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Update from Harper in Goma

Arriving at the hospital today I expected to find the hundreds of people who have been visiting their loved ones in the hospital the past few days, but I was surprised to find the number significantly diminished. HEAL Africa admitted 79 patients, both passengers and bystanders, who are still living. 14 people were brought in already dead which makes a total of 93 people who flooded the hospital the day the plane crashed.



The staff was able to efficiently triage all the patients coming in at once and our surgeons performed several emergency burn operations. Many people have already been discharged and all the emergencies successfully treated. HEAL Africa received the majority of the patients as the government doctors are on strike because the government is not paying their salaries. Government officials, including the head of Parliament, came to visit HEAL Africa yesterday, but did nothing about their failure to pay adequate salaries to state doctors, clearly making health care difficult for the majority of the population.



Despite the massive destruction and loss, we were confirmed in our staff’s ability to handle a massive crisis. The medical director and the head orthopedic surgeon are doing outreach surgery in the rural regions and will not return for two more days. Despite the lack of senior supervision, our doctors, residents, and nurses, showed their capability to handle an unprecedented medical emergency.



The hospital was depleted of medical supplies and continues to support an excess of patients. If you would like to donate, please donate through the website or mail a check to HEAL Africa, P.O. Box 147, Monroe, WA 98272, with the specification, ‘plane crash’.

From Harper in Goma, April 16

I stood in the street in a quarter of Goma called Birere yesterday around noon. It is the busiest district in town with all the wholesale markets selling bulk sugar, flour, milk, crates and crates of drinks, fruits, vegetables, fabric, spare parts, tvs, radios, lumber, everything you can think of. The pot-holed road is always packed and a little difficult to drive through as you have to navigate through all the buses, pedestrians, and people pushing crates with hundreds of pounds of goods. If it rains you have avoid all the muddied potholes and puddles. Behind these markets are the poorest neighborhoods in Goma. The houses are on top of one another and made out of wood and iron sheets. It is not uncommon to hear of a fire which starts in one house and spreads to the whole row. The runway for the airport is just behind the markets.



I was with two of my co-workers after buying fabric and all of the sudden a deafening noise from a plane made us duck a bit and cover our ears. I looked up and a plane barely passed over the electrical lines right in front of me. It looked like a cargo plane that was probably weighed down with cassiterite, tantalum, copper, etc. I said to my co-workers, ‘ someday a plane is going to crash here and it is going to be an absolute disaster.’



2 hours later Birere was up in flames in the exact spot I was standing before. A passenger plane carrying 79 people started its take off in the market instead of on the runway. Pieces of the plane laid scattered across the street and stores were hallowed out by the fires. The UN peacekeeping force gave water hoses that didn’t work to civilians who ended up trying to put on the flames by buckets.



Located about a 5 minute drive from the crash site, the HEAL Africa hospital started receiving patients right away. We received over 90 patients, 11 of whom died. People gathered around the hospital gate reading a list of patients checked in to see if one of their missing family members or friends were admitted . People were panicked to see if their loved ones where on the deceased list, several people walked away, sobbing or falling on the ground once they saw a name they loved.



The same day we had a visiting medical team from Colorado arrive and they were thoroughly impressed with the rapid response of the doctors, nurses, and logistics at the hospital. The new medical team didn’t even have to stay late and help which was a huge testimony to the efficiency of our staff. They were working into the night and I was driving around with a doctor trying to find critical saline and vaccination we were missing. Some of our staff spend the evening building a temporary cover with mattresses under it for the patient overflow. This morning, the hospital is packed with families visiting patients and representatives of the Congolese parliament are here right now.



It is hard to think about why Goma has to suffer another catastrophe apart from war and a volcano eruption. In the last few days several people have told me, “Goma ni ajabu”, Goma is a miracle. It is really a miracle that daily life functions amidst complete chaos. Yesterday, I realized how close I have become with the people I work with and how their work is completely miraculous in spite of everything that is stacked against them.



Love,



Harper

HEAL Africa hospital full of patients from airline crash in Goma

Goma, DR Congo. Tuesday, April 15th.

Harper McConnell, volunteer worker at HEAL Africa, is right now trying to get more saline solution and tetanus vaccine for the many patients at HEAL AFRICA's hospital. The plane crash today in Goma has caused many casualties and has flooded HEAL Africa's hospital spaces. A visiting medical team from Cherry Creek Presbyterian church in Colorado arrived in Goma today for a two-week teaching at HEAL Africa; they have been impressed with the way the staff is handling this emergency. The counseling staff will be busy with the families and friends of this unexpected disaster.

The plane crashed into one of the most crowded areas of Goma. Please pray for the many families of victims, and for the staff, working to save lives. The hospital's supplies of saline solution,tetananus vaccine and many other reserve supplies are gone. HEAL Africa is working with all the other agencies in Goma to provide help and medical care. HEAL Africa welcomes your help at this difficult time.