Haiti earthquake rebuild continues five years later says Dr. James Kim
Dr. James Kim says progress is happening as Haitian people gain skills to move on past devastating earthquake
Five years after the devastating earthquake in Haiti, survivors are still dealing with its impact, and a North Vancouver, B.C., doctor has returned to the country to help the continued effort to get them back on their feet.
"In the media it's the now and wow factor when a disaster happens," Dr. James Kim, an anaesthesiologist, told The Early Edition's Rick Cluff.
"The basic needs of the people have been affected and here in Haiti, just walking around, you see the problems that have occurred, which is often amputations of your limbs, not to mention the psychological social factors that have happened — and everyone has lost someone."
Kim has been to Haiti a number of times since the earthquake. On this trip, he's volunteering with Broken Earth, which focuses on long-term medical relief.
"I was born in a different country — South Korea — but when we moved to Canada I had all the opportunities in the world in terms of getting ahead and doing well," he said.
"It's my way of giving back."
Kim said his focus is on training others, as he believes the real solution lies with the Haitian people — a challenge he's seen them rise to.
"More often than not it's the locals who are taking more pride in terms of the development of their speciality whether it's nursing or physicians in terms of getting that core mass of people that are looking after their own people," he said.
To hear the full interview with Dr. James Kim, listen to the audio labelled: James Kim in Haiti.