Providence St. Joseph Medical Center registered nurse and 121RN member Andrea Caldentey flies to help Haitian survivors with 11 others from the Los Angeles area on Saturday, February 6. The group is sponsored by Medical Mission Adventures which is headed by St. Joseph respiratory therapist Louis Rosado.
     Caldentey, who is on the Medical Mission Adventures board of directors along with her husband, Juan, says they will take $3,500 worth of medicine and supplies, including antibiotics, wound care ointment and bandages, and pain relievers.
     “On my floor alone (at St. Joseph), we have an environmental services worker who’s Haitian and she lost two cousins,” Caldentey says. “It’s a horrible disaster. She’s an amazing person and I’m just overwhelmed with the way people are able to overcome and rise above tragedy.”
     The group of six RNs, two doctors, two medics and two others will fly to Santo Domingo in the Dominican Republic, take a bus to the Haitian border and be met there by people from Mission of Hope International. They will have living quarters at the Mission of Hope orphanage, school and hospital, which is 26 miles north of Port Au Prince.
     “The problem has been getting a flight to Haiti,” Caldentey says. “We have been scheduled and cancelled, scheduled and cancelled. Now we have confirmed plans.”
     Caldentey also expressed gratitude to SEIU Local 121RN for agreeing to fund a last-minute expense the group had not planned on: The airline charges $25 for any person checking a second bag. Since they have to pack their own food and they’re bringing medicine and supplies, it will be nearly impossible to fit everything for each person into one bag.
     “They told us previously that we would have to bring tents and our own water, but they (Mission of Hope) now have access to water and dorm-like structures, so we just have to pack our own food,” she said. “It’s been a long process of going back and forth, but every day conditions get better for teams going over to help.”
     Caldentey plans to share her experiences and photos from the trip with 121RN members on this website after her return on February 15.
     Another 121RN member and Northridge registered nurse, Kim Bingaman, left for Haiti on January 25 to help with relief efforts. Union Representative Mimi Holt assisted Bingaman in getting release time from her position in the Cardiac Care Unit at Northridge Hospital Medical Center. 
     We hope to have an update on her service in Haiti when she returns. Following is what Bingaman wrote on her Facebook page before she left:
     “It is official. I leave for Haiti on Monday. I must thank Mimi (Holt) from SEIU and Elsie for approving my leave. Going to be there 2 weeks. You should see the list of the stuff I have to bring: tent, bag, food for 3 days, bug spray, netting, etc. Who knows where I will end up. Please pray for me that God gives me the wisdom to do the right thing.”
     All of us at 121RN wish them all a safe return!