A Message from Rick Santos

Dear Friends,

In Haiti we have witnessed one of the most horrific natural disasters of the 21st Century with the earthquake that destroyed much of the capital city of Port au Prince on January 12th.

Together with two of my colleagues, Sarla Chand and Ann Varghese, I was trapped under the collapse of the Hotel Montana for 55 long hours. With us were three Methodist colleagues whom we had arranged to meet at the hotel to discuss collaboration both in Haiti and in several countries in Africa. When we were trapped, we thought a lot about what the people of Haiti were going through and we prayed several times, not only for our own rescue, but for the people of Haiti and their nation. I vowed that should we manage to survive this terrible event, IMA would be committed to working with Haitians to address the health needs of this shattered population, and I would come back to help.

More than a month has passed and in that time my colleagues and I have healed (sadly, two of our Methodist friends, Rev. Sam Dixon and Rev. Clint Raab, did not survive), but the destruction is far worse than we imagined. Haitians face many years of rebuilding. My sincere personal request to each and every one of you who reads this newsletter is that you will help us to help our dear brothers and sisters in Haiti, now and for the long term. IMA will walk with our Haitian brothers and sisters as long as it takes.

Paul Derstine, who was my predecessor here at IMA before his retirement, and who spent ten years living in Haiti, has just returned from an assessment mission with our country representative, Dr Abdel Direny. A summary of their preliminary findings is available on page one of this newsletter.

I hope that the stories we bring to you in this bulletin give you inspiration. It is our commitment that IMA World Health work now and in the future with Haitians -- in their communities, hospitals, schools – to rebuild and find long-term solutions to the health needs of their country.

In partnership,
Rick Santos
President and CEO
IMA World Health