In The News - Help For Haiti
 There are many ways to help MIA in the United states and abroad.
Here are some ways you can continue to help.
1. Organize a fundraiser to help the victims of Haiti. We will have a donate for Haiti button on our website which will go to fund our missions for Haitian relief.
2. Forward all our emails to you friends and family.
3. Volunteer on one of our other missions to Tanzania or Jamaica- as many of our core volunteers will be focusing on Haiti, we hope not to abandon our other countries where we work.
4. Volunteer for MIA in Oakland, CA or LA, CA- contact Suzanne Tindall at info@medicineinaction.org or Lori Luttrell at Lori@medicineinaction.org
5. Contact us if you know of any possible corporate sponsors or if your company has a matching donation program.
Thank you for your kind concern for the people of Haiti. We know that it is frustrating to have to wait when you want so much to help,so we appreciate your patience.
JOIN OUR LIST
<http://visitor.constantcontact.com/email.jsp?m=1102359044684>
Dear MIA supporters,
Thank you for all your help and your compassion for our fellow brothers and sisters in Haiti. We have had many of our supporters email us wanting to help in any way they can.
As of now- we are most likely planning the mission in April or May of this year. We are also planning on continuing our efforts in Haiti over a long term committment of 5-10 years. We hope to return to Haiti on a regular basis to provide both relief medical help and ongoing development as well.
For our initial medical mission, we are asking only for volunteers who have had past international experience due to the gravity of the situation on the ground. In the future, we may be accepting volunteers without prior international experience.
If you are interested in helping in haiti- contact Dr. Kenya Numan at kenyalmn@yahoo.com,Dr. Karolynn Echols at karolynn@medicineinaction.org, <mailto:karolynn@medicineinaction.org> or Dr. Ambereen Sleemi at osleemi@yahoo.com
Dear Friends,
We are all concerned about the people of Haiti, and as a global health organization we feel we must contribute to the relief efforts. We will be pairing with another organization called Stepping Together to send a medical mission to Haiti in March or April.
If you would like to donate toward this mission, you can go to the Donate Now Button on our website and choose Haitian Relief Mission under program designation so that your dollars go to the efforts in Haiti.
In this newsletter, I have put several links to places that need your donations, or volunteer hours. I have also included the story of Deb's cousin who was rescued from under the rubble. We will be getting back to you with more solid information about a mission as soon as we can.
For now, the people of Haiti thank you for your help.
One Love,
Debbie Chong MD
Karolynn Echols, MD
Medicine in Action
QUICK LINKS TO HELP
Red Cross
UN'S World Food Program
Partners in Health
Clinton Foundation
OXFAM
Salvation Army
Red Crescent
Wyclef John Org
Update on Leann Chong by her sister Georgine Mikalsen
We saw Leann yesterday at the hospital in Melbourne, Florida. She is much more swollen and discolored on her face than I expected. Both eyes are black and blue and various scraps, bruises, swelling all over her body.
She had to go thru another round of kidney dialysis while we were there. It is to help her remove waste and excess fluid from her blood and keep a safe level of salts in her body (potassium, sodium, chloride). This procedure helps remove toxins from her bloodstream quickly. It is only a temporary procedure and fortunately not permanent.
She is not on any medication, but is so nauseated, she has not eaten since a week ago! She just drank some clear soda yesterday and didn't throw up. Her voice sounds amazingly normal. She is hurting though and as she said, feels "mashed up". They moved her to a larger room today and Mom said she is sitting on the couch now, which I know she is probably happy about, as she was very sore from sitting in one position.
Leann was interviewed on NPR which was aired on Monday night out of a radio station in Miami. Below is the link to the mp3 file. You will need to scroll down to the bottom of the page to access the audio link. Her interview is towards the middle end of the file.
http://thestory.org/archive/the_story_951_Haiti_3.mp3/view
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Leann is quite exhausted and concerned for the four Lynn University students and two faculty members who are still missing in the rubble, but given the circumstances, she is very grateful.
Thank you all for your concern.
Georgine Mikalsen
ONE STORY OF HOPE
 Leann, who is Debbie's cousin, works for Food For The Poor as a marketing director and fundraiser. She goes to Haiti and Jamaica often to help those in need and also escort donors, etc to show them how their donations are working. This time she was escorting 12 college students from Lynn University. They were finished for the day and were dropped back at the Hotel Montana at 4 pm to get refreshed for a dinner at 6 pm. The earthquake hit at 5 pm.
Leanne said the floor literally dropped from underneath her and she went along with it, along with three floors falling on top of her. She was on the second floor of a five story hotel.
She ended up on her side and facing partly down in a type of fetal position or "child's pose" from yoga. She said that being more in a down position prevented her from suffocating from the three feet of debris that was on top of her. She was covered from head to toe with concrete, glass, and metal, and there was a tiny pocket of air that was formed from the dresser that fell for her nose to breathe from. She determined that she would breathe calmly, to conserve air and stay calm. She could her others "moaning" and calling out for help as well.
She had no idea of time or how long she had been there. But she could hear voices and noise and then it would go away and she would get terrified that they wouldn't return. All this time, she talked to God,sang songs and did anything to keep her mind going. She was buried for 17 hours straight.
Finally, when the rescue team got to her, they had to cut her hair to free her from the rubble she was trapped in.
She was air lifted over to the Dominican Republic to a hospital there where she is receiving treatment. She managed to call her parents, using a doctor's cell phone.
We are so very thankful she is in a clean facility with medical staff around her. Her company has already sent representatives to her to make sure she is okay and will get her a cell phone in the morning so she can contact us. We are trying desperately to get her back her in the U.S. to make sure her injuries are taken care of properly.
Georgine Mikalsen
Volunteers Needed
Haiti Ravaged by Earthquake
Join your fellow RNs, National Nurses United members, and the Registered Nurse Response Network on an emergency mission to help Haiti.
The Registered Nurse Response Network (RNRN) is a national network of direct-care RNs that coordinates sending volunteer RNs to disaster stricken areas wherever and whenever they are needed most. RNRN was organized in 2005 when Katrina and Rita - two of the most destructive hurricanes in history - dramatically exposed America's flawed disaster relief system.
Through RNRN, we hope to send experienced RNs to provide emergency medical support to Haitians who are dire need of medical care. "We are calling on nurses throughout the U.S. to join us in this critical effort," said National Nurses United (NNU) Executive Director Rose Ann DeMoro.
HOW YOU CAN HELP?
RNs VOLUNTEER ONLINE HERE
http://www.calnurses.org/rnrn/rnrn-volunteer-form.html
MAKE SECURE ONLINE DONATIONS HERE
https://secure.ga1.org/05/rnrn_relief_fund
Or - Make checks payable to:
California Nurses Foundation 2000 Franklin St. Oakland, CA 94612
(Donations are secure, and tax-deductible to the extent of the law)
SHARE OUR RNRN BROCHURE
http://www.calnurses.org/rnrn/assets/pdf/rnrn_brochure_0907.pdf
FOLLOW US ON TWITTER
http://www.twitter.com/nationalnurses
VISIT OUR WEBSITE
http://www.nationalnursesunited.org
Also share on Facebook and other networks.
CALL THE RNRN HOTLINE (800) 578-8225
WHAT TO EXPECT:
All RNs will need to have a valid passport. Also, all RNs must have or be able to quickly get, Typhoid and Hepititals A and B vaccinations as well as Malaria pills.
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