Letter to the Pagan Community from Alane Brown, on behalf of Peter Dybing

Looking for a way to help the Haiti earthquake victims? Want to support an emergency medical clinic in Port au Prince that's run by a Pagan priest?

Please consider donating money to Haiti Community Support. This NGO is not itself affiliated with any political or religious group. However, the man running the clinic, Peter Dybing, is a member of the Covenant of the Goddess and a longtime practitioner of the Craft. He was very active in the Albuquerque Pagan community before relocating to the Virgin Islands a few years ago. There he met Mathilde and Bruce, who run Haiti Community Support. Haiti Community Support is a NGO that has been helping Haiti since 2006 through programs in health, education and infrastructure building. Following the earthquake, Haiti Community Support shifted its emphasis to disaster relief. Peter (an EMT) and Mathilde traveled to Port au Prince on January 14th and set up an emergency clinic in a park. They recruited over 30 local Haitians and together they began caring for people who, despite severe injuries, just could not get into the overwhelmed hospitals. They arranged for shipments of medical supplies through a grassroots overland supply route from the Dominican Republic. At first, their medical supplies did not meet demand. They would treat patients until they ran out of supplies, then had to close up and wait for more. But as more donations began to come in, they were able to purchase more supplies, and can now make it through each long and grueling day. They treat wounds that have become increasingly serious because of the delay in treatment. Peter treats unset broken bones, cleans maggots from infected wounds and treats dysentery and other disease spreading through populations living in horrible conditions.

On January 23rd, ten more volunteers joined the clinic. They came from an Oregon rescue unit and from St. Croix Rescue. Now the clinic has a doctor, PA, nurse and several EMTs and paramedics. Together with the Haitian support personnel, they have expanded the clinic. Later this week they plan to go mobile, bringing the clinic to areas of Port au Prince where unmet needs are greatest. As the HCS emergency team looks to the future, their goal is to transition to a clinic run by Haitians, that can continue sustainably into the future. Peter says that the thing that impresses him the most is the dignity with which his Haitian patients face their terrible losses.

The organization is all volunteer, so there is very little overhead. Funds sent to them are immediately converted into relief work -- buying medical supplies, as well as covering the expenses of transporting them and running the street clinic.

I've been talking with Peter by cell phone several times a week. He has asked me to get the word out to the Pagan community about what he's doing. Circle Sanctuary has posted a link on its website and announcements have been passed through Covenant of the Goddess lists. Please spread the word to your pagan contacts: by donating to www.haitisupport.org you can help those who are suffering, through the healing hands of a member of our spiritual community, Peter Dybing.

On a magical level, please take a moment to imagine Peter's hands and send the power of healing into them, and thus on to those he touches in Haiti. And most of all, please donate now! Go to www.haitisupport.org -- donations are tax deductible in the USA.

If you have questions, or want me to pass on a message of support to Peter, please contact me at alane@frontier.net Please feel free to pass on this message to other like-minded folk. I have donated $100 and I hope you will donate, too.

Alane Brown, elder priestess
Crow Women Circle and Goddess Choir
Durango, Colorado