ShareThisJohan Guillaume left Haiti when he was 14, but Haiti never left Guillaume. First as a high school and college student in New York and then as a first-year medical student at Stanford University, he planned to use his education to someday help his homeland.
Someday came on Jan. 12, when a 7.0 earthquake caused widespread disaster in the country. Waiting for word from his grandmother, uncle and other relatives who lived near the quake's epicenter, Guillaume took action.
"The instant I heard about the tragedy, I thought it was my duty to get something done," Guillaume said. "Not only because I'm a native of Haiti, but because it cost a lot of people's lives and is affecting their health."
Guillaume, 23, has been one cog in the impressive earthquake relief efforts by the Palo Alto, Calif., medical school's students and staff, which have included raising about $180,000 from more than 1,100 donors. With the support of the school's dean, Philip Pizzo, and the dean of global health, Michele Barry, various departments in the school committed to matching most of the funds.
Guillaume wants to keep students' attention on the region and hopes to fly there this summer. It will be his first time back since he left with his parents in 2000.
"In the short term, the devastation in Haiti is in the news," Guillaume said. "But in the long term, when things will still be affecting individuals, we'll still need the support of the international community. The Haitian doctors will need the support of other doctors. We'll need a lot of resources."
It's a notion that's being repeated by other students who say that as media attention starts to wane, the real challenge begins.
"Media attention is already beginning to shy away," said third-year Stanford medical student Mike Scahill, a former president of the school's Organization of International Health and one of the coordinators of the student relief effort. "The problem in Haiti stretched back long before the earthquake, and the devastation that happened in a few minutes time with the earthquake is going to take years upon years to undo. It's going to take a tremendous amount of long-term stable support."
The money the school raised is going to Hopital Albert Schweitzer near Port-au-Prince -- a medical center that became crucial after the quake decimated the city's operating rooms. One of Stanford's professors of surgery, Dr. Ralph Greco, has a long relationship with the hospital, taking residents there for more than 20 years.
Guillaume and fellow students organized the collection of several boxes of medical supplies for the hospital. Separately, seven Stanford doctors and nurses flew to Haiti shortly after the quake and spent two weeks doing heroic work under enormous pressure.
Guillaume's easy laugh and youthful good looks hide the fact that great sacrifices were made by his family to get their youngest son to one of the finest universities in the world.
"My parents were not the richest people in Haiti," Guillaume said. "Education was always one of their top priorities. Even when they had other challenges, they made sure I was in school always, and that I was doing well. I owe so much to my family."
He found his calling while volunteering at Bellevue Hospital Center as an undergrad at New York University. Guillaume decided to pursue an M.D. and Ph.D. at the same time, thinking the combination of medical training and research would best position him to effect change in Haiti and other underdeveloped countries.
"There are certain things in the U.S. that you don't even think about. Polio, which has long since been (eradicated) in the U.S., is still in Haiti," Guillaume said. "We have one single medical school, and the medical school is nonexistent at this moment because of the earthquake."
After nearly a month of being in the dark, Guillaume finally received news late last week that, incredibly, his grandmother, uncle and the rest of his family had lost their homes and most of their possessions but were physically unharmed. They've since moved to another city, although Guillaume still hasn't heard many details of their ordeal.
"I've always had Haiti in the back of my mind, but this is definitely allowing me to do things quicker," Guillaume said. "It's happened before -- so many times when something is in the news, people help. But they soon forget. I'm not going to forget."
How to help
To donate to Hôpital Albert Schweitzer, go to its Web site. www.hashaiti.org
E-mail Peter Hartlaub at phartlaub(at)sfchronicle.com.
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
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