BOONE, N.C. — Almost a month later, recovery efforts continue from a 7.7 magnitude earthquake that struck Southeast Asia, including the country of Myanmar.
The quake left at least 3,700 people dead, thousands more injured and many still missing. Samaritan’s Purse, a nondenominational Christian organization based out of Boone, is currently boots on the ground to help aid those in need.
Myanmar was hit by a 7.7 magnitude earthquake almost a month ago, the largest to strike the area in over a century
Samaritan’s Purse has been boots on the ground helping those in need
Their emergency field hospital began surgeries at the beginning of the month, performing over 200 surgeries
Of the more than 120 Disaster Assistance Response Team, or DART, members responding, 32 of them flew out of North Carolina
Peter Holz is just one of 32 Samaritan’s Purse Disaster Assistance Response Team, or DART, members that flew out of North Carolina to Myanmar.
“For many of the teammates that we have, they go on these responses and they see the impactful stories, and really just show God's love through what we do,” Holz said.
Holz used to be an emergency room nurse but joined DART in 2019, deploying for the first time in 2020. He has responded to crises around the world, including Ukraine, Sudan, Egypt and across the states during the pandemic. Deploying at a moment's notice.
“I hear all the time of folks that just kind of change their careers around to make time to be able to do this and deploy in a very rapid fashion to meet the emergency need,” Holz said.
His most recent trip is to Myanmar, which saw their most devastating earthquake in over a century.
Related: Extra hands: Samaritan’s Purse supports earthquake victims in midst of Helene recovery
Holz and his team are providing physical care to those injured.
“We're still seeing earthquake related injuries. But the health system here was damaged from the earthquake,” Holz said.
At one point, Holz said his team was seeing upwards of around 170 patients a day.
“It's busy. We're definitely needed here,” Holz said.
Samaritan’s Purse launched over 120 DART members to Myanmar and eight to Thailand. The organization also brought over 100 tons of relief supplies on their DC-8 aircraft and 747 cargo plane.
Items included water filtration units, an emergency field hospital and emergency shelter material.
“A lot of wells were disrupted around the area. So we have our water filtration systems going out and into communities. A lot of people are outside of their homes. Whether theirs has completely fallen down or they're unsafe to inhabit,” Holz said.
The emergency field hospital has 60 beds, and includes three operating theaters, an emergency room, in patient wards, a pharmacy and a laboratory.
“We have incredibly talented surgeons and nurses and support staff here,” Holz said. “What's on everyone's heart here is to come along and give them emotional and spiritual support and show them the love of Jesus while taking care of all of their physical needs as well,” Holz said.
Holz, an Asheville native recently helping with the devastation of Helene in his own backyard, is now having a new perspective when responding to his deployments.
“It's made me even more sensitive to the hardship that these people are experiencing. Until you kind of, you know, walked in the shoes of somebody that's experienced those hard times,” Holz said.
He says the team will be in Myanmar as long as they are needed.
“It's the small things you take for granted every day, and these types of situations, people just lose everything,” Holz said. “ It's an honor and a privilege to get to come alongside them and just show them that love and kindness and, and let them at least begin to get their lives back to some sense of normalcy.”
If you are interested in learning more on how to support Samaritan Purse’s efforts in Myanmar, click here. You can also get more information on how to join the DART team.
“There's a long road to recovery for this country. When it comes to the earthquake, people have lives to put back together. So, just keep them in your prayers and then just pray for the staff here, just for resilience,” Holz said.
