In collaboration with the Pawtuxet Valley Rotary Club, Grace Family Church of Rhode
Island is helping coordinate transport of life saving supplies and medications directly
to Haitian hospitals. See photos here.
Our prayers are certainly lifted for the many people in Haiti who are suffering because of extreme poverty, made dramatically worse by the devastation caused by the recent earthquake. At times, however, the Lord answers our prayers in a very unique way, involving us in a way we may not expect. This is something we have been shown quite vividly in the weeks after the Haiti earthquake.
It all started when our pastor, also president of the Pawtuxet Valley Rotary Club, found a blog from Andy, a fellow pastor and Rotarian in Haiti, and decided to contact him to offer some encouragement and prayers. He also asked him what their current needs were, and learned that the area where Andy was helping out was in dire need of surgical and medical supplies. The idea was born to help out, but the logistics would obviously be the major hurdle to overcome. So, inquiring about how they had found transportation into Haiti, pastor Cozzi learned of a group of Christian pilots connected with Bahamas Habitat, who were willing to fly missions with smaller planes into Haiti using secondary routes. The idea seemed to be simple and brilliant. Just what was needed. At that time, news were coming to the US about main routes into Haiti being cluttered and ground transportation being very difficult, so the use of smaller aircrafts capable of landing in smaller strips seemed like the perfect solution.
Pastor Cozzi contacted the leadership of Bahamas Habitat, and quickly confirmed the possibility of flights into Haiti. The next step was to spread the voice about the surgical and medical supplies and medications that had been requested by the medical director of the hospital in Haiti with whom Andy was in contact. Having learned that the area was secure and that UN forces were protecting the incoming flights and deliveries, pastor Cozzi launched a call for action to all Rotary Clubs in our district, and other contacts he had through the church, including our own membership. This had now become a very effective and somewhat complex chain of connected links, which made perfect sense. Through contacts with the church, Rotary and Leadership Rhode Island, pastor Cozzi could appeal for the needed supplies. Through contacts with Bahamas Habitat and the volunteer pilots arrangements could be made to transport the supplies into Haiti, and through contacts with a fellow pastor on the ground, the UN forces and the hospital director in Haiti, we had sufficient guarantee that the supplies could safely reach their destination. So, the word went out.
One of the contacts seemed to be providential, as word reached the South Country Hospital, and through them came to the ears of Ted Almon the CEO of Claflin Medical Equipment, one of the major distributors of surgical and medical supplies in our area. Ted Almon contacted pastor Cozzi intrigued by our ability to find safe transport into Haiti, and made available a large donation of surgical and medical supplies. On January 22, 2010 with the help of some volunteers from the church the first load of supplies was loaded into a small Piper Seneca V aircraft piloted by Jack Cooper, a volunteer pilot, and accompanied by his son John Cooper as copilot. The team was able to fit about 400 lbs of supplies into the small aircraft, together with enough emergency medications to save the lives of 60 adults or about 120 children. Jack and John Cooper took off from T.F. Green airport at about 4:30 p.m. with their precious cargo, which was delivered the very next morning to the destination hospital.
On January 25, 2010 a second load of about 1,100 lbs of surgical and medical supplies, including additional supplies from Claflin, the Rhode Island DMAT and the Town of Weymouth, MA were loaded into a Pilatus aircraft for a direct flight into Haiti from Norwood, MA. Pilot Chris Rourke and physical plant project manager John Matthews, flew the supplies into Les Cayes and were met by our local contact on the ground on January 27th. UN forces, hospital staff and other volunteers helped unload the cargo and delivered it to the local hospital for use and distribution to other facilities.
On their return flight the pilots were able to take back into US soil five US volunteers who had served in Haiti since before the earthquake. A long series of small and not so small miracles made it all possible, reminding us that we are all used by God, in one way or another, to help a neighbor in need. To Him goes all the glory and the praise.
More flights will be organized based on need and availability of supplies. Donations
are being received by the Pawtuxet Valley Rotary Club to help the volunteer pilots
with their fuel expenses, and can be made by writing a check to Pawtuxet Valley Rotary
Club -
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HAITI RELIEF EFFORTS |