Dear all,
As you know, Haiti is going through once again disastrous times with important human loss and material destruction leaving the country, the nation on its knees with the decapitation of its government and locally-based UN, the disappearance of its infrastructures reduced to dust along with its personnel.
The earthquake that hit my country now 5 days ago shoke the haitian people and its diaspora; those affected are now trying to survive among death and desolation or family trying to cope with no news from their loved ones.
It is extremely upsetting for all of us to see such a pride and resilient nation having to cope with the worst that such destruction can bring.
I believe as world-citizens we are all concerned with the current state of affairs and the survival of what's left of humanity on the Haitian soil. I'm sure you are all aware humanitarian aid is slowly reaching the victims but there are many neighborhoods, cities, towns in Haiti where relief and rescue efforts and aids have not yet reached those millions in need and the kilometers of land yet to cover.
All these reminders and words to reiterate that help is more than needed, and with the country plunged in chaos, help must come from the international community and its citizens to save and help the people of Haiti to rebuild what they have for so many years worked hard to keep.
I invite you on behalf of all to donate what you can because the lives of many depends on it right now. So for the short-term but also the long term please donate to the different NGOs, organizations and charities such as the Red Cross, Medecins sans Frontieres, DEC, Action for Hunger and many more on the ground -for some, suffering human loss. See below a few links to make a donation drop colthing or shoes, bottles of water, imperishable food and medical supplies:
Thank you for all your help, your kinds words and thoughts but most of all your deeds.
Please forward this email.
For all the haitians: tchimbe red, pa moli!*
Don't let go, hold on!
Alexandra Dorisca
(+) 44 7588 172 775
Sunday, 17 January 2010
A letter from Jacmel 17th Jan 7am
Urgent Appeal for Medical Help in JacmelShare
Today at 7:10am
URGENT APPEAL FOR MEDICAL HELP IN JACMEL
From Danielle Saint-Lot with Vital Voices
Dear All:
We urgently need in Jacmel: an orthopedist, two anesteniologists and a surgeon.
I am safe with my daughter and my staff in Jacmel. Jacmel old city is completely destroyed. We are homeless and living in a camp in a Catholic community with 200 people that have lost more than their houses. We have been blessed.
In the Jacmel region around 2,000 families has been affected leaving around 20,000 people in very bad conditions. For the moment we have an estimate of 150 deaths but some children are still under a shool building. We have set up 4 camps one of them with 4,000 persons.
I am part of the local camps management. We are doing our best to manage the situation in Jacmel with the assistance of the UN and local authorities. But we are still traumatized and are waiting for humanitarian assistance. The earth is still shaking at night.
Early by 5:00 am every morning, for two hours there are like 500 - 600 people on the streets singing religious songs, dancing and blessing God for being alive. It is like a parade, the local way of healing their pain, it is vey impressive. A real therapy for these victims which have lost everything except their Faith.
My phones do not work. My blackberry works once in a while. I will be checking my mail everyday at 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. at the Cyvadier Hotel.
Keep on praying for Haiti!
Danielle Saint-Lot
"Si tu crois, tu peux"
If you think, you can
Today at 7:10am
URGENT APPEAL FOR MEDICAL HELP IN JACMEL
From Danielle Saint-Lot with Vital Voices
Dear All:
We urgently need in Jacmel: an orthopedist, two anesteniologists and a surgeon.
I am safe with my daughter and my staff in Jacmel. Jacmel old city is completely destroyed. We are homeless and living in a camp in a Catholic community with 200 people that have lost more than their houses. We have been blessed.
In the Jacmel region around 2,000 families has been affected leaving around 20,000 people in very bad conditions. For the moment we have an estimate of 150 deaths but some children are still under a shool building. We have set up 4 camps one of them with 4,000 persons.
I am part of the local camps management. We are doing our best to manage the situation in Jacmel with the assistance of the UN and local authorities. But we are still traumatized and are waiting for humanitarian assistance. The earth is still shaking at night.
Early by 5:00 am every morning, for two hours there are like 500 - 600 people on the streets singing religious songs, dancing and blessing God for being alive. It is like a parade, the local way of healing their pain, it is vey impressive. A real therapy for these victims which have lost everything except their Faith.
My phones do not work. My blackberry works once in a while. I will be checking my mail everyday at 9 a.m. and 6 p.m. at the Cyvadier Hotel.
Keep on praying for Haiti!
Danielle Saint-Lot
"Si tu crois, tu peux"
If you think, you can
Saturday, 16 January 2010
Lets embrace the brave
Whilst we focus on the immediate needs of the people of Haiti, lets not forget the heroes and unsong heroes.
I got a call from British Airways who are sending a charter with relief. All staff are working free. Many airlines around the world are stepping in.
Lets all get ready to welcome back the heroic marines, fire fighters, doctors, aid workers and journalists who have gone out to Haiti. Please rally around them upon their return. They have / are doing a tremendous job. If you know any one who is doing any thing for Haiti, please give them a hug. There are so many unsong heroes.
These people are probably sleeping 2-3 hours a night, in the open adn in the smell of death. They are seeing dead bodies and the most chilling seens of desperation.
What we need to do is continue the awareness and ensure more money trickles through. At present, the UK has pledged around £ 10m (I am made to understand) and this is £ 6m from government and the rest through the NGO's and their supporters. The present death toll is estimated to be 50,000. I am made to understand that 40,000 have been buried. A friend who use to be based in Haiti with US Marines and is in Haiti estimates closer to 200,000.
UN is calling for $500m but I think 4-5 times this will be needed.
I would like to see £ 100m come from the UK and I appeal for your help.
I got a call from British Airways who are sending a charter with relief. All staff are working free. Many airlines around the world are stepping in.
Lets all get ready to welcome back the heroic marines, fire fighters, doctors, aid workers and journalists who have gone out to Haiti. Please rally around them upon their return. They have / are doing a tremendous job. If you know any one who is doing any thing for Haiti, please give them a hug. There are so many unsong heroes.
These people are probably sleeping 2-3 hours a night, in the open adn in the smell of death. They are seeing dead bodies and the most chilling seens of desperation.
What we need to do is continue the awareness and ensure more money trickles through. At present, the UK has pledged around £ 10m (I am made to understand) and this is £ 6m from government and the rest through the NGO's and their supporters. The present death toll is estimated to be 50,000. I am made to understand that 40,000 have been buried. A friend who use to be based in Haiti with US Marines and is in Haiti estimates closer to 200,000.
UN is calling for $500m but I think 4-5 times this will be needed.
I would like to see £ 100m come from the UK and I appeal for your help.
A letter from a Priest in Haiti
This is a rough translation of the French e-mail.
Port-au-Prince, January 14, 2010
R.P. Wilhelm Steckling, omi
Supérieur Général
Rome
Dear Father Superior,
I am using what is left of the charge on my laptop to send you this message. You have probably learned that on Tuesday January 12th 2010 at 4:53 pm a violent earthquake (measuring 7.3 on the Richter scale) shook Haiti and nearly destroyed the city of Port-au-Prince.
Most of the large buildings collapsed.
The parish house is seriously damaged and the new building (annexe) fell.
The scolasticate also collapsed. The two teachers (P. Muscadin and Almonor) as well as the two scolastics who were there (Ronel and Johnny), and Father P. Jean-François Printemps, who was visiting, are safe and sound.
The other scolastics were at a conference organised by the CIFOR, and presented by a Brasilian physician. The CIFOR collapsed and the speaker died did a scolastic oblate, Weedy Alexis, and a spiritual scolastic named Stéphane Dougé. As I write, the Montfortains Scolastic’s minibus is stuck under the ruins with 14 passengers on board, including 9 Montfortains. We have not yet been able to do anything to remove them from there. One of them is alive. We hear his voice. We speak to him but it’s all we can do..
Its’s a catastrophe. Total despair in Haiti. Since Wednesday night, all inhabitants of Port-au-Prince are obliged to sleep outdoors, as are we since there are tremors from time to time. We are afraid et we take all the precautions we are still able to take.
There are no means of communication or of conveying information. With a little luck, the telephone sometimes gets through. I still have not been able to communicate with our brothers in the countryside.
There is no electricity, no water in the parish house and no internet either. I imagine the situation is the same pretty much everywhere in Port-au-Prince.
Yesterday, Father Loubeau and I had to make a treacherous journey through the streets to get to the scolasticate. Everywhere we hear cries, laments and mourning. The roads are littered with corpses.
Among the collapsed buildings: the Archdiocese of Port-au-Prince, the National Palace, the Cathedrale, the Sacred Heart Church, the Theological Seminary in Turgeau, The Philosophy Seminary in Cazeau, the St. Trinity Episcopal Church and several other major churches and Catholic or Protestant Schools.
It is only yesterday morning that they were able to extract the body of the Archbishop of Port-au-Prince, Mgr Joseph Serge Miot, from the wreckage. The Vicar General is still under the collapsed building, but now his voice is no longer heard. A professor and the Grand Seminary in Turgeau and three theologians are still stuck inside. There voices can no longer be heard.
So far, we have counted 8 deaths among the seminarits at Cazeau. (The Oblates Blanchard and Sibert were spared).
Help arrived yesterday from the United States, France and the Domincan Republic. But they still cannot do much because there are still tremors. They expect the tremors to end by Friday night.
The scolastic oblate who died had to be inhumed yesterday afternoon, at the same time as the spiritan, in the Spiritans yard (their church and their house was also destroyed). There is no functioning morgue. Help has not yet arrived either. This morning, at 8 o’clock, we are going to hold a joint funeral ceremony with the Spiritans.
As you can see, Father Superieur, the destruction is widespread. The number of fatalities cannot yet be evaluated, though the Prime Minister spoke of around 100,000. The outcome is much worse than that for their are also the wounded, the missing and the material losses. Many priests, brothers and sisters are still missing.
There, Father Superior, is my attempt to describe to you what we are living. As I have to type fast so as not to use too much of my battery, I ask that you understand that I cannot convey all the details nor respect the conventional form.
Thank you for your comprehension and your solidarity.
We know your thoughts are with us and you lift us through your prayers in the name of Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, our Auxiliary Mother.
P. Gasner Joint, omi
Port-au-Prince, January 14, 2010
R.P. Wilhelm Steckling, omi
Supérieur Général
Rome
Dear Father Superior,
I am using what is left of the charge on my laptop to send you this message. You have probably learned that on Tuesday January 12th 2010 at 4:53 pm a violent earthquake (measuring 7.3 on the Richter scale) shook Haiti and nearly destroyed the city of Port-au-Prince.
Most of the large buildings collapsed.
The parish house is seriously damaged and the new building (annexe) fell.
The scolasticate also collapsed. The two teachers (P. Muscadin and Almonor) as well as the two scolastics who were there (Ronel and Johnny), and Father P. Jean-François Printemps, who was visiting, are safe and sound.
The other scolastics were at a conference organised by the CIFOR, and presented by a Brasilian physician. The CIFOR collapsed and the speaker died did a scolastic oblate, Weedy Alexis, and a spiritual scolastic named Stéphane Dougé. As I write, the Montfortains Scolastic’s minibus is stuck under the ruins with 14 passengers on board, including 9 Montfortains. We have not yet been able to do anything to remove them from there. One of them is alive. We hear his voice. We speak to him but it’s all we can do..
Its’s a catastrophe. Total despair in Haiti. Since Wednesday night, all inhabitants of Port-au-Prince are obliged to sleep outdoors, as are we since there are tremors from time to time. We are afraid et we take all the precautions we are still able to take.
There are no means of communication or of conveying information. With a little luck, the telephone sometimes gets through. I still have not been able to communicate with our brothers in the countryside.
There is no electricity, no water in the parish house and no internet either. I imagine the situation is the same pretty much everywhere in Port-au-Prince.
Yesterday, Father Loubeau and I had to make a treacherous journey through the streets to get to the scolasticate. Everywhere we hear cries, laments and mourning. The roads are littered with corpses.
Among the collapsed buildings: the Archdiocese of Port-au-Prince, the National Palace, the Cathedrale, the Sacred Heart Church, the Theological Seminary in Turgeau, The Philosophy Seminary in Cazeau, the St. Trinity Episcopal Church and several other major churches and Catholic or Protestant Schools.
It is only yesterday morning that they were able to extract the body of the Archbishop of Port-au-Prince, Mgr Joseph Serge Miot, from the wreckage. The Vicar General is still under the collapsed building, but now his voice is no longer heard. A professor and the Grand Seminary in Turgeau and three theologians are still stuck inside. There voices can no longer be heard.
So far, we have counted 8 deaths among the seminarits at Cazeau. (The Oblates Blanchard and Sibert were spared).
Help arrived yesterday from the United States, France and the Domincan Republic. But they still cannot do much because there are still tremors. They expect the tremors to end by Friday night.
The scolastic oblate who died had to be inhumed yesterday afternoon, at the same time as the spiritan, in the Spiritans yard (their church and their house was also destroyed). There is no functioning morgue. Help has not yet arrived either. This morning, at 8 o’clock, we are going to hold a joint funeral ceremony with the Spiritans.
As you can see, Father Superieur, the destruction is widespread. The number of fatalities cannot yet be evaluated, though the Prime Minister spoke of around 100,000. The outcome is much worse than that for their are also the wounded, the missing and the material losses. Many priests, brothers and sisters are still missing.
There, Father Superior, is my attempt to describe to you what we are living. As I have to type fast so as not to use too much of my battery, I ask that you understand that I cannot convey all the details nor respect the conventional form.
Thank you for your comprehension and your solidarity.
We know your thoughts are with us and you lift us through your prayers in the name of Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, our Auxiliary Mother.
P. Gasner Joint, omi
Thursday, 14 January 2010
My Story
At 5.30am I awoke to 20-30 e-mails, texts and BB (blackberry) messages. I had not heard them buzzing through the night.
My sister, who lives in Montreal was quick to start making contact with our large family in Haiti and overseas.(My father is one of 6 and his father has many siblings too -last count our family tree was over 150). Of the 17 immediate family, we were able to account for 15.
As second hand news and occasional FB (face book) connections allowed us we were able to start understanding the extent of devestation. Having lived in Sri Lanka and experienced the tsunami, I was ready for the worst.
It took my aunt 8 hours to walk back home. The roads were blocked with bodies, rubble, personal belongings or some had slipped away into the ravines. Haiti is mountainous and Port-au-Prince is no exception. Unregulated building and houses being built in ravines and valleys means that with the slightest rain, buildings slide down the hill. An earthquake as large as 7.0 and then after shocks as large as 5.0 .. .. you can only imagine !(see image above).
Many of our home are located just below Hotel Montana and we understand, most of the 5 homes are badly (if not totally) damaged.
The came the conflicting words about my unlce / Godfather. Was he buried alive ? Did he make it out of the house? Those were the long long hours. The silence. The phones going dead. The fb messages slowing as batteries died... Eventually it was confirmed that though Gerlad Haig had successfuly fought off cancer, he was an Earthquake victim.
Most of my family is not back in there homes, and many have not even been able to get back home to see how it is.
I am yet to get through to Haiti on the phone. At the best of times, it is near impossible to connect to Haiti by phone.
We are lucky. We know hundreds of people who are still looking for their loved ones.
Why is Haiti so badly effected ?
The Haiti Earthquake is arguably one of the biggest natural disasters in recent times. Capital city in the epicentre means there is no capacity from which to launch a rescue effort. No electricity, no communication lines and few buildings. The Presidents Palace, Parliament, Police and UN Headquarters are all vistims.
Haiti and Port-au-Prince in particular is mountainous, so houses are one on top of the other per se. Hundreds of thousands live in the valleys where soil erodes and homes slide down during rains. An earthquake of 7.0 plus after shocks of 5 (over 20 in total) would have shaken the earth under the house, if the building had no yet collapsed.
Thousands and thousands of people may be trapped, and only bare hands of neighbours, friends and families can save lives. There is no capacity for emergencies like this. Niether people nor the equipment.
Who Am I
I was born in Haiti to a Sri Lankan mother and Haitian father. I lived in Musseau (near Petion Ville) till 1984, when I left to Sri Lanka (due to the political instability in Haiti).
I am a tourism professional and have been involved in crisis in Sri Lanka. I was Director UK & Ireland for Sri Lanka Tourism based in London.
I want to see how I can help rebuild Haiti and create a sustainable business link between the UK and Hatiti.
Can you help ? Any ideas ? Union fait la force - Strength in Unity !
Contact :
Jean-Marc Flambert,
+447930332659,
jeanmarc.flambert@btinternet.com
I am a tourism professional and have been involved in crisis in Sri Lanka. I was Director UK & Ireland for Sri Lanka Tourism based in London.
I want to see how I can help rebuild Haiti and create a sustainable business link between the UK and Hatiti.
Can you help ? Any ideas ? Union fait la force - Strength in Unity !
Contact :
Jean-Marc Flambert,
+447930332659,
jeanmarc.flambert@btinternet.com
After the headlines fade
What next. Haiti will fade from headlines in weeks, and hopefully enough money and resources would have been pledge to rescue, heal physical wounds, provide water, food and a shelter. What next ? Who will fund rebuilding homes, sanitation, food supplies, livelihoods, long term trauma needs and general infrastructure.
Haiti has 3 big strengths art, music and tourism. How can we on them ?
Art
Haiti boast some great art. How can we encourage the UK public to buy art as a way of building livelihoods ?
Music
Language (French/Creol) and music taste may mean this will be harder to push in the UK
Tourism
At present, cruise ships visit Labadee and excursions to the Citadel are done from Dom Rep. In the short run, how can we increase this and how can we start putting Haiti on the tourism map.
If you have any ideas, please contact Jean-Marc Flambert, +447930332659 or jeanmarc.flambert@btinternet.com
Haiti has 3 big strengths art, music and tourism. How can we on them ?
Art
Haiti boast some great art. How can we encourage the UK public to buy art as a way of building livelihoods ?
Music
Language (French/Creol) and music taste may mean this will be harder to push in the UK
Tourism
At present, cruise ships visit Labadee and excursions to the Citadel are done from Dom Rep. In the short run, how can we increase this and how can we start putting Haiti on the tourism map.
If you have any ideas, please contact Jean-Marc Flambert, +447930332659 or jeanmarc.flambert@btinternet.com
Why Haiti ?
Along with thousands of Haitians worldwide, I watch eagerly to hear about family and friends. We have all 17 of our family members, spread over 7 households are accounted for. My godfather did not survive ! Seems that most of the homes are particially or completely destroyed.
What can you do today :
What can you do today :
- Pray for Haitians - family desperate to hear about others, those pulling brick by brick to free loved ones, those buried knowing the the international relief will be too little and too late.
- Pray that people don't abondone a God who let this happen, but pray to this God as he is by their side.
- Prayer that pedges of support materialize. Many politicians and leaders pledge, but then dont deliver
- Prayer that Haiti does not disappear after the media hype - people will still be with out water, shelter, food, clothes, medical attention for weeks and months ! I literally mean months.
- If you feel you can help, start raising money and then choose your charity / channel carefully. Beware of scams. Use people with teams on the ground pre-earthquake. Try www.dec.org.uk (all NGO's raise money together and then apply for the funds) or direct with organizations like www.tearfund.org
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