The following is a talk delivered to a public forum in Winnipeg, Manitoba, on May 7, 2010. The forum was organized by the Winnipeg Haiti Action Group under the theme, "Perspectives on Haiti After the Earthquake."
Scott Weinstein
Haiti's wounded long to heal
For Elisa Zlami, the burden of her fractured leg just got heavier, literally. The day before, Marc, an ortho-tech at the General Hospital in Port-au-Prince, came immediately to her tent, "Post Op 3," after I asked him to "do something" about Elisa's old split cast that was causing her pain. Haiti's earthquake snapped her shin bone in two, and left an open wound that has finally healed.
Marc expertly rewrapped her leg in a new plaster cast. Despite a day of drying, the new cast must weigh 20 lbs. Yet her leg still hurts along the fracture point. A summoned orthopedic doctor inspects Elisa, and tells her the pain should go away, and Elisa need not stay in the hospital. But Elisa has lost her home, and her family too.
Nuclear power point: Canada needs a common-sense disaster response
Yesterday, an earthquake struck Quebec and Ontario, the Pickering nuclear plant leaked radioactive water, and a toxic cloud from an Ottawa fire started drifting towards Montreal.