Haiti Earthquake Relief

From: catherine forslund [mailto:cafors153@yahoo.com]
Sent: Tuesday, January 12, 2010 6:11 PM

Subject: earthquake

Please pray for the people of Haiti.

There was a 7.0 magnitude earthquake 14 miles from Port au Prince today in a town near Petitionville. While Cerca La Source, where St Francis is located is further from the epicenter, we do not know the impact of it all. I know Father Bertrand was going to PAP this week. I will provide an update as we hear from Father Bertrand.

Holding Hands with Haiti

Haiti Earthquake update #1 - January 13, 2010

The earthquake that hit Haiti late afternoon January 12 and continuing aftershocks have devastated our beloved friends and family in Haiti. It was early in the morning when I was able to speak to our Director in Haiti, Mr. Junior Jolivard to get a first hand report. Thankfully he and our staff were not harmed but many of them have suffered loss of their homes. Here is what we can report so far:

1. The Jolivard home is destroyed however all family members are safe.
2. At this time we are unsure of the condition of the Rays of Hope for Haiti warehouse at Haitian Partners on Rue de Batema.
3. Providence Guest House is destroyed. I have not been able to communicate with our beloved friend, Gertrude Bien Aime, but through communication with a mutual friend I learned that the guest house collapsed. Notre Maison, home for handicapped children and the associated home for abandoned children (St. Joseph) suffered heavy damage but there is no word on the children's condition. At this time Gertrude is still looking for her daughter who was in school at the time of the earthquake. There has been no word from Tijean or Joanna who assists Gertrude at the house.
4. Junior Jolivard reported that Patrick Alziphat, Gotchen Desir, and William Mondesir were not injured in the quake.
5. Extent of damage to the structure and condition of our friends at our partner project with the Port au Prince Fire Department is unknown at this time.
6. Despite repeated calls I have been unable to contact Guy Mary Baptiste, President of CASEDHAI to learn the condition of the homes and families associated with CASEDHAI and Rays of Hope for Haiti in Cite Simon, Cite Pele, and Cite Dussel. This is of urgent concern considering that this heavily populated area is made of homes that are not secure enough to withstand such devastation. Additionally, the homes are often built up with large families living above and below these structures.
7. Reverend Leriche Roosevelt on the Island of La Gonave is well. There was little damage to report, and his mother who lives in Jacmel is OK. Thankfully, his three adoptive children Maryann, Christopher, and Clifford were all with him at the time of the quake.

I have not been able to connect with the following although I continue to try:
· Sister Mary Finnick, Pat and Vivian at the Matthew 25 Guest House (Parish Twinning Program)
· Pastor Pierre and First Lady Marie Prinvil of El Shaddai Children's Home (Croix des Bouquettes)
· Most Reverend Bishop Serge MIOT, Archbishop of Port au Prince. However the Cathedral of Port au Prince is leveled.
· Deputy Minister Marie Dumay Clunie of Croix des Bouquettes. From watching CNN, Croix des Bouquettes has extensive damage.

In Fermenthe I have not heard from our friends Renee Dietrich at Wings of Hope, Dixie from Gods Little Angels, and Pastor Rob Baker from Baptist Haiti Missions.

In Delmas, I have I heard from Mr. Herve Denis, President of the Rotary in Delmas, and owner of the Visa Lodge, Rev. Labatorio Andrew, Pastor of St. Simon and St. Jude Parish. I did hear through a second party (unconfirmed) that the Missionaries of Charity home for Malnourished Children was damaged but not severely.

We have not been able to contact Rev. Rams Lapommeray, Pastor of St. Louis de Montfort who was visiting Port au Prince on the 12th.

We are very worried about these dear friends of Rays of Hope for Haiti and if anyone has any word on the situation or condition please contact me at doug@raysofhopeforhaiti.com

Through our shipping ministry we have made friends with countless other programs and many wonderful nonprofit organizations in Haiti (too numerous to name). We want them all to know that our thoughts, prayers, and support go out to them and we will be doing all we can to assist with their emergency needs at this time.

Rays of Hope for Haiti has been in contact with transportation providers, emergency relief programs, Haitian Government agencies, and US based aid program to seek out avenues of providing quickly the needed emergency assistance for the people and programs in Haiti. We will be sending out additional information later today as details are finalized.

Finally, we wish to express a sincere message of love and support to our dear friends in the West Michigan Haitian Community. We stand with you in your tears and in your fears. We pray with you for your loved ones back home, and we love you dearly.

In Christ
Doug Porritt
Rays of Hope for Haiti

Below is an email from Doug Porritt, Director of Rays of Hope for Haiti, received January 14, 2010 at 11:20 PM. For the latest information from Rays of Hope, click here: RAYS OF HOPE FOR HAITI

Rays of Hope for Haiti
A voice of justice, hands to help, and a heart of love for the people of Haiti

Haiti Earthquake update #3 - January 14, 2010

This evening, I spoke to Junior Jolivard on the telephone at about 9pm. He was with Patrick Azalphat who I also spoke to for a short while. It was such a blessing to be able to speak to our Director and Assistant Director.

The two did not have any news beyond what we are hearing and seeing on the news. Junior stated, "Doug, we are OK here. It is difficult to sleep outside. However, Doug the smell is so very bad. There are still piles of dead bodies everywhere. Even worse, every once in a while we hear screams and people crying for help. We know that they are trapped somewhere, but we are helpless to do anything. We cannot find them, and if we did, how do we move walls lying on the ground with our hands? We listen to them cry until they die. It hurts so much."

I have still not had any word from Father Rams. To the best of my knowledge no one has heard from him yet either. I am very worried about Father Rams and I know that we are all praying for his safety. I called Mel Harvey this morning but he had not heard from him, although he was in touch with his Parish in Port de Paix. The Parish is far from where the quake hit, but Father was in Port au Prince at the time of the earthquake. This evening I spoke to Father Dennis at the Montfort Missions in New York. The Montfort Missions is the Center for the Montfort Fathers. Father Dennis gave me an update that they are receiving from their Religious Order in Haiti. He stated that there are ten confirmed deaths in the Religious order including none seminarians who were killed when their bus was crushed. Father Jean Baptiste was also killed when the Montfort Welcome House collapsed. The Provincial Home of the Montfort House is located near the welcome house. The religious order for sisters known as the Daughters of Wisdom was completely demolished and there has been no update on any of the Sisters who lived there. Many of you receiving this update know Father Rams and if you have any word please contact me right away.

I received the following update from Marie Prinvil of El Shaddai orphanage today:

Thank you so much for all your prayers. We are grateful for God's mercy and grace during this most difficult time. His faithfulness reaches to the heavens. The earthquake hit us hard, but we are blessed that the house did stand. It does have many cracks and we are sleeping outside right now because we do not want to take any chances with the house. Everyone at El Shaddai is doing well. We had no casualties and we are praising God for His hand of protection. The people in Dessources are doing well. We now have a big crack in the ground outside the wall going through part of the land. Many of the homes were destroyed in the Dessources area, but no loss of lives. Again we cannot thank God enough for His hand on the lives on all the people here.

Please continue to pray. We are getting low on food and are not sure if we are able to receive any at this time. Perry Rollins and Elizabeth Clackler are hoping to get through tomorrow with some food items, medical supplies, and some money to help supply what is needed for El Shaddai Children Home and the people in Dessources.

Joni Otto sent me the following update on Sister Luvia, by way of St. Pius X Church in Grandville, MI. Sr. Luvia has very strong ties to West Michigan and the Diocese of Grand Rapids:

Sr. Luvia just called. Oh my goodness. I'm trying to understand what we can do.
She was crying during the entire conversation, which is no surprise. What I believe I understood is that one child from the orphanage was killed, but 150 children were killed in St. Alphonse School. "The children, me, everybody has no place to sleep." I asked if I could wire money. She has no idea if the bank is even standing.

Evelyne, her niece, just called while I was typing this. St. Alphonse is gone, the orphanage and Sr. Luvia's other schools are all gone and the above death toll is correct as of now.
Sr. Esther ran a different school. Her school collapsed killing 200 children and 3 nuns. Sr. Luvia has recovered her body and is holding it in a morgue until there can be a proper burial. Evelyne's mother, Sr. Luvia's sister, insist that she get to Haiti. There are no flights.
It is difficult to feel so helpless.

I spoke to Father Roosevelt today on the telephone and was even able to arrange for him to do a live phone interview with a radio station in Montreal. Father Roosevelt's community was not near the epicenter of the quake but he is now in a desperate situation as his community, on the island of La Gonave faces very serious problems with no food or water. The people on the island relied on importing their supplies from Port au Prince. He said the effects of the starvation and many people crying for food is everywhere. They are in great need and he has nothing to give them. Later, Mary Tacy wrote to me with the following update regarding the situation in La Gonave:

Dear friends,
Fr. Roosevelt just called me from La Gonave island in Haiti via his computer phone. (Thank you again to the two JMU students who were responsible for the satellite Internet system that makes communication with Fr. Roosevelt possible! And to the folks who keep him supplied with a laptop that is in good working order!)

Fr. Roosevelt had a lot to tell, but first some background information. He was at the cathedral in Port-au-Prince all last week for a retreat, a retreat that was attended by a large number of Haiti's priests. Archbishop Miot conducted the retreat. Fr. Roosevelt returned to La Gonave this past weekend. When the earthquake struck, it leveled the cathedral, the archbishop's rectory, and a number of the seminaries. The archbishop was killed. Fr. Roosevelt told me tonight that monsignor and 200 seminarians also died.

When Fr. Roosevelt returned to La Gonave, he brought Maryann and two other children with him. They are children who, over the past few years, have been abandoned at his rectory. Mary Ann goes to school in Port-au-Prince and stays with some nuns during the school week. Fr. Roosevelt's sister was upset with him for taking Mary Ann to La Gonave during a school week. As it turned out, the home of the nuns and the school either collapsed or suffered serious damage (I can't remember exactly) killing the nuns and some of the children. Maryann is safe and sound on La Gonave.

Casime, one of the young men who has helped us a lot on La Gonave and who is now in Port-au-Prince going to school called Fr. Roosevelt to let family know he is okay. I was thrilled to hear that news. Another one of the young guys and good friend of Casime is still unaccounted for.

Jonas Louis, director of UNIBANK on La Gonave, lost his house in Port-au-Prince. They were able to remove his daughter but a son is trapped.

Monvil, my right hand man on La Gonave, has had news that his family's house in Leogane has collapsed. He is almost crazy waiting to hear if they were in the house when it collapsed.
Fr. Roosevelt said I should not travel to Haiti now. One reason that he gave is that the smell of rotting bodies is getting bad.

Fr. Roosevelt's mother lives in Jacmel, a town on the southern coast. He heard that over 60% of the houses there have collapsed. His mother was okay when he was able to reach her earlier in the week but now he can't get in touch with her.

No boats are traveling from Miragoane (on the southern peninsula) to Pointe-a-Raquette, La Gonave, where Fr. Roosevelt lives due to heavy damage in Miragoane. No business is being conducted there. Plus, people on La Gonave are afraid to go by boat to Miragoane because they are afraid another earthquake might strike while they are out at sea. As a result, no food is arriving on La Gonave.

Fr. Roosevelt has no more bottled water so is boiling rain water to drink. The people on La Gonave are becoming very nervous about the food situation. All the food in Miragoane arrives from Port-au-Prince. Right now, nothing is leaving the capital except for people looking for medical care that they cannot get in Port-au-Prince. People are traveling to Montrouis which is north of Port-au-Prince and going by boat to the northern part of La Gonave to get medical care at the hospital there.

Gasoline is now $100 Haitian (over $12 U.S.)!

While we were talking to Fr. Roosevelt, he was able to call his foster father, a priest in Leogane using his cell phone. Fr. Roosevelt's father said that my husband's (Claude's) aunt's hotel was still standing. The hotel next to it was destroyed but his aunt's is still standing. That was wonderful news.

Fr. Roosevelt's father has a parish in Leogane. The rectory there collapsed while his father was out in the yard doing some work. It collapsed right in front of his eyes.
When we were ending the conversation, I told Fr. Roosevelt to try to get some sleep. He said that when he puts his head down to sleep, he feels the bed moving. I told him I understand completely. After going through the earthquake in Guatemala, I had trouble sleeping for six months! I especially could not sleep on my back. For the first few weeks, I refused to sleep alone. I was 22-years old and insisted that my sister let me sleep on the bed with her!
That's all for now. Thank you for your email messages and all the prayers. We definitely appreciate them.
Mary

I have no update from Guy Mary at CASEDHAI. I am worried as his last (and only) report was that he could not account for any of the CASEDHAI Committee nor any of the children of our feeding program.

Last night at our interfaith prayer service we concluded with lighting candles and singing a song born of the Ti Legliz. It is our hearts prayer and cry to God

O Lespri Sen desaan sou nou; nou gen youn misyon pou Ayiti.
(Oh Holy Spirit, descend on us, we have a mission for Haiti)

In Christ
Doug Porritt
Rays of Hope for Haiti

Dear Parishioners and friends,

Please hold our sisters and brothers in Haiti in prayer.

LET US ALL PRAY FOR THE PEOPLE OF HAITI,
For all whose world has been shaken by the earthquake in Haiti:
For those who have lost family members, neighbors and friends.
For the maimed, the dying and those who died.
For the rescue workers and local leaders.
Let us pray also for us who feel powerless and wonder what to do:
For generous hearts, trust in God, and perseverance to help the victims in the months to come.
Let us pray to the Lord.

We have had no communication yet with Fr. Bertrand Desforges, the pastor of our twin parish of St. Francis Assisi in Cerca-la-source.

We presume they were not directly or greatly affected by Tuesday’s 7.0 earthquake in Port-au-Prince (PAP). They are about 100 miles NE of the epicenter. However they would have many family members in PAP. Most high school, college students are sent to live and study in PAP.

We have heard from the staff at Matthew 25 House. Most Twin Parish visitors stay here when they arrive and when the depart after the visit to their twin parish or institution. Here is what we receive from there Wednesday January 13th, the day after the earthquake:

FROM SR. MARY FINNICK IN PORT-AU-PRINCE:

We are all OK physically at the house. We were home when it hit. The downstairs part of the house stood up well, does not appear to be any serious structural damage. But, there has been some considerable damage upstairs. Matthew 25 cooked up 4 big pots of soup for the people coming for treatment, and we served as a triage and treatment center. We were able to climb over the fallen bookcases and shelves and retrieve a lot of meds and supplies we had in our depot.

Sr Mary, Vivian and our 6 guests performed superbly in treating many injured. Eventually, 3 Haitian doctors showed up, I think when they heard we had supplies. Worked til about one in the morning. We were also one of the few houses to have power with our inverters and batteries, so we set up 3 or 4 lights on the soccer field to help with the treatment. The hospitals are either badly damaged or destroyed and have stopped taking patients as they are overwhelmed.

Pray for our sisters and brothers.

Pat, Viv, Sr. Mary

It is morning and I can give you a better assessment of the house. The first floor is covered with all the things that came out of the closets but there isn't any big structural problem. The divider between the depot and the store fell in as did most of the other book cases in the office and in my room. The 2nd floor is different The side facing the soccer field has more damage and the cement walls and some of the boards have been knocked around. The 3rd floor stairs are just hanging there. The cement in front of the bathroom is badly damaged. On the other side the bathroom wall on the outside is damaged but there doesn't seem to be as much structural problems. The wall between us and the neighbor has quite a large hole. I don't know yet what to tell folks about coming but I don't think we can use the rooms upstairs. I've been trying to answer and reassure folks we are ok.

We used everything I had as I triaged along with 3 MD's and our guests. Vivian and Pat had the important job of getting to our supplies as that whole area is under debris; making pots of soup etc. We finally cut up pillow cases for bandages. I think planes are flying out today but I haven't heard from the folks who are in country and supposed to return to PAP. Our electricity continues but the container holding 12 of the batteries is damaged. All the cars survived.

Domond just came over and said his house is not safe because of the damage upstairs. He did ask to have you contact any medical groups planning to come to see if they still planned to and then ask if they would stay in PAP as this the most needy place right now. We can use the soccer field and out back for sleeping area and the kitchen for cooking in the back is OK. But there is a great need for medical supplies, suturing, betadine, analgesics...everything... and personnel to bring it.

Please respond to Bishop Walter Hurley’s appeal to contribute to the needs of Haiti through the Catholic Relief Services (CRS), or any charity of your choice.

May ours be helping hands and generous hearts that go out to our sisters and brothers suffering from such a major catastrophe.

Father Paul

Rays of Hope for Haiti is partnering with the Michigan Area Haiti Task Force of the United Methodist Church collecting supplies for immediate shipment to the people of Haiti.

Currently items can be dropped off at the following (West Michigan) locations:

Trinity United Methodist Church (Grand Rapids), St. Paul the Apostle Parish (Grand Rapids), Holy Trinity Church (Grand Rapids), Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Religious Education (Belmont), Sparta Fire Department, Camp Bow Wow (Kentwood) Shaggy Pines Dog Park (Ada), English Hills Terrace (West River Drive), Any Mercantile Bank location WJMZ Radio (1919 Eastern Ave SE) and the Rays of Hope for Haiti Warehouse (446 Grandville Ave, SW Loading Dock # 6 G.R. 49503)

Financial donations can be made directly to Rays of Hope for Haiti at any Mercantile Bank or to the Haiti Area Task Force of the United Methodist Church (11 Fuller Ave. NE Grand Rapids, 49506)

We are collecting the following items:
Food Items (dry staples): Rice, beans, powdered milk, canned meat, peanut butter, canned milk
Medical Supplies: Any non-expired over the counter medications; bandages; Ace Wraps
Comfort care items: Toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, washcloths. towels, sheets, blankets

PORT-AU-PRINCE — From the Globe and Mail
Published on Monday, Jan. 18, 2010 12:00AM EST
Last updated on Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2010 3:19AM EST

lperreaux@globeandmail.com

There is little time left for the living trapped in the wreckage of a city running on prayer, but the lost are not all doomed to become the dead. Those drafting the casualty list can strike at least three names from their grim tally of more than 1,100 Canadians missing.

The ruins of the churches, convents and religious schools on Christ Roy Street initially set tough odds for finding Toronto nun Mary Alban Bouchard. Her modest third-floor room in a convent is now a shattered ground-floor wreck. But a church worker pointed across the street yesterday, in the yard of another teetering church, where the tiny 79-year-old was celebrating mass. She was the lone white-haired and pale-skinned worshipper among about 100 Haitians. She was in a solid meeting room in another part of town when the quake struck.

Another Canadian, Sister Therèse Lagrange, from Quebec's Soeurs de Ste-Anne, was watching television on the second floor of the massive Maison Provinciale when the quake knocked plaster and a nun in training into her lap. The building stood, and she now sleeps in its yard with fellow Quebecker, Agathe Morin.

None of the women has been able to call home.

But the flashes of good news could not obscure the gloomy realty at several sites around Port-au-Prince, where searchers were contemplating the end of their rescue mission.

At the once-deluxe Montana Hotel, where former Canadian MP Serge Marcil was registered along with at least 10 other Canadians, crews celebrated one of the now-rare rescues yesterday as they saved one of the Haitian hotel owners.

The rescue took 12 hours as rotating teams of about a dozen men dug shafts through five layers of floor. The once-magnificent hilltop hotel, with its manicured grounds, hair salon and swimming pool, now resembles a smooth glacier, with the concrete roof wrapped around five floors of wreckage. As the rescue went on, surviving hotel workers built plywood coffins nearby.

In another part of town, Canadian dog-team searchers prepared to return to Canada yesterday after several bleak, fruitless days. Mark Pullen, a 55-year-old firefighter from Burnaby, B.C., led his German Shepherd mix, Zack, through every gap of a collapsed student residence. By late Saturday, his pooch hasn't found a single live body - only dozens and dozens of dead.

"I think the heat is hard on [the dogs] and I think the scent of death is something they understand," said Mr. Pullen, who volunteers with the Canadian Search and Disaster Dog Association. At the residence, Zack searched for Ensley Caliste, a 32-year-old engineer who was involved in renovations on the building. He was alive before the weekend, but by the time Zack found him, he was gone.

"If you could go back thinking you found at least one person, then it would all be worth it," Mr. Pullen said before running to the next site, still looking for that one.

Time was running out in other ways. At a Cuban-run clinic in the courtyard of a broken hospital, there were signs of the devastation of disease to come. Donovan Jean, a 1½-month-old baby boy, had diarrhea and was dehydrated. His skin was pasty and pale. While babies such as Donovan began to fail, the nuns who usually helped were struggling to survive themselves while providing food and water to the hundreds who sought their help.

Sister Lagrange's convent has a water reservoir and a guard armed with a shotgun at the front gate. She's been in Haiti 46 years, through hurricane, flood, insurrection and all manner of lawlessness.

"It's the worst I've ever seen, worse than the hurricanes by far. You don't have deaths like that. The roof goes flying, it doesn't fall on you," she said.

Sister Alban has spent 26 years in Haiti. Every night she sleeps on the ground, like Sister Therèse, with several hundred Haitians. She gets chills on the rocky, uneven ground and sometimes she sneaks into a cracked building to find warmth. "But I can't say I've suffered much. Just look around you," she says, pointing to the injured bodies in the school yard.

She insists she will pass on an evacuation flight, saying there is work to be done.

A member of the Sisters of St. Joseph, based in Toronto, Sister Alban works with poor women to start businesses and send their children to school.

"I've built 45 houses," she said, adding that ownership is the only way out of poverty for the women. Several of the houses were designed to be hurricane-proof. "I bet all the houses I built are now on the ground."

For now, all she can do is offer prayers of comfort to refugees. "Everything I need is still in that room," she says of her broken home. "If I can get to it, maybe I can get back to work."

Neither Sister Lagrange nor Sister Alban have any interest in going home, saying there's now even more work to be done. "If I wanted to go home, all I would have to do is put the word in with Mother Superior," Sister Therèse said. "But I'm still well. I won't die here. I'll die in Canada."

I have little to report regarding Fr Bertrand.

We still have not made contact via, phone, text, skype, or email. I did reached out to the Parish Twinning Program of America , who assisted with the initial twinning relationship to seek info but have not had a response yet. In addition, the Richmond Diocese in Virginia has contacts with the Hinche Diocese in Haiti (which our twin parish St Francis is a part of ) and I asked them if they could provide some information. Lastly, I have a source in Banica, Dominican Republic who will try to make contact in Cerca la Source.

I do have some good news! Jean Climaque, one of the students that graduated from St Francis was sponsored to take a college entrance test in Port au Prince when the earthquake hit. I just received an email from him! ....this is so wonderful since we feared he perished. I replied with a follow up email asking for more information about Fr Bertrand & Cerca la Source. I will let you know when I get word.

Thank you for all your prayers, concerns & donations for the Haiti relief effort.

If you are interested in helping organize a drive for Haiti, please call Gayle La Bine, 52-1262.

Cathy Forslund

Indeed Father Bertrand is alive & well!! I spoke with him last night, albeit a poor connection. He is in Cerca la Source & hadn't made it to PAP by the time the earthquake hit. His sister Manuse has now joined him in Cerca la Source. One student alumni from St Francis parish school, Jean Climaque who was studying in PAP is safe. Another, Noceline, studying to be a nurse is safe & back in Cerca la Source too. Father did say however that 15 people from St Francis parish died in the earthquake. He said many people are mourning. He also said the funeral for the Arch Bishop is today.

On a lighter note, he reported one of the young men from Cerca la Source is being ordained a priest this week. He feels he will be a great help for the people.

I told Father how much you all were praying & thinking of him & the Haitian people during this tragic event. He wanted me to thank you all and says he appreciates all of it.

I will leave you with a Haitian prayer link

Cathy Forslund

Diocese of Grand Rapids
Catholic Relief Services
Rays of Hope for Haiti
Catholic Charities West Michigan FAITH IN ACTION Newsletter