What a Day!

Yesterday, the CEO of Direct Relief International, Thomas Tighe, arrived into Haiti with his 16 year-old son Travis. I don't know whether it was just good timing or kismet, or just fantastic (Plandrew-ing) but in the first five hours of his arrival, we had met with the Minister of Health for Haiti, Paul Farmer of Partners in Health, and the head of health services for USAID Haiti. Because his arrival coincided with a large meeting of ministry and health care officials who were discussing the interim plan for health care in Haiti, we were able to get them all down together at one time to discuss ways we can assist the country recover from the damaging health-related effects of the earthquake. They were all grateful to hear what we've done and we have plans to meet with the head of pharmaceutical services tomorrow to discuss what medicines are needed and how we can best communicate and deliver the products we are bringing into the country.
And to top it all off, Paul Farmer, who I've never met, recognized my name from a Huffington Post blog I wrote about Partners in Health. He said that although he never reads blogs because of all the bad information that circulates out there, he really thought my post on the long-term health services in Haiti had captured the nuances that many people miss. And to show his sincerity, he personally signed and sent me a copy of his new book.
It feels like Direct Relief is genuinely starting to get some traction in this country and people are beginning to take notice of who we are and what we're doing.