As early as Friday, a group of Baltimore-based aid workers from a Johns Hopkins University affiliate plan to land in earthquake-ravaged Haiti and join others from the region and the United States in taking the first steps beyond the rescues. They'll start rebuilding.
The mission of the trio from Jhpiego is to re-establish a system that connects pregnant women and newborns with proper care - no small task in a devastated city now facing aftershocks and increasingly desperate people short of medical care, food and water.
They overcame their first obstacle at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport on Wednesday morning when American Airlines initially said they had too many heavy bags. After quick repacking and some help from others, the group got just about all its precious supplies aboard and members said they were ready for their mission.
Pregnant women and babies are "often neglected populations, and during a disaster they can be even more neglected. We want to make sure they are not forgotten." said Dr. Willibrord Shasha, an obstetrician-gynecologist who has worked since 1981 for the Hopkins affiliate.
The group from Jhpiego is among the many Baltimore-area medical and public health teams headed to Haiti.
Already in the country or planning to travel there are medical professionals from Johns Hopkins Medicine, Union Memorial Hospital, St. Joseph Medical Center, University of Maryland Medical Center, Greater Baltimore Medical Center and other institutions.
The University of Maryland School of Medicine's Institute of Human Virology runs a permanent facility there in partnership with Catholic Relief Services, and the school and Maryland Shock Trauma Center plan to send more doctors soon. A dozen Shock Trauma doctors and nurses are expected to leave for Haiti on Monday, beginning a rotation that will last for several months.
On Wednesday, Shasha was joined by two other veteran workers from the Washington area on the two-week trip: Richard Lamporte, a member of Jhpiego's leadership team, and Anna Pfitzer, a senior program manager. Each leaves behind a spouse, two children and most creature comforts.
They expected to fly from Baltimore to Puerto Rico and then to the Dominican Republic. From there, they hoped to hitch a ride with another aid group for the rest of their trip to Port-au-Prince, or catch a military helicopter.
Lamporte said the instability in Haiti made planning difficult. Communications were also a problem, though the group was able to send some satellite phones and other equipment to the country ahead of their trip. And all three, who have been to Haiti before, speak at least some French.
"We didn't even know until last Friday that our workers in Haiti were all safe, and we still don't know about all of their families," he said of the six Haitians who work for the group. "We do know we have to be self-sufficient - we brought tents, sleeping bags and all our food, in addition to all the supplies we could carry."
The 35-year-old group, which works in 150 countries, is not an emergency relief organization, though members expected to do some treatment because of the overwhelming needs. They'll work with other local heath care experts, government agencies and nongovernmental agencies to re-establish a system that connects pregnant women to services and trains medical professionals. With much of the infrastructure damaged or demolished in Port-au-Prince, they expect in the short term that the aid will come largely from field clinics and hospitals outside the city.
Jhpiego workers faced a similar situation after the 2004 tsunami in South Asia.
The three headed to Haiti said they do expect to bring some immediate relief. They carried medical supplies to re-equip clinics. And they carried food, water filters, mosquito repellent and other items to share with the group's Haitian workers.
"We'll do what we need to do to support the team there," Lamporte said. "This is about recovery and reconstruction."
But they almost had to leave some of the supplies behind. They had run afoul of American Airlines luggage rules that allow only two checked and two carry-on bags per passenger.
After the airline suggested fellow passengers donate their unused spots in the cargo hold, the group did some reshuffling to meet baggage weight requirements, and a porter agreed to shuttle the extras for no tip, all the duffel bags and backpacks made it to the plane. Only one bottle of antiseptic was left behind.
Jhpiego workers always find "innovative" solutions, said Leslie Mancuso, president and chief executive officer of the group. And they will need those skills as they begin to rebuild a decimated health system.
"We're expecting that it'll be at least two weeks, if not longer," he said about the duration of the trip. "Our goal is that our staff is OK, that they're supported and have what they need, and then, most importantly, that we're able to help with pregnant women and their newborns there."
The Associated Press and Baltimore Sun reporters Jamie Smith Hopkins and Kelly Brewington contributed to this article.