Earthquake Relief Efforts in Haiti
Earthquake Relief Efforts in Haiti
Haiti Earthquake Relief
Written by Richard Ruppenstein, PA WCC
Hello Everyone,
If you are reading this article, you are among of a group of special people who have asked to be part of an adventure that will change the destiny of 28 abandoned children and several staff members living in tents amongst the rubble of the recent earthquake in Haiti. This is the first of several newsletters that will keep you all up to date on the progress of rebuilding the children's orphanage and new medical clinic in a small town named Gidon Haiti. If at any time anyone has any advice or questions please feel free to email me.
Welcome to the REACH HAITI ORPHANAGE and Medical Center rebuilding mission. This project is funded and administrated by people who care for people. The mission is two fold, the first part being the rebuilding of the orphanage that once was home to 28 children and 6 staff members. The second part is the construction of a medical clinic on the orphanage grounds which will provide free medical care to anyone who shows up at the front door. The total length of the mission will be 12 months and opening day at the medical center is set for September 1, 2011. Big bucks, lots of supplies and many volunteers are needed to complete such a vast endeavor but we will complete it with your help.
This mission began after I returned home from Haiti where I had provided medical care to the victims of the earthquake. My thoughts drifted back to Haiti frequently and I wanted to find a way to thank a group of people who adopted me while I was there. I met a group of missionaries who arrived from Tennessee only 6 months before the earthquake and who had taken over a bankrupt orphanage which was about to close it's doors. Already broke, the earthquake then struck the island and the orphanage was destroyed. Although they had no funds, very little food and water, they opened their doors to me and provided me with safe haven at night, food, water and a guide and translator. Without their help my trip would not have been as nearly productive as it was. My guide took me to the smallest alleyways within the piles of city rubble and we helped almost 300 injured during our week long adventure. After returning to New York I kept in touch with the staff at the orphanage and they reported to me the continued suffering of the people of Haiti and of the children at the orphanage. There remains a total lack of health care anywhere but in the major cities and these tent facilities are so overwhelmed patients wait days to be seen by a health care practitioner. Using the last of their savings, the owners of the orphanage recently purchased a 2.5 acre piece of land which is located 15 miles outside of Port Au Prince. There are no funds remaining to begin construction of the buildings which will make up the orphanage and medical center.
Our mission has a beginning and an end and will not drag on for years as many projects do. The mission begins today, September 1, 2010 and ends when the children move into their new cottages and the first patient is seen in the new medical clinic which will be on or before September 1, 2011. The first order of business is to construct a perimeter/security wall surrounding the 2.5 acre campus which needs to be 12 feet high with a very large metal entrance gate. This will require 40,500 cement blocks and truck loads of sand, cement, metal rebar and topped off with razor wire fence on top of the wall. The construction of the wall is necessary before construction is started on the buildings because of the high crime rate in Haiti and the poor availability of all supplies. Our first fund raising event will be for friends to buy all the cement block needed for the construction of the wall. Two dollars buys one block, one bucket of cement and allows us to move one step ahead. Blocks will be sold at two dollars a piece, in bundles of ten. If all the blocks are sold we will have enough money to buy the blocks, sand, cement, rebar and razor wire to complete the wall project. Approximately another 58,500 cement blocks will be needed to complete the buildings which will make up the orphanage campus and medical center. 99,ooo is a huge amount of cement blocks and by purchasing them in Haiti we will stimulate the local economy in many ways. If we sell all the block needed we should have enough money to build the wall and all campus buildings including all needed supplies and labor. A very big task but a doable task. With your help and one cement block at a time we will build this safe environment for the children and staff and provide much needed medical care to the local community for many years to come.
We are being assisted by several local schools and churches who will be running car washes, cake sales, garage sales and a road rally/scavenger hunt in the near future. We will keep you inform of all events and hope you can support them. We are also accepting donations on behalf of the 28 orphans and 6 staff members who lost everything during the earthquake. They need all types of clothing, shoes, school supplies, flashlights, batteries, arts and crafts supplies, used computers/laptops, software, notebooks, pots, pans, utensils, plastic plates, cups, glasses. Also needed for construction are electrical outlets, switches, gfi outlets, indoor wiring, ceiling lights, ceiling fans, kitchen and bath fixtures, tools. We also need to pay for the container to ship the supplies which runs about $5,500.00 plus import taxes when you arrive at Haitian customs. If anyone knows a world-wide shipping company please let me know.
All of you can act as salesmen for us by selling the cement blocks to friends, family and coworkers. After a sale send me the customers name, address and email address and we will forward a receipt and thank you card from the children of Haiti. Those persons who need a 501C receipt may make their checks out to my Church, Mt. Sinai Congregation Church. The Church has a long history of providing volunteers and funds to third world countries in times of disaster and is part of the foundation of this mission. All funds held by them will be used only in the rebuilding project in Haiti.
As construction proceeds we will send periodic photographs of the new campus, school and medical center as it evolves. Please feel free to send me email addresses of friends who would like to be included in these mailings.
I have accepted an offer to become a founding member of the Board of Directors of the new Reach Haiti Orphanage. I will also hold the position of Medical Director of the new Reach Haiti Medical Center until qualified native personal can take over the practice after it is completed. I will have a birds eye view of the new complex long after construction is completed and will be able to provide the staff with guidance for many years to come. You can all be assured that all the funds donated will be put to very good use under close supervision.
Thanks again for all your help in the past and in the future.
Please have donation checks made out to me, Richard Ruppenstein. For info you can reach me at DrRichPA@aol.com or call 631-780-2718. Supplies may be dropped off at my office at 102 Prospect Street in Port Jefferson. Please call 631-473-0611 for drop off days and times. Attached are several photos of my trip to Haiti and the children of the orphanage. One cement block at a time we will build this vision.
Thank you.
Rich Ruppenstein
Haiti Earthquake Relief
Written by Richard Ruppenstein, PA WCC
Hello Everyone,
If you are reading this article, you are among of a group of special people who have asked to be part of an adventure that will change the destiny of 28 abandoned children and several staff members living in tents amongst the rubble of the recent earthquake in Haiti. This is the first of several newsletters that will keep you all up to date on the progress of rebuilding the children's orphanage and new medical clinic in a small town named Gidon Haiti. If at any time anyone has any advice or questions please feel free to email me.
Welcome to the REACH HAITI ORPHANAGE and Medical Center rebuilding mission. This project is funded and administrated by people who care for people. The mission is two fold, the first part being the rebuilding of the orphanage that once was home to 28 children and 6 staff members. The second part is the construction of a medical clinic on the orphanage grounds which will provide free medical care to anyone who shows up at the front door. The total length of the mission will be 12 months and opening day at the medical center is set for September 1, 2011. Big bucks, lots of supplies and many volunteers are needed to complete such a vast endeavor but we will complete it with your help.
This mission began after I returned home from Haiti where I had provided medical care to the victims of the earthquake. My thoughts drifted back to Haiti frequently and I wanted to find a way to thank a group of people who adopted me while I was there. I met a group of missionaries who arrived from Tennessee only 6 months before the earthquake and who had taken over a bankrupt orphanage which was about to close it's doors. Already broke, the earthquake then struck the island and the orphanage was destroyed. Although they had no funds, very little food and water, they opened their doors to me and provided me with safe haven at night, food, water and a guide and translator. Without their help my trip would not have been as nearly productive as it was. My guide took me to the smallest alleyways within the piles of city rubble and we helped almost 300 injured during our week long adventure. After returning to New York I kept in touch with the staff at the orphanage and they reported to me the continued suffering of the people of Haiti and of the children at the orphanage. There remains a total lack of health care anywhere but in the major cities and these tent facilities are so overwhelmed patients wait days to be seen by a health care practitioner. Using the last of their savings, the owners of the orphanage recently purchased a 2.5 acre piece of land which is located 15 miles outside of Port Au Prince. There are no funds remaining to begin construction of the buildings which will make up the orphanage and medical center.
Our mission has a beginning and an end and will not drag on for years as many projects do. The mission begins today, September 1, 2010 and ends when the children move into their new cottages and the first patient is seen in the new medical clinic which will be on or before September 1, 2011. The first order of business is to construct a perimeter/security wall surrounding the 2.5 acre campus which needs to be 12 feet high with a very large metal entrance gate. This will require 40,500 cement blocks and truck loads of sand, cement, metal rebar and topped off with razor wire fence on top of the wall. The construction of the wall is necessary before construction is started on the buildings because of the high crime rate in Haiti and the poor availability of all supplies. Our first fund raising event will be for friends to buy all the cement block needed for the construction of the wall. Two dollars buys one block, one bucket of cement and allows us to move one step ahead. Blocks will be sold at two dollars a piece, in bundles of ten. If all the blocks are sold we will have enough money to buy the blocks, sand, cement, rebar and razor wire to complete the wall project. Approximately another 58,500 cement blocks will be needed to complete the buildings which will make up the orphanage campus and medical center. 99,ooo is a huge amount of cement blocks and by purchasing them in Haiti we will stimulate the local economy in many ways. If we sell all the block needed we should have enough money to build the wall and all campus buildings including all needed supplies and labor. A very big task but a doable task. With your help and one cement block at a time we will build this safe environment for the children and staff and provide much needed medical care to the local community for many years to come.
We are being assisted by several local schools and churches who will be running car washes, cake sales, garage sales and a road rally/scavenger hunt in the near future. We will keep you inform of all events and hope you can support them. We are also accepting donations on behalf of the 28 orphans and 6 staff members who lost everything during the earthquake. They need all types of clothing, shoes, school supplies, flashlights, batteries, arts and crafts supplies, used computers/laptops, software, notebooks, pots, pans, utensils, plastic plates, cups, glasses. Also needed for construction are electrical outlets, switches, gfi outlets, indoor wiring, ceiling lights, ceiling fans, kitchen and bath fixtures, tools. We also need to pay for the container to ship the supplies which runs about $5,500.00 plus import taxes when you arrive at Haitian customs. If anyone knows a world-wide shipping company please let me know.
All of you can act as salesmen for us by selling the cement blocks to friends, family and coworkers. After a sale send me the customers name, address and email address and we will forward a receipt and thank you card from the children of Haiti. Those persons who need a 501C receipt may make their checks out to my Church, Mt. Sinai Congregation Church. The Church has a long history of providing volunteers and funds to third world countries in times of disaster and is part of the foundation of this mission. All funds held by them will be used only in the rebuilding project in Haiti.
As construction proceeds we will send periodic photographs of the new campus, school and medical center as it evolves. Please feel free to send me email addresses of friends who would like to be included in these mailings.
I have accepted an offer to become a founding member of the Board of Directors of the new Reach Haiti Orphanage. I will also hold the position of Medical Director of the new Reach Haiti Medical Center until qualified native personal can take over the practice after it is completed. I will have a birds eye view of the new complex long after construction is completed and will be able to provide the staff with guidance for many years to come. You can all be assured that all the funds donated will be put to very good use under close supervision.
Thanks again for all your help in the past and in the future.
Please have donation checks made out to me, Richard Ruppenstein. For info you can reach me at DrRichPA@aol.com or call 631-780-2718. Supplies may be dropped off at my office at 102 Prospect Street in Port Jefferson. Please call 631-473-0611 for drop off days and times. Attached are several photos of my trip to Haiti and the children of the orphanage. One cement block at a time we will build this vision.
Thank you.
Rich Ruppenstein
