Muslims for Haiti - Youth assisting in Medical Camps and Building Shelters

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Helping Hand for Relief and Development

Mar 18, 2010, 10:40 ET

Helping Hand for Relief and Development (HHRD) has established a shelter village in the region to house hundreds of families along with medical camps which have served nearly 11,000 patients

HHRD's ongoing efforts since the 12th of January have drawn the praise of important community leaders

SOMERSET, N.J., March 18 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Helping Hand for Relief and Development (HHRD) has launched its "Youth for Haiti" program with the help of nearly 30 college students participating in volunteer relief work in Haiti during their respective spring break.

HHRD has invited college students from all over the country to take part in their "Youth for Haiti" spring break program. After a rigorous selection process, during four week long rotations, HHRD is sending batches of 10 students to volunteer in the areas of medical assistance and building shelter villages alongside supervised professionals.

HHRD aims to rebuild Haiti by constructing hundreds of permanent shelters. The cost of $900 per shelter will give thousands of victims who have turned homeless after the earthquake, a place to live, under a roof with their families. These shelters are being made by volunteers under the supervision of experts in this field.

HHRD is currently operating six rotational clinics in the most remote areas where there is little or no medical help available. These Medical Clinics are treating more than 2,000 people per week and vaccinations have been provided to over 300 men, women and children. Originally a team of volunteer doctors of HHRD from Florida and New York took large supplies of medications bought for them by HHRD to Port-au-Prince. Close to $150,000 worth of medication has been administered to over 10,000 patients. These doctors helped to establish the mechanism for field and mobile clinics where they have volunteered roughly 1,000 hours of services along with an estimated 900 hours by nurses. Due to urgent need, a full-time local Haitian Doctor has been hired, accompanied by a female doctor who especially tends to women's health issues. Millions are living in unsanitary conditions, cultivating more infections by the day.

With over 2,000 hours of volunteer work conducted by those at HHRD in Haiti, many respected community leaders have traveled abroad to witness and monitor the relief efforts. Naeem Baig, Vice President of the Islamic Circle of North America (ICNA) and Executive Director of ICNA Council for Social Justice along with Imam Abdool Rahman Khan, Scholar of Islamic Foundation in Illinois and Member of ICNA Executive Council were two of the most prominent members to have gone. The work HHRD is doing aboard is essential and ongoing. "HHRD donors must be thanked. Allowing HHRD to carry out these much needed services and HHRD doctors should be thanked but we also get a sense that this is going to take long time. This is not an emergency operation that will end in 2 or 3 months." shared Naeem Baig. They visited the Medical Camps and met with the Muslim community leaders to assess the situation and lend their support.

"A lot still has to be done here," said Imam Abdool Rahman. He also had a chance to meet some of the college students that are there for the Youth for Haiti program. "It's a very humbling experience to come here, life here is tough, and they (the volunteers) say they enjoy it and they are willing to come back."

Helping Hand for Relief and Development has launched a $1.5 million appeal for the earthquake victims of Haiti.

Support the cause in Haiti by visiting www.muslimsforhaiti.org.

For more information about the organization: www.hhrd.org

SOURCE Helping Hand for Relief and Development