All posts by Lisa Sorg
Lisa Sorg ·
19 Mar 2010, 9:16 AM ·
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This post is written by Lora after working at L’Hopital Community Haitienne on Thursday, March 18.
Besides all the physical damage around us, the psychological damage to the people of Haiti is astronomical. I’ve heard it referred to as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) on many occasions, and with my very casual knowledge of psychology, I won’t deny the presence of PTSD here. Today I learned a little bit more about what it means to live in the wake of a devastating earthquake.
• We arrived at L’Hopital Communaute Hatienne today and were led into the main waiting area by our Haitian driver. He seems confident enough, but as soon as we entered the space, he walked into the center area that is open to the sky and some tarps rigged across the opening. Standing under a roof is still a frightening prospect.
• While sitting amidst a pile of suction machines in the hallway at the hospital, we were joined by a curious 16 year old boy. Demitri turned out to be a great help with removing and replacing screws, practicing his English as we did some troubleshooting together on a somewhat hopeless piece of equipment. We learned how to salvage tubing off an abandoned suction unit and learned how to use a continuity tester to verify the integrity of a power cord. While sitting together on the floor at the end of a productive few hours, he started to tell me about the earthquake. Demitri had been at home at the time – changing the channel on the TV. Though his house remained standing, he faced a near death experience in one of the aftershocks while respecting his mother’s request to stay home. Fortunately the eager student is still around to hope his school continues soon. I’d like to think that someday he’ll be working in an engineering or technical field making a difference for someone else. (Perhaps I should just be considering teaching??)
• On the way home, from the hospital, we dropped off another Haitian driver for the night. As we drove along his street, he pointed out his house, his grandfather sitting on the steps, and his tent. Despite the fact that his home survived the earthquake, he remains sleeping in a tent. I’m hoping the massive down pour tonight didn’t wash out everyone’s tents.
• Our team member, Jean, got a call from his sister this week, saying that she was back in Haiti. After watching her house fall down in front of her just as she came home from work, Jean’s sister went to stay with family in Miami. Finally, they’ve returned to the country they love, living with family here whose home survived the earthquake. Like Justin mentioned earlier, the quake is no respecter of persons. Continue reading »
Durham, news Engineering World Health, Haiti, L’Hopital Community Haitienne
Lisa Sorg ·
16 Mar 2010, 10:36 AM ·
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This post is part of a week-long series from Engineering World Health, a nonprofit headquartered in Durham. A team of three biomedical engineers and technicians from EWH will be in Haiti from March 14 to 21 to assess and repair medical equipment at five clinics in the Port-au-Prince area. Our second post is written by Lora on Monday, March 15 after our first day in the hospital:
Perhaps the biggest misconception about our work here is that we are fixing everything that was damaged in the earthquake. Yes, we were brought here as part of the relief effort. But I hate to break your bubble: Most of this equipment was in very bad shape before the Richter scale read 7-plus.
Overall, we managed to fix seven pieces of equipment in a half day at one hospital. We recorded touching 15 pieces of equipment, some of which could easily be fixed with the correct parts—like a halogen bulb. The pieces that were fixed were addressed largely because of some knowledge beforehand that allowed us to bring the appropriate tools and replacement parts. Unfortunately, the hospital we visited today does not have a trained biomedical staff to do regular equipment maintenance. The designated technician wasn’t around quite enough for us to train him all that effectively. Fortunately, the nurses were well-versed in their equipment and very attentive to details. It’s exciting to see someone bring you something that is an easy fix, repair it and in the process, show them how to prevent or solve that problem in the future.
The trip home from our hospital seemed surreal. We had spent the night in the Dominican Republic the night before, so it was a rush from hotel to airport to hotel to first hospital this morning. When I finally got a chance to take in the scene on the way home, it was as if the news reels were running outside my window. Except they were life-size, complete with the smells and humidity, and the reporter’s narration was satisfyingly absent.
Our third team member, Jean Polycarpe, a biomedical technician in the U.S., grew up in southern Haiti. He has been instrumental on the trip in helping to repair anesthesia machines and other advanced medical equipment. We stopped on a rubble-filled street in front of a two-story house with collapsing balcony and crumbled foundation strewn about. This was his mother’s house, his home during high school and college. Now it was not even remotely liveable, all his belongings having been looted. As he mourned the loss of his personal library, we asked if he would tell his mother about the scene or show her the pictures we’d taken. “No, no… she doesn’t need to know this.”
For more info about EWH, please visit www.ewh.org or email info@ewh.org
Durham, news Engineering World Health, Haiti, hospitals, Port-au-Prince
Lisa Sorg ·
14 Mar 2010, 11:34 AM ·
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This post is part of a week-long series from Engineering World Health, a nonprofit headquartered in Durham. A team of three biomedical engineers and technicians from EWH will be in Haiti from March 14 to 21 to assess and repair medical equipment at five clinics in the Port-au-Prince area. These posts will be written by two of the EWH team members, Lora Perry and Justin Cooper, and will include daily news, photos, and insights from Haiti regarding the state of health care two months after the earthquake. For a brief overview of this project, please see our release on the EWH website. The Indy staff is our neighbor at our downtown Durham office, and I would be remiss if I did not thank them for graciously sharing both this space for us to blog. Thanks for following our story this week!
-Justin
Our first post is written by Lora on Saturday, March 13 in preparation for the trip: Continue reading »
Durham, news biomedical engineers, Engineering World Health, Haiti, Justin Cooper, Lora Perry, Port-au-Prince
Lisa Sorg ·
9 Mar 2010, 3:23 PM ·
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Ahh, the first signs of spring as the snow melts away: Daffodils, crocuses—and trash.
According to a recent survey, Durham has fewer “extremely littered” streets than it used to, but more of its streets are “littered.”
The annual survey, known as the Litter Index (28kb, pdf) [litter-index-2009-graph] is sponsored by Keep Durham Beautiful.
Last month, volunteers surveyed select streets within a one-mile radius of City Hall and gauged the amount and type of trash on them.
The percentage of littered streets rose from roughly 7 percent last year to 20 percent this year. And the percentage of streets that had no litter dipped from 39 percent last year to just one-quarter in 2010.
Dorothea Pierce, executive director of Keep Durham Beautiful, said there could be several reasons for the increase in littered streets, including this year’s wet and windy winter weather.
“Bad weather that moves things around,” Pierce said. “Flooding and wind: Wind is a horrendous litter mover.”
The good news: There were virtually no “extremely littered” streets—the amount of litter that would require a truck to haul it away.
Updated March 14, 12:37 pm:
Pierce added this information in an e-mail to the Indy:
The Litter Index covers all of Durham, all of the City and all of the County – we obviously don’t survey each road but there is a representative sampling from all over and every type of street: industrial, commercial, residential, agricultural, and a circle that includes an area that is centered on the city hall. These roads where chosen at random within those five parameters and we survey the same streets over a minimum of a three year span, so we have continuity. The Litter Index results portray for us a representative sampling of the overall litter picture. This same process is done by over 500 Keep America Beautiful affiliates from all around the country.
Durham, environment, news Keep Durham Beautiful, Litter Index
Lisa Sorg ·
18 Feb 2010, 3:02 PM ·
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The N.C. GOP’s Fourth Congressional District Executive Committee has distanced itself from Republican congressional candidate George Hutchins, whose dubious racial views threaten to damage the party. The committee forwarded the Indy a press release from last fall in which the party urges him not to run for the nomination for the district. Read it here: 4thdistrictgopstatespositionongeorgehutchins
However, Hutchins apparently ignored the party’s pleas: He is among four Republicans running, in hopes of dethroning longtime incumbent and Democrat U.S. Rep. David Price in November.
B.J. Lawson, Frank Roche and David Burnett are also seeking the GOP nomination.
The Indy reported on the candidates this week, noting Hutchins’ extremist views, including connections with the National Independents Movement. N.I.M. was founded in Germany and on its website states it supports “research into the traditions and history of our northwest European heritage”—which could be considered code for white supremacism.
His campaign website features photos of him taken with former U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole. He claims to have worked on her campaign and that of Republican gubernatorial candidate Fred Smith.
North Carolina, politics BJ Lawson, David Burnett, Fourth Congressional District, Fourth Congressional District Executive Committee, Frank Roche, George Hutchins, N.C. Republican Party, National Independents Movement
Lisa Sorg ·
11 Feb 2010, 12:31 PM ·
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Incumbent state Sen. Floyd McKissick Jr. and Bob Atwater have filed for re-election.
McKissick represents part of Durham County in District 20. He was appointed to the Senate in 2007 after the death of Jeanne Lucas and was subsequently elected to office in 2008. Read his press release here: senator-floyd-b-mckissick-jr-running-for-reelection
Atwater, who represents Chatham, Lee and southwestern Durham counties, is in his third term. His announcement is here: senator-bob-atwater-announces-that-he-will-seek-re-election
Chatham County, Durham County, North Carolina, news, politics election 2010, Sen. Bob Atwater, Sen. Floyd McKissick Jr, state senate
Lisa Sorg ·
11 Feb 2010, 11:11 AM ·
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B.J. Lawson, who, in 2008 ran a spirited, but unsuccessful campaign against Democratic incumbent David Price for the 4th congressional district, has announced he will again try to win the seat. Lawson lost to Price by a 2-1 margin in that election.
But first, Lawson, a doctor and software developer, will face former international banker Frank Roche of Apex in the Republican primary.
Lawson combines progressive stances with Libertarianism. On one hand, his principles echo the free-market right: the elimination of federal income tax and “onerous” regulations, and the establishment of health care savings accounts instead of universal health insurance. He does not support Roe v. Wade.
Yet, at times, Lawson sounds like a progressive, opposing the war in Iraq—and the war on drugs—the death penalty and a constitutional amendment on same-sex marriage.
The Indy covered the Price-Lawson race in 2008.
Roche’s issue statements come out of the left field of the far right. He is skeptical about human impacts on global warming. On illegal immigration, he promises to eliminate it as much as possible, and would “push aside advocates of multiculturalism, identity politics, and political correctness.”
On hate crimes legislation, he says, “I do not support efforts to establish laws based on thoughts. America has more than enough laws to protect us all and to bring justice to those who do harm us.”
You get the picture.
North Carolina, news, politics BJ Lawson, David Price, Fourth Congressional District, Frank Roche
Lisa Sorg ·
9 Feb 2010, 6:23 PM ·
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Who knew what when: The N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources wants answers from UNC-Chapel Hill about the 53-day gap between the time workers at the Bingham Facility suspected a leak in a treated-wastewater storage pond and when the university notified environmental officials that said leak did occur.
The treated wastewater did flow into nearby Collins Creek, a violation of UNC’s discharge permit.
A letter from DENR to UNC (160kb, pdf denrletter24) stated that the state regulators are considering “enforcement action,” and asked for a response from the university.
Mary Beth Koza, director of UNC environment, health and safety, said the university is preparing a response to DENR. “We try to do everything in compliance,” she said.
Because of the discharge DENR revoked UNC’s “deemed permit status,” a general permit classification, and is requiring the university to apply for an individual discharge permit. UNC has until early March to submit its application.
There have been several malfunctions or leaks at the facility’s wastewater treatment ponds, which have raised questions about the quality of the construction. Koza would not address that issue, but added “We’re working with the contractors to fix the problem.”
Orange County, environment Bingham Facility, discharge permit, N.C. Department of Environment and Natural Resources, UNC
Lisa Sorg ·
4 Feb 2010, 12:43 PM ·
1 Comment
The local youth media project, Northeast Central Durham Community VOICE, is publishing its first print edition this month—and is moving into its new digs at Golden Belt, 807 E. Main St., in Durham.
Scientific Properties is donating space in Building 4 to the publication, which is sponsored by journalism programs at UNC and N.C. Central University. (Disclosure: The Indy leases space in the Venable Building from Scientific Properties.)
VOICE went online in Septmeber at durhamvoice.org. It is holding a general meeting Saturday, Feb. 11, from 10-11 a.m. in its newsroom at Golden Belt for area youth interested in writing, photography, video, blogging, art or journalism.
For more information on the NECD Community VOICE, contact Jock Lauterer at jock@email.unc.edu, Bruce dePyssler at bdepyssler@nccu.edu, or Lisa Paulin at lpaulin@nccu.edu.
Read the full press release here (36kb, Microsoft Word): necdnewsroom2010
Durham, media, news Golden Belt, NECD Community VOICE, Scientific Properties
Lisa Sorg ·
28 Jan 2010, 1:57 PM ·
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Polluters, take note: A new environmental crimes task force is launching in North Carolina, the U.S. Department of Justice announced today.
The press release (92kb, pdf) environmentalcrimesgroup sounds serious, but forgive Triangulator if she doesn’t start drinking straight from the Neuse River quite yet. Federal and state regulators are known for their light hand on all but the most egregious of polluters. And sometimes the fines and penalties take years to assess and collect because the polluters declare bankruptcy, tie up the case in the courts, etc.
But with that said, it will be worth tracking the effectiveness of this new initiative.
North Carolina, environment, news Eastern District of North Carolina, environmental crimes working group, U.S. Department of Justice
This post is written by Lora after working at L’Hopital Community Haitienne on Thursday, March 18.
