News & Events
For the most current news of the response to the Haiti earthquake disaster see One Response:Haiti
Preliminary report on injuries from Handicapp International
7 March 2010
Push on to get prosthetics, rehab for thousands of Haitian amputees - Canadian Press By Sheryl Ubelacker
23 February 2010
Occupational therapists lend a helping hand in Haiti - from the Canadian Association of Occupational Therapists
22 February 2010
Georgetown Boy Scouts packed 700 lbs of school supplies and over 300 hygiene bags for Haiti - Photos from the event, courtesy of Karen MacKenzie-Stepner - News clip to follow shortly.
Countless Lost Limbs Alter Life in Haiti’s Ruins - New York Times - features Caryn Brady, a Team Canada Member
16 February 2010
Haitian Secretary Addresses International Support for Haitians with Disabilities
15 February 2010
Losses in Haiti Come into Focus
13 February 2010
Team Canada Members continue to assist directly with rehabilitation efforts in Haiti and from Canada by helping coordinate the placement of rehabilitation professionals where they can be of most help.
In Post-Quake Haiti, A Surge Of Amputees by Corey Flintoff
Fundraising Events
Fredericton's Downtown Blues Band is playing Friday Feb 12 at IROC -5:30pm until 9pm - Fredericton - There is no cover charge for the show.
Inches Weight Loss & Evolution Fight & Fitness are hosting a COMBO-COMBAT Bootcamp - 100% of proceeds will go to Team Canada Healing Hands for HAITI Fredericton, Monday & Wednesdays 11:45-12:30 pm starting 15 February
Schedule:
Monday, Feb 15th - Interval Bootcamp
Wednesday, Feb 17th - Cardio Thai Boxing
Monday Feb, 22nd - Belly Dancing
Wednesday, Feb 24th - Pilates
Monday, March 1st - Cardio Dance
Wednesday, March 3rd - Yoga
Monday March, 8th - Muay Thai
Wednesday, March 10th - Total Body Blast Bootcamp
COST: $10 per class OR special rate for all classes
LOCATION:
1225 Prospect Street Evolution Fight & Fitness Club
(Next to the Bank of Montreal and Hakim Optical)
07/FEB/2010
We are deeply grateful for the multitude of people who have contacted us wanting to provide assistance, equipment and spearhead collection drives for supplies. While we wish we could use all of the support so generously offered, Team Canada will be concentrating our efforts on fulfilling the human resource needs for rehabilitation professionals desperately required to train and provide care for the large numbers of injured and disabled.
The World Health Organization has requested that Handicap International (HI) and Christian Blind Mission take the lead in forming a sub-group on disability that will focus on the coordination of assistance for Haitians suffering from traumatic injuries leading to both short term and permanent disability. Team Canada Healing Hands (TCHH) and Healing Hands for Haiti are working closely with this group.
With respect to equipment and supplies, the immediate need is for wheelchairs and crutches for those with amputations and fractures. While the donation of equipment and supplies that have been offered to TCHH may be usable at a future date, we do not have the infrastructure to collect, store or ship these items at this time.
Teams working in Haiti are only interested in new equipment or in excellent shape. Those of us who have been providing rehab services in Haiti for the past 10 years know that equipment needs have always been there. One of the issues is that the expertise and hardware to repair wheelchairs and equipment is not available in Haiti, nor are the roads and sidewalks kind on the equipment, resulting in a much shorter lifespan that they would have in Canada or the USA. This means that those people who are using these chairs and equipment must wait for our teams to get to Haiti to repair them. Also, there is no “garbage system” in Haiti, so many of these items end up on the street when they can no longer be used.
It is estimated that there have been between 2,000 - 4,000 amputations as a result of fractures and infections. The goal is to establish agreed guidelines so that all people fitted with prosthetics will be able to be treated and have them repaired anywhere in the country. It is now planned that ICRC (International Committee of the Red Cross) technology will be used to provide prosthetic devices. This technology has been designed in and for use in the developing world. Healing Hands has been training our Haitian technicians and using this technology for the past 2.5 years. Recycled components will have uncertain value in the rehabilitation of Haiti’s Amputee Population and are unsustainable with an unpredictable supply and types of components needed to construct these highly specialized devices..
We strongly urge you to support the needs of the injured and disabled by financially supporting Team Canada or another group working to provide long term training and care for the many Haitians left with a disability in the wake of the January 12th earthquake.