Email not displaying correctly? View it in your browser. NRI Responds to the Cholera Outbreak in Haiti On Monday, October 25th NRI's medical director Dr. Erick French recieved a plea for immediate help from actor/humanitarian Sean Penn's organization in Haiti, JP/HRO. 4 days later, NRI medical volunteers were on the ground, and since then NRI has had an almost constant flow of volunteers in Haiti assisting JP/HRO, Partners in Health and Doctors Without Borders (MSF) with the fight against cholera.  Everyday lives are literally being saved by volunteers who are willing to sacrifice for others. The Pan American Health Organization predicts the outbreak is far from over and in the coming months, many more medical volunteers, supplies and resources will be needed to effectively respond to the crisis.   Photo: Associated Press New Realities Returning NRI volunteer, RN Mandy Hengeveld recounts her recent experience fighting cholera in Haiti "We arrived in Hinche with the ever present UN military standing guard. Immediately we were oriented to the Cholera tents and briefed on the plan of care. The treatment of Cholera patients took place on the front grounds of the Hinche hospital in military tents set up solely for this purpose. It is very clear that they do not want to mix Cholera patients or even their families with others visiting the hospital as evidenced by a large plywood board installed to segregate them. They have been fighting Cholera only since October 23, so systems are still being set up to manage the dozens of people requiring immediate lifesaving care. Now it may sound like I am exagerrating but a patient infected with Cholera can become extremely dehydrated within a very short time frame i.e. a couple of hours. It was no surprise that many of the patients that were brought to us were difficult to rouse.   My first impression of the tent hospital was of shock. Stretcher upon stretcher of sick people. Sunken eyes,taut skin. The occasional moan and the frequent sound of rushing watery diarrhea. Sometimes you could lead yourself to believe there were waterfalls nearby. While we came prepared with supplies it became quickly evident that it was all not enough. Two of us nurses would take on an eight hour shift and attempt to care for 90+ patients with very little resources. The Haitian nurses were burning out fast, this is mandatory duty for them seven days a week; eight hours a day with no end in sight.   Our motto was "we will try our best because that is the best we can do" which is exactly what we did. We rehydrated patients as quickly as we could with the IV supplies we had, made pediatric arm boards out of card board, strung IV bags up with the tent flap canvas loops, kept hypothermic patients warm by wrapping them in garbage bags, cleaned dirty bottoms with our limited supply of cotton baton and when that ran out closed our eyes as the housekeepers would mop the floor, the bed and then the patients as really it was the best we could do at that moment. We worked through power outages and by the light of our quickly dimming headlamps started IV's with gloves many sizes too big because that is all we had. We tried not to trip over the roots that were beneath the USAID tarp floors as we checked patients radial pulses and their IV's. We witnessed a parentless four year old pull a 12 inch worm out of his mouth; and who then proceeded to vomit up another one. This inspired us to deworm the entire tent (thank goodness deworming medication was available). We laid a nameless man to rest beneath the tree near the pile of burning trash whose smoke would often blow into the medical tents. We worked on conflict resolution when the housekeepers wanted to strike. We consoled patients who had already lost four children to Cholera and was keen to join them. We wondered many times if there was any coincidence that the Haitian word for "ouch" sounded like "why?". Everytime we started IV's were they asking us "why" there was all this suffering? We smiled at the locals as we tried to make the best of a very, very, very challenging situation.   What I take home from the experience is the fact that we did make a difference. My face to remember is little four year old Francesca, who on her way to her grandfather's funeral became acutely ill with Cholera. She came to us in her mother's arms barely responsive with her eyes rolling back in her head. I will hold her memory dear to my heart, as the next day, after 24 hours of intravenous fluids,  she asked for me and while laughing, smiling and giggling wanted to wave "bye bye".   If we only made the difference for one person, the experience was all worth it. However, I can happily say there were many positive stories like Francesca's and it was an experience worth every challenging moment."   If you would like to volunteer for future relief missions please fill out our online volunteer application form. To donate visit www.newrealityinternational.org/donate or send to: New Reality International 1420 Roosevelt Ave. Suite 7 Mount Vernon, W.A. 98273 USA New Reality International is a U.S. registered 501(c)3 organization. All donations are tax-deductible in full or in part.  Expanding Services to Guyana, South America In November, NRI sent a dental relief team to Guyana, South America to provide services to remote and impoverished jungle communities only accessible by small aircraft and watercraft. The team was able to treat over 400 patients with over 700 extractions, toothbrushes, cleanings and oral health education. On the ground NRI partnered with Wings for Humanity, led by Jud Wickwire who did an amazing job supporting the team in all aspects.   In the past NRI has worked with God's Helping Hands in Machaquila, Guatemala under the direction of Dr. Elden Lopez.  We hope to be able to begin sending teams on a regular basis to both locations in South America. Currently, we are in need of funds for the purchase of oral surgery instrument sets that NRI can use in the years to come. Building Hope When photographer Nicole Wolf returned to Haiti this September, she began work on a new project to change the lives of three Haitian families by re-building the homes they lost in the tragic earthquake that took place in January.  Together with NRI and HCM, Nicole will help Robenson Louis, Merizema Shadrac and Ribinson Cherisma re-build one step at a time.  The goal for this project is to raise $10,000 by Christmas and we are over half way there!  Donate now to help us reach our goal. Child Sponsorship Continues Thank you to those who have generously sponsored orphans this year. Several beautiful children are now able to receive shelter, food, clothing and an education at the new  Haitian Christian Mission orphanage in Fonds Parisien, Haiti. We hope to continue sponsoring many more needy children in the coming year. "Hope in the Midst of Rubble" Benefit Concert Grace Unlimited Ministries co-founder, Denise Grant and Emily Garcia of East Valley Medical Center sponsored and orchestrated a benefit concert for NRI on October 9th.  The event had many talented performers and a fantastic turnout and raised over $6000 for NRI's various Haiti relief efforts. Many thanks go out to all who were involved in the event and all who attended! If you are interested in putting together a fund raising event for NRI please contact us at 360-830-6741 or e-mail info@newrealityinternational.org Photo: Nicole Wolf for NRI Forward this email