to you and yours,
~Nenita~
Thanks for writing this article. I have heard of doctors without borders but honestly couldn't have told you anything about them. Now I can!Thanks Matt for stopping by. I appreciate your taking the time to read and comment. The Medecins Sans Frontieres/Doctors Without Borders has served the Haitian's medical needs since 1991. Kodus to them.Welcome to Searchwarp.All the best to you and yours,~Nenita~
Wonderful job! Every one of us should try to do all we can to help. Thank you.Thank you Chris. Welcome to the Searchwarp community and I appreciate your joining my fan club. All the best to you and yours, ~Nenita~
What a wonderful story to tell. Thank you.Thank you Kesha for stopping by, reading and commenting. Welcome to the Searchwarp community and thank you for joining my fan club. All the best to you and yours, ~Nenita~
I have always wondered what it would be like to join the Doctors without Borders.. I'm sure it will be fulfilling..Such a noble group, indeed! We will be keeping them and the earthquake victims in our prayers. God bless!Love,karenThanks Karen.Our prayers are with them.With love and prayers,Tita Nenet
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