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Yates family has strong ties to Haiti 3 · Thursday, February 4, 2010 OAKVILLE BEAVER · www.oakvillebeaver.com Continued from page 2 "By the time I arrived, most of the dead had been picked up (though not all). There is something incredibly repugnant and disturbing about seeing the bodies of victims who, days later, had not yet been picked up by family or friends; the dead who will know no fitting burial or memorial," said the Oakville doctor. At Grace Children's Hospital, Yates found a room, once equipped with medical supplies, a topsy-turvy wreck. Major cracks ran through its pristine white walls. Child patients were treated in tents outside in the hospital's playground. The hospital will have to be rebuilt. Over time, it will be rebuilt and Yates hopes it will be a testament to the patients and staff who have suffered, those who lost their lives or family members. Right now, the wounded are still being treated and follow-up care, or its lack, spreading infection in an already infection-ridden population, could threaten more lives. "I met with our staff in the hospital yard, many too afraid to go into even the buildings that we had assessed as still being structurally sound. We have managed to account for 80 per cent of the roughly 300 staff that live and work in the quake affected areas. The others we are hoping fled to the countryside and are still alive. As I looked into the eyes of our staff...physicians, nurses, aides, accountants, support staff, lab techs, ...the pain was palpable. Collectively they were counting their losses. Many had not slept for nights. Many had nowhere left to sleep," wrote Yates. Grace Children's Hospital specializes in the treatment of children with TB and HIV along with general primary health care services. ICC has been operating in Haiti for more than 40 years and is the largest non-governmental organization (NGO) in the country. Along with managing the country's TB program, a maternal health program and 175 health clinics, ICC also operates Grace Children's Hospital. Yates and his wife worked in Haiti following undergrad studies, two years of volunteer work with international childcare in a country-wide vaccination program against tuberculosis. That was from 1978 to 1980. "We returned to Canada following that experience ... John would study medicine, I would study nursing," explained Sandy. In 1992, the couple returned to Haiti to work -- this time with their children. They stayed until 2001 when they established a home in Oakville. It was Yates' first trip to Haiti in 1978 that inspired him to pursue a career in medicine. Since that time, he has continued working in the country and was recently featured on an episode of CTV's W5. It documented his return to Haiti to assess the damage. "The tail of this tragedy will be long and it is still too early to accurately determine the true magnitude of the ripple effects it will have," said Yates. "Driving the streets you see evidence of thousands who have been displaced, their homes destroyed...living now with whatever household contents they could salvage, in the street or some vacant lot... under the protection of a sheet or piece of plastic or tarp suspended to provide some protection from the blistering sun and rain," said Yates. PHOTO COURTESY OF THE YATES FAMILY Dr. John Yates and his wife Sandy Noble Yates. Yates has treated those with wounds. "(I had) a distinct feeling that more than one of those I saw could well lose all or a part of a limb to gangrene and/or infection. My mind could not help but flash back to how differently these folks would be managed here in Oakville with the expertise of nursing, orthopedics, plastic surgeons, etc.," he said. "In the very early days post quake common injuries included broken bones and open wounds. Now, as time goes on, more amputations are being done in a desperate effort to save lives from infections out of control or limbs that are no longer viable. Heartbreaking!" he said. "I remember thinking at Pearson airport that I would face the tension between helping single individuals versus working on a broader organizational scale in an effort to reach even more. Effective response to this disaster will require response at both levels...and for quite some time to come," said Yates who added it wasn't just the earthquake that was so devastating to Haiti, but the state of the country and its people when it struck -- the wide use of heavy cement and lack of building codes, the density of the impoverished population, a lack of infrastructure and virtually no disaster plan. "As time passed, I came to more fully see the emotional and psychological trauma that our staff, colleagues and friends are going through. Many cannot sleep at night. Many have not yet gone back in their homes. Symptoms of post traumatic stress are less obvious than broken bones and open wounds...but every bit as real and powerful," said Yates. "Yet there was something else I saw...and I have, over many years of involvement with Haiti seen this before...in the midst of all of this destruction people were beginning to move around again. Women selling tomatoes and vegetables along the street, the hustle and bustle of people on the move. The strength and resilience of the Haitian people has never ceased to amaze me...tremendous courage in the face of incredible odds...they press on. This courage, this stubborn resilience is probably one of the biggest assets in moving forward," said Yates. He believes the best way to help is to fund reliable relief agencies on the ground in Haiti -- now and in future. "The single best way that folks can help on the Canadian side is to channel financial support through reputable organizations that you know are on the ground in Haiti and capable of making a difference," he said. For information on the Oakville Haiti Relief event, contact the Firehall at 905-827-4445 to purchase tickets at $15. For more information on ICC, visit www.internationalchildcare.org. For more information about Oakville Haiti Relief, contact Downey Smith at krista.downey@hotmail.com.