By Dessalines Ferdinand
When a major natural disaster hits Haiti, it is not only the local people who are affected; its diaspora also feels the pain of the crisis.
Just as on January 12, 2010, when a 7.0-magnitude quake struck Haiti, leaving an estimated 200,000 dead, some 1.5 million people displaced and about 300,000 injured, the news of a 7.2 magnitude earthquake which hit the island nation again last weekend is heartbreaking for members of the Haitian diaspora.
This new tragedy is another gut punch not only to the Haitian citizenry, but also to the Haitian diaspora as a whole. It is said that no matter where Haitians are in the world, such bad news still affects them just as closely, even if they’re not physically there.
The massive temblor hit the southwestern region of Haiti, killing at least 1,419 people and injuring 6,000 others (according to government authority estimation up to Tuesday morning), as buildings tumbled into rubble. Local hospitals are overcrowded and people were rushing in fear from their homes into the streets.
The U.S. Geological Survey placed the epicenter about 75 miles west of the capital, Port-au-Prince, causing widespread damage there. Seismologists said it had a depth of 7 miles and was felt 200 miles away in Jamaica. According to some experts, the Saturday morning seismic event was stronger than the 7.0 quake that hit the country eleven years ago.
Strong mobilization effort to help the victims
As with others communities in the diaspora, the South Florida community is saddened by the news of the devastating 7.2 earthquake that struck the motherland. Less than 48 hours after the natural catastrophe, many relief efforts starting to get underway.
Many local organizations are mobilizing to assess immediate health needs. The Center for Haitian Studies (CHS) is one of the local entities that took an early initiative to make an assessment in order to evaluate the needs of the local government. The health and social service organization founded in 1988 already donated some medical equipment and sanitation products through its different local partners (Usaid, Ministry of Public Health and Population) in Haiti, including 30 brand new hospital beds. CHS is planning to ship more materials in the coming days.
A note published on its official website reads: ‘The Haitian General Directorate of Civil Protection welcomes the outpouring solidarity manifested following the devastating earthquake that struck the southern region of Haiti on Saturday August 14, 2021. To avoid duplication and facilitate the necessary assistance that we must bring to our affected brothers and sisters, we ask that anyone and all institutions that wish to provide assistance to contact the Civil Protection by: Email ([email protected]) ; Telephone: + 509 46 05 05 05 and you will be asked to fill out a form to obtain the authorization to deploy help.’
“We are in contact with the head of the Haitian General Directorate of Civil Protection agency, which is the main government channel the donations should go through,” said Dr. Larry Pierre, MD, Executive Director of Center for Haitians Studies, located in Little Haiti. “A lot of friends of the Haitian Community, such as Jackson Memorial Hospital and University of Miami, which want to help, have already contacted us.”
“We are currently in the process of making an evaluation of the real needs of the victims. We don’t want to repeat some mistakes made in 2010, where we had medical materials and food products ended up stuck in storage. We are looking to provide the proper aid that the victims are in need [of] and not to send other things perhaps that is not needed at the moment,” he added.
Sant La Haitian Neighborhood Center, another local Nonprofit Organization based in North Miami is also moved by this tragedy. In a note posted on its Facebook page, the center suggested its followers to donate to the United Way if they want to support relief efforts.
Sant La Haitian Neighborhood Center has partnered with Miami Herald/ El Nuevo Herald to launch the Haiti Relief Fund through Operation Helping Hands. According to the note, 100% of funds raised will go directly to help the people affected by the earthquake in Haiti. unitedwaymiami.org is the website to visit to make donations. Donors can also call 1-800-226-3320.
In a live broadcast on her Facebook page, just 4 hours after the news reached the diaspora, Dr. Marie Flore Lindor-Latortue, activist, educator, and radio personality, whose parents are from Cavaillon, cautiously asked her brothers and sisters living abroad to stay calm for the moment and warned them not to start donating any money for the victims of the earthquake until the local government shows us clearly there is access to reach those victims who are suffering.
Her request was motivated by the 2010 experience, where so much aid never reached the victims. Dr. Lindor suggested that each member of the diaspora reach out to their relatives and friends in the southwestern region and try to give a helping hand as they can.
Marleine Bastien, Executive Director of FANM, the Family Action Network Movement, was dismayed and heartbroken by the news.
“It’s just draining because people are constantly talking about how resilient Haitians and Haitian Americans are, and I just wonder when is that going to run out,” she told local 10 TV station.
“Haiti needs your help now! Please come to our office to drop medical supplies, OTC (On [sic] the Counter Medications), water cases, nonperishable food and PPE for those in need in Haiti,” reads a post on FANM’s Facebook page.
For monetary donations, people are encouraged to visit their website: FANM.ORG
Haitian-American Boynton Beach City Commissioner Christina Romelus, who has family that still lives in the island, is deeply affected by the earthquake. Family on her husband’s side also live in the area that was most impacted by the earthquake. And as of Saturday afternoon, she learned that they’ve lost three members of their family that they know of.
As an elected official in Boynton Beach, after getting much direction from the Haitian government, she has decided to start collecting medical supplies at Fire Station One in downtown Boynton Beach.
During an interview with WLRN Public radio, she made a call to the public, saying that anybody who’s willing to provide or make donations, that they can do so at Fire Station One. “And that’s all we are accepting at the moment.”
Commissioner Romelus strongly believes that the people of Haiti will be able to get up and get past this tragedy. She asks that the world continue to support and give Haiti the support it needs to pick herself up and keep going.
Hope for Haiti, a nonprofit based in Naples (Florida) that has spent the past 30 years building support for healthcare and education in Haiti, is already on scene. The organization’s 62 Haitian team members are safe, though many are sleeping outside as homes are damaged or unlivable, and many were afraid of follow-up quakes that could flatten houses, said Skyler Badenoch, CEO of Hope for Haiti.
Hope for Haiti has 24 partner communities with schools supporting 424 teachers and more than 7,000 students. Some schoolhouses have already collapsed with more in dire condition. Teachers’ homes have also been destroyed.
A clinic in Les Cayes, built by the nonprofit and staffed by Haitian doctors and nurses, survived the earthquake, Badenoch said. It has become the center of operations for the local nonprofit members.
There are 1,500 emergency kits on-site to meet basic needs, including water filters. Clean water is going to be a major problem in the weeks to come, Badenoch said. Water wells collapsed in rural areas, and people will turn to unclean water for drinking.
Badenoch aims to deliver 20,000 water filters to Haitians within two weeks and estimates 100,000 are needed to cover the devastation caused by the earthquake. Each system costs $65. Communities will need at least $100,000 for rehabilitation, Badenoch said, and he called on the people of Naples for help.
“We are so grateful for the community stepping up in 2010, and we call for residents and community members to rally and do their best to help these people,” he said.
Go to Hope for Haiti’s website to donate directly to the nonprofit at https://hopeforhaiti.com/earthquake.
Badenoch cautioned people to research nonprofits before donating. Hope for Haiti has direct connections with Haitian-led organizations that need support.
Also providing help after a request from Haiti’s government was the United States Coast Guard’s 7th District, which performs maritime and related activities throughout a 1.7 million square mile area including Puerto Rico, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and 34 foreign nations and territories.
The district deployed helicopters from Air Station Clearwater to transport medical personnel and supplies from Port-au-Prince to Jérémie Airport and return to Port-au-Prince, evacuating the injured. The Coast Guard cutter Reliance has also been pressed into service, the USCG reported.
U.S. President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris received a briefing on Saturday morning about the Haiti earthquake, according to the White House. Biden authorized an immediate response and named USAID Administrator Samantha Power as the senior official coordinating the effort.
Our Haitian brothers and sisters are in great need. We at Le Floridien are proud of our fellow Haitian-Americans, and of our other neighbors and community members who continually shine as beacons of light and hope during dark times. Thank you all for your continued support and prayer for Haiti and her people. I know we will step up as needed because that’s who we are.
Love and care isn’t a one-time act; it’s a constant and continual act of devotion and sacrifice, for when just one of us hurts, we all hurt. And right now, we all hurt and these organizations are supporting those who need our funding, supplies, and support right now. Thank you for all of you wonderful people of South Florida.
DessalinesFerdinand/LE FLORIDIEN