Six days can seem like an eternity

Six days can seem like an eternity. It's hard to believe that so little time has passed since the earthquake shook Port-au-Prince. In the days since, we've worked around the clock to bring urgently needed surgical teams, medical supplies, water, and food into a devastated city.

Thanks to a true team effort, at the general hospital in Port-au-Prince alone, we helped get seven operating rooms up and running, performing surgeries around the clock. By tomorrow night, we should have 10 or 12. At our sites in the Central Plateau and Artibonite regions, we have eight more functional operating rooms that are already supplying surgical and medical care to hundreds of earthquake victims fleeing the destruction of Port-au-Prince. And thanks to a partnership with many people and organizations here in the U.S., we've filled 10 planes with surgical teams and supplies, and have many more scheduled flights throughout this coming week.

However, the logistical challenges of our immediate response are only the beginning of our effort to bring relief to the people of Haiti. While our progress has been impressive and rapid, it is dwarfed by the immense need. At this stage, we are working on streamlining bulk deliveries of supplies, medicines, and human resources to help handle the thousands more patients that still await care. And we know that to truly help Haiti "build back better," as President Bill Clinton has said, we need to ensure that the aid doesn't stop when the final emergency surgical team returns home.

After having their lives saved, many of our patients' worlds are changed forever. Many will require months or even years of physical and emotional therapy. Many have lost their homes and jobs. Some are orphans. On a larger scale, the earthquake will shake Haiti for generations--government buildings lie in shambles, as do schools, hospitals, and roads. Before the earthquake, Haiti was already the poorest country in the western hemisphere. Just getting the country back to square one requires more work than what can be delivered in a single news cycle. But with your support, we remain steadfast in our commitment to build back better. After all, we've been working in partnership with poor communities and the government in Haiti for 25 years, and we don't plan to leave any time soon.

Watch PIH Executive Director Ophelia Dahl discuss the importance of long term rebuilding efforts with CBS's Katie Couric.

Read an op-ed by PIH co-founder Paul Farmer focusing on the importance of building back better.

In solidarity,

Ted Constan
Chief Program Officer