The August 2010 issue of InStyle magazine profiles actress and International Medical Corps Global Ambassador Sienna Miller and her journey to Haiti following the earthquake. “The spirit of the Haitian people — despite what they’ve experienced — moved me so much,” says Miller, who visited International Medical Corps’ clinics in Port-au-Prince, where the organization provides health services and training to vulnerable populations. By witnessing first-hand the catastrophic destruction left by the January 12 earthquake, Miller aims to raise public awareness of the long-term needs of Haiti’s people.

The effects of the tragedy, which caused some 300,000 deaths and displaced about 2 million people, will take years to overcome. “The long-term problems that Haitians are now facing are really only the beginning,” Miller says. “We must help rebuild, yes, but that includes providing safe, healthy environments for everyone.”

“After seeing International Medical Corps’ courageous work up-close I was determined to become more involved, devoting my energies and my name to bring more attention to the challenges they face around the world,” said Miller.

Sienna Miller has revealed how she was affected by a visit to Haiti, which she says was “like a horror film”.

The Alfie actress, who is ambassador for the International Medical Corps, visited the earthquake-ravaged country to raise awareness of the ongoing need for aid there.

She told GMTV: “It looks like something out of a film set or a horror film, or something worse. Enormous buildings look like sandwiches piled on top of each other, and you know that amongst the rubble, there are still bodies that will never be recovered.”

Sienna fears for the homeless victims, who are at risk of being ‘washed away’ when the hurricane season starts.

“Now the problems are really beginning and the monsoons are coming and the hurricanes are coming – and these people are more vulnerable than ever,” she explained.

“I think over a million people are living in tents. Obviously everyone’s houses have basically been destroyed. So when the monsoons come and the hurricanes come – and they will come – these people could very easily be washed away. So this is why we are trying to move camps in vulnerable areas and try and rebuild this place, which is such a beautiful country.”

Sienna appeared live on GMTV today to talk about her recent trip to Haiti

Sienna has written a blog about her current visit to Haiti for the International Medical Corps blog. Thanks to IMC for alerting me to this.

Wednesday, March 24, 2010
A Plea for Haiti
By Sienna Miller
Global Ambassador, International Medical Corps

I came to Haiti as an ambassador for the International Medical Corps, an organization that I have been working with for over a year. Their teams arrived 22 hours after the devastating earthquake of 12th January and have been a powerful and leading medical presence ever since.

I arrived in the Dominican Republic from London on the night of March 18th, and met up with my friends Margaret Aguirre from International Medical Corps, and David Serota, a talented filmmaker who has come to document the long-term health care needs that lie ahead for Haiti.

We flew the following morning to Port-au-Prince and were met in the chaos by Andy Gleadle, our operations director, (the kind of ‘man mountain’ that you hope to be around in disaster zones like this one) and were briefed on the security issues we potentially faced. For starters, the local jail was destroyed in the quake, and as a result, 5,000 prisoners are free and roaming the streets. There were serious security problems in Haiti before the earthquake, but of course everything has now intensified. Three NGO workers were kidnapped the previous week, so Andy told us what to expect and how we would be protected (a two-car convoy at all times, watchmen by the tents etc). Afterward we drove to the guesthouse to meet the team, drop our bags and then head out to start the day.

Our first stop was St Louis, a neighborhood in Port-au-Prince, to visit Dr. Joseline Marhone. I sat with her in the shade of a tree, her patients surrounding us on beds in tents nearby, and asked her to share her experiences with us. Her house was destroyed in the quake, but thankfully she and her son were in the basement at the time and survived. Her two cousins upstairs did not survive. I found it so difficult to ask the questions that I suspected would be hard for her to answer. Journalism of this sort does not come naturally to me, but she explained that it helped her to talk about it. So she speaks, with a resilience and strength far superior to mine upon hearing her. She was the director of nutrition for the Ministry of Health in Haiti. The nursing school where she taught collapsed, killing every one of her students. She told us that she had found that the best thing for her to deal with her enormous pain was to keep busy and carry on doing what she does so well. To date, on the grounds of the ruined church where she once worshipped, she has treated over 4,000 people. International Medical Corps has provided her with the medical supplies and volunteers that she needs in order to do this. She is so beautiful and open, walking around with a smile that melts, wearing the same long blue cotton skirt that she was wearing on January 12th when the earthquake struck.

My role here as ambassador is simple: we need to raise awareness of the road ahead for Haiti – and raise a significant amount of new funding through appeals to the public. Most people just don’t realize that the problems Haiti faces are really only beginning. This country was in desperate need before the earthquake hit. The problems they are now facing are tenfold. The onset of the rainy season, which is imminent, means that the temporary camps that are housing hundreds of thousands of people will be washed away. Water-borne diseases will be rife, nutritional needs will become even more prevalent and there is inevitably a massive increase in sexual and gender-based violence within the camps. Donors have been incredibly generous, but as always, much, much more is needed.

It appears that Sienna is currently in Haiti, working with International Medical Corps and helping with aid work following the January earthquake. Sienna is a Global Ambassador for International Medical Corps.

The IMC blog posted these new pictures of her in Haiti yesterday:

Sienna talking with Francois, who lost his home and broke both legs in the earthquake. He has been living at a clinic built out of the rubble of St. Louis Church, a clinic that International Medical Corps supports in Port-au-Prince.

Sienna speaking with May, one of our International Medical Corps volunteer nurses from Columbia University at St. Louis.

Sienna Miller with Dr. Joseline Marhone, who started the clinic in the ruins of St. Louis Church on January 13, after losing her home and two of her family members in the earthquake.

Sienna Miller, Global Ambassador for International Medical Corps, talks about ongoing relief efforts in Haiti, and what you can do to help.

International Medical Corps announced today the appointment of actress and activist Sienna Miller as an Ambassador. Miller recently traveled with International Medical Corps to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to see first-hand the impact that war has had on women and children. During more than a decade, an estimated 5.4 million people have died in DRC as a result of the ongoing conflict and disease. International Medical Corps has been providing health services and training local health professionals there since the ‘90s.

“We are tremendously grateful to have Sienna join our efforts in raising awareness of the suffering of vulnerable populations in DRC and around the world,” said International Medical Corps President & CEO Nancy A. Aossey. “In many of these remote and volatile areas we are providing the only health care services that exist. Sienna’s steadfast commitment to shining a light on these crises will – and already has – had an enormous impact on our life-saving work.”

“After seeing International Medical Corps’ courageous work up-close I was determined to become more involved, devoting my energies and my name to bring more attention to the challenges they face around the world,” said Miller, who currently stars on Broadway in “After Miss Julie.” “These people work in the toughest conditions imaginable, saving lives every single day, and helping bring self-reliance and hope. The question for me was, how could I not take action?”

Established in 1984 by volunteer doctors and nurses, International Medical Corps today has a staff of 3,500 working in more than 22 countries and regions. Its relief efforts focus on training local health workers, delivering maternal and child health care, integrating mental health into primary care settings, and promoting the use of clean water, proper sanitation and hygiene.

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