Haiti One Year Later: Cuban Medical Team Draws on Experience and Partnerships
Nearly a year ago on a day like today—as people scrabbled for some charcoal to cook the evening meal, fetched their children from school, and sewed costumes for carnival—the ground began to shift. Buildings folded and houses crumbled. In the time it takes to read this paragraph, one of the most devastating earthquakes recorded in the hemisphere changed the Haitian landscape forever. Twelve months on, quake survivors struggle to live, study, work, and worship within the parameters of this new landscape. They also struggle to stay healthy.
Once the Earth Stood Still (Part I): Cuban Rehabilitation Services in Haiti
There are dates that weigh heavy. January 12, 2010 is one of them—not only for Haitian survivors, over one million of whom are still internally displaced, but also for the 331 Cuban health professionals who were working in the Haitian public health system when the earthquake struck. Among the fi rst responders, these doctors, nurses, and technicians serve in Cuban health cooperation programs, which have been providing care to Haitians since 1998.[1] Once the earth settled that fateful Tuesday, they were faced with an entirely new landscape, strewn with patients in urgent need of medical care.
Once the Earth Stood Still (Part II): Mental Health Services in Post-Quake Haiti
Natural disasters of the magnitude of the January 2010 earthquake in Haiti rend societies, exposing social inequities and laying bare weak disaster mitigation strategies. These tragic events not only test the limits of communities, families, and individuals, but also reveal the strength and mettle of survivors. Struggling to recover and rebuild, young and old stand as daily testament to human resilience. For participants in a mental health program led by Cuban health professionals in Haiti, this resilience has—at times, if only momentarily—translated into smiles, laughter, and hope.
