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October 7, 2004

Local Haitians mount relief effort in hurricane’s wake

Jeremy Schwab

The barren hillsides of Haiti, stripped over time by locals in need of firewood, turned to mud that slid down to bury homes and people when slow-moving Hurricane Jeanne dumped torrents of rain on the island nation the weekend of September 18.

After the mud slides and flooding claimed more than 2,000 lives and left 200,000 homeless, international aid groups tried to rebuild damaged roads, power lines and buildings and distribute food.

But the pace of rebuilding and relief has been frustratingly slow for many Haitians. Roads and power lines are still down over large swaths of the country and food and shelter are in short supply.

“The work of the Red Cross, Catholic Relief Services, the U.N., without that where would we be?” asked Pierre Imbert, executive director of the Haitian Multiservice Center in Boston. “But it has been much too little and much too late.”

A Boston-area coalition of Haitian-Americans came head to head with the reality of the chaos caused by the hurricane when they found that they can collect money for their homeland but cannot spend it until they find a suitably organized group to distribute the goods bought with the money.

“We are working on getting a committee to distribute the goods, but it is difficult to communicate because Gonaives is destroyed,” said Garry Gilbert of Gonaives en Marche, one of the groups raising funds for the relief effort.

The lines of communication are down between Gonaives, a city in northern Haiti that was hardest hit by the flooding, and the United States. Many Haitian-Americans thus face the anxiety of not knowing whether their relatives or friends are dead or alive.

Murana Paul, a Cambridge resident who came to St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Central Square Saturday to help with the collection drive, said she and her family in Boston have tried repeatedly to get in touch with her aunts, cousins and friends in Haiti.

“So far, they are okay, from what we’ve heard,” said Paul. “But until now we’ve tried but can’t get through, especially in Gonaives. Of course, you are going to be nervous because you don’t know how they are taking it.”

Until they know how their family and friends are faring, some Haitians in the Boston area, like Paul, are turning to the relief collection drive to find some outlet for their concerns. Many turn to their extended families or to religion for emotional support.

“In the Haitian culture, we strongly believe in extended families,” said Gilbert.

Haitians in the Boston area are planning an ecumenical service to bring together congregations, priests and ministers from across the area to help with the healing process following the disaster, perhaps the worst storm to hit Haiti in living memory.

Haitian-Americans say that it is up to Haitians and the international community to come up with a long-term plan to reverse the trends of poverty and environmental degradation in Haiti.

“I think they should have some kind of disaster plan to try to prevent something like this in the future,” said Patrick Virgile of Gonaives en Marche. “Some type of drainage plan.”

Imbert, whose Haitian Multiservice Center is one of the groups leading the relief effort in Boston, said such a reversal of conditions will take time.

“What you see here is the result of years of neglect,” he said. “In some areas there is a total lack of infrastructure. Therefore, anywhere in Haiti you are vulnerable to disasters. Roads, electricity, what we take for granted in this country, access to hospitals, to emergency care. This is simply non-existent in many parts of Haiti.

“Clearly Haiti cannot sustain itself alone,” said Imbert. “I don’t know if there has ever been a rush to help Haiti move forward. The response has rather been crisis management.”

Checks for the relief fund can be brought to any Citizens Bank, or sent to: Citizens Bank, Attention: Branch manager, Hurricane Jeanne Relief Fund for Haiti, 1575 Blue Hill Avenue, Mattapan, MA, 02126. The city of Boston helped establish the fund along with Citizens Bank.

 

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