Reconstructing hope in Haiti
Alumni LEAP to aid earthquake victims
BY JESSICA STARK
Rice News staff
Rice News staff
Though not much information was readily available when Gabriel Garcia '00 heard about the earthquake in Haiti, he knew one thing: His sister, Dr. Alejandra (Ale) Garcia Mitchell '98, would find a way to help the victims.
"A lot of people say they support a cause, and some people will donate, but she's the only person I know that will do something about it," Garcia said.
Within days of the earthquake, Mitchell and her husband, Ian, were on a plane to the devastated country to offer medical care and assistance to those who needed it most.
"The region is pulverized," Dr. Ian Mitchell said. "Everything has been crushed."
"A lot of people say they support a cause, and some people will donate, but she's the only person I know that will do something about it," Garcia said.
Within days of the earthquake, Mitchell and her husband, Ian, were on a plane to the devastated country to offer medical care and assistance to those who needed it most.
"The region is pulverized," Dr. Ian Mitchell said. "Everything has been crushed."
A plastic surgeon with the Life Enhancement Association for People (LEAP) Foundation, Ale Mitchell is no stranger to operating in the less-than-ideal conditions of developing and poor nations. The doctors in her organization routinely travel to India, Belize, Guatemala, Zimbabwe, Laos and the Dominican Republic to give specialized medical service to the people there.
"In Port-au-Prince, we've been dealing mostly with crush injuries," Ian Mitchell said. "The quake spared no one."
In Haiti, Ale Mitchell has taken on another role: head of operations for reconstructive services. She is charged with overseeing the efforts by plastic surgeons. Not only is she doing surgeries, she is in charge of all the logistics and on-site operational activities, like ensuring that medical volunteers for plastic surgery who arrive in Haiti know where they are assigned.
Dr. Craig Hobar, president of the LEAP Foundation, said that the organization would not have been able to carry out work in Haiti without Ale Mitchell. He said she is the key person coordinating all reconstructive surgery efforts and has traveled around from clinic to clinic finding ways to better organize and serve.
"Dr. Mitchell is a godsend," Hobar said. "She has been such a blessing to us. We wouldn't have been able to step up to the plate and do what we've been doing without Dr. Mitchell. I've never met a person quite like her, who balances all the qualities of being an outstanding doctor with being such a warm and compassionate person. She's fearless too. She always does whatever it takes."
Her brother isn't surprised to hear such praise.
"This is Ale," Garcia said. "She dives in. She is doing what she loves doing. Ale went into plastics because she wanted to put a knee back on or help a kid with a cleft palette or deformity. She helps those who would never have an opportunity to get medical attention. She pretty much goes to the worst places in the world to help people, mostly kids."
"In Port-au-Prince, we've been dealing mostly with crush injuries," Ian Mitchell said. "The quake spared no one."
In Haiti, Ale Mitchell has taken on another role: head of operations for reconstructive services. She is charged with overseeing the efforts by plastic surgeons. Not only is she doing surgeries, she is in charge of all the logistics and on-site operational activities, like ensuring that medical volunteers for plastic surgery who arrive in Haiti know where they are assigned.
Dr. Craig Hobar, president of the LEAP Foundation, said that the organization would not have been able to carry out work in Haiti without Ale Mitchell. He said she is the key person coordinating all reconstructive surgery efforts and has traveled around from clinic to clinic finding ways to better organize and serve.
"Dr. Mitchell is a godsend," Hobar said. "She has been such a blessing to us. We wouldn't have been able to step up to the plate and do what we've been doing without Dr. Mitchell. I've never met a person quite like her, who balances all the qualities of being an outstanding doctor with being such a warm and compassionate person. She's fearless too. She always does whatever it takes."
Her brother isn't surprised to hear such praise.
"This is Ale," Garcia said. "She dives in. She is doing what she loves doing. Ale went into plastics because she wanted to put a knee back on or help a kid with a cleft palette or deformity. She helps those who would never have an opportunity to get medical attention. She pretty much goes to the worst places in the world to help people, mostly kids."
He said that in Haiti, his sister has been faced with many tough decisions. She has had to perform amputations on many people to prevent further infections and damage, even in cases that would require reconstructive surgery, because she didn't have the resources she needed.
"It hurts to see her not be able to help in all the ways she wants," he said. "What she doesn't see is that just her being there is helping. She has been instrumental in LEAP getting the manpower and supplies it has needed."
Despite the terrible conditions and the enormity of disaster, Ian Mitchell said, there is still hope. He has seen the international community come together.
"We've been working alongside the French, and the Brazilian Air Force flew patients in to see us," he said. "It's an international effort at this point. We're all in it together. The people in Haiti need that and sustained medical attention -- not just to save lives now, but to work on rebuilding for their future."
Putting others first
Ian Mitchell said that when they first arrived to Haiti, people would surround them by the truckloads when they learned they are doctors. He and his wife had to treat people in the streets and were scared by the unsafe conditions but worked on through the nights.
"We operated from dawn until about 10 p.m. when they had to turn down the generators to conserve power," he said. "Even then, we didn't want to stop. Ale didn't want to stop helping."
"I'm pretty sure she hasn't slept," Garcia said. "She was there for about a week and came home for 48 hours to gather supplies and do some organizational things. And then she was on a plane back to Haiti. Maybe she slept then. All I know is my sister always puts others first."
Garcia said Mitchell's commitment to service inspired him to do what he could. His consulting, engineering and IT company, TechStudios LLC, donated hours and effort to design and launch the LEAP Web site. The company's programmers are installing databases to help process forms for volunteers to apply to LEAP.
Already Garcia has seen many Rice-affiliated doctors volunteer to help. Even before the site launched three days ago, his fellow alumni were contacting him to ask how they could help in Haiti when they read some of his Facebook postings about his sister's work.
"I didn't really have to reach to anyone -- they started reaching out to me," Garcia said. "I got a bunch of e-mails from Rice alumni saying, 'I'm a doctor. I'm ready to go. When do you need me?' We have a few Rice people who are on their way there right now."
"It hurts to see her not be able to help in all the ways she wants," he said. "What she doesn't see is that just her being there is helping. She has been instrumental in LEAP getting the manpower and supplies it has needed."
Despite the terrible conditions and the enormity of disaster, Ian Mitchell said, there is still hope. He has seen the international community come together.
"We've been working alongside the French, and the Brazilian Air Force flew patients in to see us," he said. "It's an international effort at this point. We're all in it together. The people in Haiti need that and sustained medical attention -- not just to save lives now, but to work on rebuilding for their future."
Putting others first
Ian Mitchell said that when they first arrived to Haiti, people would surround them by the truckloads when they learned they are doctors. He and his wife had to treat people in the streets and were scared by the unsafe conditions but worked on through the nights.
"We operated from dawn until about 10 p.m. when they had to turn down the generators to conserve power," he said. "Even then, we didn't want to stop. Ale didn't want to stop helping."
"I'm pretty sure she hasn't slept," Garcia said. "She was there for about a week and came home for 48 hours to gather supplies and do some organizational things. And then she was on a plane back to Haiti. Maybe she slept then. All I know is my sister always puts others first."
Garcia said Mitchell's commitment to service inspired him to do what he could. His consulting, engineering and IT company, TechStudios LLC, donated hours and effort to design and launch the LEAP Web site. The company's programmers are installing databases to help process forms for volunteers to apply to LEAP.
Already Garcia has seen many Rice-affiliated doctors volunteer to help. Even before the site launched three days ago, his fellow alumni were contacting him to ask how they could help in Haiti when they read some of his Facebook postings about his sister's work.
"I didn't really have to reach to anyone -- they started reaching out to me," Garcia said. "I got a bunch of e-mails from Rice alumni saying, 'I'm a doctor. I'm ready to go. When do you need me?' We have a few Rice people who are on their way there right now."
Rice's international reach
Camille Boon '00, an obstetrician/gynecologist, is waiting for her assignment through LEAP. She made arrangements with the other partners in her practice and her patients so that she could contribute to a cause that is so dear to her heart.
"When I was a freshman at Rice, I went on a service trip to Haiti with Rice's Community Involvement Center," Boon recalled. "Ironically and sadly, that's how I first met Diane (Berry) Caves. We were on the same trip. I'm sure that trip is part of the reason she volunteered for her post in Haiti."
Caves '00 is an alumna who has been missing since the powerful earthquake severely damaged the Hotel Montana, where she was staying in Port-au-Prince. Caves is on temporary assignment in Haiti for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"As soon as I heard about the earthquake, I started figuring how I could go back to Haiti," Boon said. "I had been there before, and I'm a doctor who speaks fluent French. I wanted to help."
Boon said commitment to service was instilled in her during her time at Rice.
"Rice really has an international reach and encourages its students to think and act globally. It creates and emphasizes opportunities for students to travel, study and serve abroad," she said.
Garcia said that's a reason why he thinks he'll be seeing even more Rice names Haiti-bound in the near future.
"We need physician assistants, nurses, doctors and those trained in administering first aid," Garcia said. "We hope that by tapping into our Rice network that we can have many, many more volunteers. Money is great too; we need it to buy the supplies and equipment required for the surgical procedures. However you can help, help."
Hobar said that in addition to the ways currently listed on LEAP's Web site to volunteer and donate, the organization is developing a long-term plan for helping Haiti rebuild.
"Because of our unique relationship with the region -- we've been working in the Dominican Republic since 1991 -- we have a long-term plan and commitment," Hobar said. "We want to help build orphanages and missions. We want to find ways to take care of the nation's homeless. We want to develop a prosthetic program for the victims of the quake. There are and will be lots of opportunities for people to help."
Find ways to help on LEAP's Web site at http://www.leap-foundation.org/.
For information on what current Rice students are doing to provide relief efforts to Haiti, visit http://www.media.rice.edu/media/NewsBot.asp?MODE=VIEW&ID=13611.
Camille Boon '00, an obstetrician/gynecologist, is waiting for her assignment through LEAP. She made arrangements with the other partners in her practice and her patients so that she could contribute to a cause that is so dear to her heart.
Caves '00 is an alumna who has been missing since the powerful earthquake severely damaged the Hotel Montana, where she was staying in Port-au-Prince. Caves is on temporary assignment in Haiti for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
"As soon as I heard about the earthquake, I started figuring how I could go back to Haiti," Boon said. "I had been there before, and I'm a doctor who speaks fluent French. I wanted to help."
Boon said commitment to service was instilled in her during her time at Rice.
"Rice really has an international reach and encourages its students to think and act globally. It creates and emphasizes opportunities for students to travel, study and serve abroad," she said.
Garcia said that's a reason why he thinks he'll be seeing even more Rice names Haiti-bound in the near future.
"We need physician assistants, nurses, doctors and those trained in administering first aid," Garcia said. "We hope that by tapping into our Rice network that we can have many, many more volunteers. Money is great too; we need it to buy the supplies and equipment required for the surgical procedures. However you can help, help."
Hobar said that in addition to the ways currently listed on LEAP's Web site to volunteer and donate, the organization is developing a long-term plan for helping Haiti rebuild.
"Because of our unique relationship with the region -- we've been working in the Dominican Republic since 1991 -- we have a long-term plan and commitment," Hobar said. "We want to help build orphanages and missions. We want to find ways to take care of the nation's homeless. We want to develop a prosthetic program for the victims of the quake. There are and will be lots of opportunities for people to help."
Find ways to help on LEAP's Web site at http://www.leap-foundation.org/.
For information on what current Rice students are doing to provide relief efforts to Haiti, visit http://www.media.rice.edu/media/NewsBot.asp?MODE=VIEW&ID=13611.
0 comments:
Post a Comment