This article first appeared in the St. Louis Beacon, Feb. 11, 2010 - Anyone working in or with Haiti has had to grapple with a lot of numbers lately. As many as 230,000 are now thought to be dead, according to a recent report from the BBC. In late January, the British news service reported 1.5 million people homeless.
Aid agencies, volunteers and troops from foreign governments have poured in.
Much has changed. But the main work driving St. Louis-based Meds and Food for Kids hasn't.
"What we do is we provide foods and we distribute foods," says Tom Stehl, coordinator of operations for MFK. "It just happens to be that the context that the foods are used is different now."
So Far, So Good
Based in Cap Haitien with a production facility, MFK didn't suffer any major losses from the earthquake. The nonprofit, which was started and is run by St. Louis pediatrician Dr. Patricia Wolff, executive director, creates and distributes a food product called RUTF, or ready to use therapeutic food. In Haiti, MFK's RUTF is called Medika Mamba.
Over the past two years, according to the organization, MFK has treated 2,400 malnourished children with the peanut butter-like product.
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After the earthquake, a few issues faced the organization and its workers. They hadn't heard from an employee, Papillon Gerard, who is the depot manager in Port-au-Prince. Then, with nearly all infrastructure down in Haiti, they weren't sure how well they'd be able to distribute Medika Mamba to partner organizations, which then get it to children.
But while the numbers of the dead, injured and homeless have been bleak in Haiti, the most recent news for MFK has been positive. Gerard, the Port-au-Prince employee, was found alive, though injured. He received medical treatment in Miami and is now back in Port-au-Prince working, Stehl says. Also, while many nearby buildings crumbled, MFK's depot is standing.
Directly after the earthquake, the port was destroyed and a large shipment of supplies for MFK was feared lost. Without them, MFK would have to use their stores of raw material.
"What we knew was that we had to plan for that not to be there," Stehl says.
MFK reached out to the companies which had donated the supplies. Those companies all sent more donations, including Fenton-based International Food Products, which sent vegetable oil and milk powder.
Then, on Jan. 27, MFK got the news that their container was intact and they received it on Feb. 1. Now the organization has more supplies to produce more Medika Mamba, which they're doing.
Steve Taviner, operations officer, was able to make it into the capital at the end of January.
"Driving through downtown, the devastation was overwhelming. The entire city resembles Europe after WW II," he wrote on MFK's website. "Roads are beginning to be cleared and the survivors are carrying on with their lives, but the remaining population lives in tents, on the streets, and depends on the minimal medical and emergency food and water stations scattered through the rubble."
After a week of trying to reach client organizations to deliver Medika Mamba to them, Taviner arrived at the group's depot. He'd given partner organizations a two-hour window of time to pick up the Medika Mamba. They all showed up. During those two hours, MFK distributed more than three tons of Medika Mamba.
"And it all happened," Stehl says. "It all just happened."
The Numbers Are Adding Up
Before the earthquake, MFK was producing at about 60 percent capacity. Now, it's near 100 percent, Stehl says. For every 12 kilos of Medika Mamba, one child gets a full course of treatment. With the increased production, Stehl figures they're now treating an extra 150 children each week.
Communications are still difficult, and Stehl hasn't had the time to sit down yet and add up how much money in donations has come in to MFK, but a few things have made a difference.
Shortly after the earthquake, Google listed MFK as one of 10 or 15 organizations to donate to, and that resulted in a huge increase in MFK's web traffic and in donations.
Scottrade donated $50,000, and individuals have donated from $5 up.
"We've gotten a lot more money since the earthquake than we've ever gotten before," Stehl says.
Now, a few business in St. Louis are working to make that a trend. Novus International and the World Trade Center-St. Louis are working together for the Medika Mamba Challenge to raise $100,000 for MFK. Originally, the end date was Feb. 12, but that's now been extended through the month of February, according to Joyce Tacho, chief sustainability officer for Novus, based in St. Charles.
Tacho says they chose MFK as the group to support after checking into the organization. "Like so many other things in St. Louis, they're a real benchmark setter," Tacho says.
Novus and the World Trade Center are challenging St. Louis businesses and individuals to give in a way that directly helps people in Haiti. So far, $3,250 has been raised, and in addition to the challenge, Novus donated $10,000 to MFK.
A Simple Solution
Though there's been an earthquake and all the devastation that's come along with it, MFK's still focusing on the same things as before, Stehl says.
For now, that's treating malnutrition.
But the long view goes beyond treating malnutrition to stopping it. With a growing focus on agricultural and economic development in Haiti, Haitian farmers will eventually produce what MFK needs so that it doesn't have to be imported.
It's poverty that causes malnutrition in the first place, Stehl says, and by following a model of national development, which MFK has long advocated, jobs could be created, poverty eased and malnutrition ended.
It sounds simple, Stehl admits, but he believes if other organizations in Haiti worked on not just helping Haitians, but helping them to help themselves, building their own capacities and skills, things could change.
"You would have a different Haiti in 10 years."