Aspen-based Mercy and Sharing Foundation resumes for Haiti

The Aspen-based Mercy and Sharing Foundation aims to get back to doing what it does best in the next few weeks — providing a fighting chance for the abandoned babies of Haiti.

Founder Susie Krabacher, of Aspen, said she hopes to have a written contract with the Haitian government to reopen Mercy and Sharing’s Abandoned Baby Unit in the government-operated General Hospital in Port-au-Prince any day.
The foundation’s prior baby unit in the same hospital was destroyed in the 2010 earthquake that devastated much of the country. Although much of the hospital is operated from a plywood-and-tent-like structure, the rubble has been cleared for the special baby care. Mercy and Sharing is prepared to move in three trailers that have been retrofitted with medical gear to provide the baby care.
“They’re really state-of-the-art as emergency clinics compared to what’s available at the hospitals,” Krabacher said.
Mercy and Sharing provided clean water, baby formula, food, medicine, beds and 24-hour care for hundreds of abandoned babies for 15 years.
“Almost all of them have infections when they arrive,” Krabacher said.
Mercy and Sharing nurses the babies back to health and places many of them in orphanages. The orphanages covet healthy children because they are so much easier to adopt out.
Other babies stay with Mercy and Sharing’s orphanages, which don’t adopt out babies.
Krabacher, a former Playboy model who has undertaken child relief efforts in Haiti for nearly 20 years, is used to dealing with corrupt government regimes and unscrupulous orphanages, which she suspects have stolen babies from her unit’s care because adoption of healthy children can be lucrative business.
She said she has seen “signs of great hope” with the current presidential administration and was optimistic about the direction of the government. Nevertheless, she is taking safeguards with the Abandoned Baby Unit this time around. The attorney and director for Mercy and Sharing are negotiating a contract, which spells out that the Abandoned Baby Unit will care for only one child per crib and 42 total.
Protocols also are established to prevent anyone except medical personnel tied to Mercy and Sharing from getting access to the Abandoned Baby Unit. There will be a front desk and a guard.
Every child will have a file created with photographs, fingerprints and toeprints. They will be registered with the Ministry of Social Affairs so they have an identity.
Conditions are typically bleak in Haiti for abandoned children, she said. Babies are often crowded into rusty cribs. They stop turning over or attempting interaction with other humans out of lack of care, according to Krabacher.
“They’re just a marshmallow after one month,” she said.
Toddlers are tied to beds because no one can watch over them and prevent them from pursuing rats out of hunger or wandering into the traffic of busy streets, according to Krabacher.
Mercy and Sharing Foundation is making arrangements to care for the children’s psychological as well as physical needs. The children are essentially suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, Krabacher said.
Mercy and Sharing Foundation’s own hospital was destroyed in the earthquake and likely will never reopen, according to Krabacher. Numerous clinics and hospitals were opened thanks to the earthquake relief, so the need has eased somewhat.
Mercy and Sharing Village survived the earthquake. Contained on the 17 acres are three orphanages — one for healthy boys, one for healthy girls and one for handicapped children. The foundation provides education from infancy through vocational school.
“We educate the heck out of them,” Krabacher said, stating that education is the best way to give them hope for a better life.
Krabacher said she is being recognized by World Children in November for her efforts in Haiti. The award comes with $50,000, which will go to the Abandoned Baby Unit project. Mercy and Sharing has raised the $75,000 needed for each trailer for the Abandoned Baby Unit. It needs to raise funds for the estimated $60,000 in annual operating expenses.
To learn more about the foundation’s efforts and to donate, go to www.haitichildren.org.
scondon@aspentimes.com
http://www.aspentimes.com/news/6927962-113/mercy-sharing-baby-krabacher

Impiden entrada de mercancía haitiana por veda a productos

EFE R.DOMINICANA

Dajabon -- Comerciantes dominicanos impidieron el domingo la entrada a la frontera con Haití de camiones con mercancías procedentes de ese país en protesta por la decisión haitiana de impedir el ingreso de pollos y huevos de la República Dominicana por la supuesta presencia en la nación de la gripe aviar.
También fueron impedidos de entrar a la zona camiones que llegaban desde diferentes puntos de la República Dominicana y que mañana tenían previsto participar en el tradicional mercado común.
El presidente de la Federación de Comerciantes Unidos de Dajabón (noroeste), Freddy Morillo, dijo a la prensa que eso forma parte del paro general de actividades que tienen previsto realizar mañana en toda la frontera en protesta por la medida del Gobierno de Haití.
Morillo comunicó que muchos comerciantes haitianos y dominicanos que participan en el mercado tradicionalmente habilitan sus puntos de intercambios comerciales un día antes de la feria.
Sin embargo, manifestó, que los comerciantes dominicanos de manera “pacífica” convencieron a sus colegas de los dos países de regresar a sus destinos “porque mañana no hay mercado”.
Dijo que el llamado a paro se mantiene “firme” a pesar de que una comisión de funcionarios haitianos tiene previsto visitar mañana el país para tratar el caso.
De su lado, el presidente de la Asociación Nacional de Productores de Huevos, Manuel Escaño, declaró, que la jornada no solo afectará al comercio y otras actividades de la frontera noroeste, sino también las de la región suroeste, principalmente en las provincias de Elías Piña, Jimaní y Pedernales.
Haití decidió suspender la semana pasada las importaciones de pollo, huevos y embutidos desde el lado dominicano de la frontera común, tras la aparición en este último país de la gripe A, que ha dejado ocho muertos este año en la República Dominicana y que las autoridades haitianas, al parecer, confundieron con la gripe aviar.
La Cancillería dominicana informó ayer que el titular de Relaciones Exteriores de Haití, Richard Pierre Casimir, y el ministro de Agricultura de esa nación, Joanás Gué, visitarán mañana la República Dominicana para abordar con las autoridades la situación creada tras la prohibición impuesta por Haití.
Ambos funcionarios llegarán acompañados de un equipo técnico y serán recibidos en la Cancillería dominicana, dijo el ministro de Relaciones Exteriores local, Carlos Morales Troncoso.
Una misión oficial dominicana viajó a Haití el pasado miércoles para tratar con funcionarios locales la situación.
Tras su regreso, la delegación dijo que los funcionarios haitianos se comprometieron a evaluar la solicitud del levantamiento de la veda que afecta a productores nacionales.
Sin embargo, el ministro de Economía y Finanzas de Haití, Wilson Laleau, dijo el viernes que su país mantendrán la veda a productos avícolas procedentes de la República Dominicana hasta que se compruebe la “inexistencia” en ese país de la gripe aviar.
Según informaciones de productores dominicanos, la prohibición haitiana les ha causado pérdidas de más de 68 millones de pesos (unos $1.6 millones), además de que con ello se contribuye al fomento del contrabando y se pone en riesgo, aseguraron, la propia seguridad alimentaria de miles de haitianos.
Read more here: http://www.elnuevoherald.com/2013/06/16/1501620/impiden-entrada-de-mercancia-haitiana.html#storylink=cpy
http://www.elnuevoherald.com/2013/06/16/1501620/impiden-entrada-de-mercancia-haitiana.html