More About Haiti

This was the day our team was to leave for Haiti, a trip that is now re-scheduled for March. We have learned more over the last 24 hours about our friends. On the island of LaGonave our friend, Isnel, tells us that the people are distraught and food is scarce since most of the food comes from Port-au-Prince. Our friend, Pastor Agones, has left LaGonave to search for his fiancée in Port-au-Prince. The house in Port-au-Prince of our friend, Pastor Jonas, completely collapsed. His daughter was rescued but his son is still trapped inside. We are awaiting further word from Service Chretien d’Haiti and its director, Ernst Abraham, to know when we can wire funds to their agency.

Just last night I received word from my son, Josh, who is a music teacher at a school of 700 students in Denver. The staff, students, and parents are donating funds that will be sent to us for Haiti. We are grateful for the donations that have come from other churches and individuals. Please remember that this crisis will endure long into the future and we will make sure that the funds are used effectively to help the people and the rebuilding of their lives.

This Sunday it will be our privilege to have a long-time Haitian friend, Brunel Metellus, worship with us and speak to us from his own heart and thoughts concerning Haiti. He has not heard from his family as of yet. We will be receiving a special offering for Haiti so please give thought and prayer to your donation even now. If you will not be with us on Sunday, you may send a check made out to MPC and marked “Haiti”. Our mailing address is Mattituck Presbyterian Church, PO Box 1411, Mattituck NY 11952.

We would like to share an email with you that was forwarded to us. It is from a woman named Mary, who is at James Madison University and has connections with LaGonave:

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 cannnot 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