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Tragedy In Haiti- 01/25/10 Update
The devastating earthquake that hit Haiti on January 12 has caused much suffering for the Oblates who serve in the impoverished nation. More than 120 Oblates work in Haiti, and it is still unclear at this time the number of deaths or injuries that have taken place among the Oblate community. Below is the latest information known about how the earthquake has impacted the Oblates in Haiti: Haiti’s Largest Orphanage Agrees to 100 More Dear Oblate Brothers, Dear friends, Once again I want to thank each one of you for your words and acts of sympathy on the occasion of the earthquake. I am sorry I have to send another collective message – some are complaining they have not received a personal email. Please understand that, deprived from regular means of communication, I didn’t have any other choice than giving the priority to the most urgent needs. There is no electricity in Port-au-Prince. Besides that, I had to organize the moving of about 30 Oblates from the capital. I moved to Les Cayes yesterday with two members of the administration (the Bursar who doesn’t presently feel so well and the Director of the Provincial House). In the City of Les Cayes, and in the community of Charpentier which welcomes us, we have electricity (and consequently the possibility of internet connection) only from 7 pm to 5 am. Sure, we are trying to improve our situation, for instance to temporarily relocate the provincial administration office in a place where it can be more functional. But we don’t hope things will begin right away to run for us as on wheels, while the majority of those we left in Port-au-Prince cannot even eat or sleep. In other words, we are trying to do our best, but for the moment we are here in this community sharing their life, their facilities as well as their want. I want to express the gratitude of the Oblates in Haiti to all those, individuals and organisms, who gave or offered financial assistance for debris removal, rebuilding, restructuring or relocating. We highly appreciate your solidarity with us in this catastrophic situation. And be sure that your donations will be most welcome. But in this messy rush we are finding ourselves, we cannot yet evaluate our needs in terms of project or application. Our country is destroyed, and so are our Churches, schools and formation houses. The Oblate scholasticate for theology collapsed, so did the building that housed the provincial administration offices. The provincial house is severely damaged. These pictures showing what happened to us are not different from many others showing what is going on almost everywhere in P-au-P and can be seen on TV or over the net. Thanks to God, many sectors of the international community hurried to the population’s rescue right after the tragedy. But it’s not over yet, since we are still in the aftershock period, and we don’t know for how long. To any person or organism ready to help us, I suggest to send their contribution to the following bank account: Bank Name TD Banknorth Bank Address 32 Mammoth St., Lowell, MA 01854 ABA number or Swift code 211370545 Account Number 02-5406296. Favor of Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate in Haiti And we will keep a record of all the expenses in order to let everyone know how their donation helped us cope with this terrible nightmare that suddenly plunged all our families, institutions and plans for the future into the abyss. So, what we lost is beyond all estimation. But we have not lost Faith, Hope and Love. We know God, though in a mysterious way, is walking at our side. And we ask him to keep on protecting us and abundantly bless all our friends and benefactors. P. Gasner Joint, omi Provincial of Haiti In the immediate aftermath of the earthquake, we learned the sad news that one of the victims of the devastating earthquake in Haiti is a 28 year old scholastic, Brother Weedy ALEXIS. He was found dead under the rubble of the Center of Studies for Religious after the January 12 earthquake. January 13, 2010 From Fr. Adrien Difficile It’s now 11PM and the Novices are in the yard because of recurring tremors. Here, we are still OK but afraid to go to bed: we’re all in shock. Our church, near the Novitiate, has suffered minor damages when pieces of the roof fell to the ground. A house nearby crumbled but the residents are safe. In union of prayers, Adrien From Fr. Marc Boisvert Thanks to everyone for your supportive comments and for your prayers. Matante (Director) was overjoyed this afternoon to hear that her two daughters in Port-au-Prince are safe and that her grandson is fine. Two of our monitors, housemothers, have lost family in the earthquake. We have been inundated with people asking for money to get to Port-au-Prince to find their relatives. Maxime, who was recently married, lost his sister in the disaster and will be heading to PaP as soon as possible. It is hard to keep up with the individual stories. Joey Lamarre's mother is one of our housemothers. She spoke to Joey who was in class when the earthquake struck yesterday. His professor and two of Joey's classmates were killed as the walls of the university crashed down. Joey was hurt and was buried for six hours but he was finally freed and brought to a temporary clinic. He may have serious injuries and his mom is going to Port-au-Prince to be with him. The children and housemothers slept outside last night as the tremors continued. Not much sleeping took place and the kids are dragging this morning. I went by there around 5:00 this morning to check on them. Keep us in your prayers. The news from Port-au-Prince is very bad. Few could get through as the cell phones are either not working or the lines are jammed with everyone attempting to call. Heard from Andy Topp who is down here with a group helping out another orphanage in the area and they are all well. The focus right now is to help our sisters and brothers in the capital. Getting in and out of Port-au-Prince may not be possible, as I've heard that the road has become impassable. As all of us down south depend on food shipments (and all other commodities) from Port-au-Prince, this could become a major crisis for us. Please do what you can for the Haitians and keep us all in your prayers. Yes, we had an earthquake and it was amazing. Lots of shaking and questioning, enthralled kids but, thankfully, no one hurt and no structures damaged. I was surprised at the magnitude... much greater than the few I had experienced in CA. Now there's a tsunami watch so say a prayer! Thanks. January 19 Thanks to all of you who have helped us with a donation during the first days of this terrible disaster. We have raised a significant amount of money and I am relieved to report that we can now access funds to purchase supplies locally as they become available. We took a leap of faith by sharing much of our own resources with the local community as we all try to provide comfort to thousands of displaced Haitians. Once again you did not let us down. I am grateful. I am also grateful because our kids are mostly healthy and our facilities for the most part undamaged. But this catastrophe is not going to end any time soon. While International aid pours in to address the tragic loss of life and unprecedented destruction in Port au Prince, in Les Cayes, we are facing several new crises every day. As expected, the cost of food, fuel, and medical supplies has skyrocketed. Rice is now 300 Haitian dollars per bag, up from $100 per bag last week. Food and other provisions are running out fast. The situation here and in the local community is dire. Refugees are arriving daily and straining an already resource-strained community. The hospital is now without any medical supplies and we have shared as much as we could. With all of these grave challenges, our number one need now is money. Marc January 14, 2010 Since yesterday I’ve been trying to reach you to thank you for your assistance. After the earthquake our phone system was down and the Internet wasn’t always available. Here, at Camp Perrin, we had more fear than problems. The quake was powerful enough to automatically prompt us out of our rooms onto the sidewalk where we calmly commented on the experience seeing that we had to damage. However we soon learned of the catastrophic results in Port-au-Prince. We quickly learned more details from CNN and other French TV channels, information which, undoubtedly you already had. I was personally unable to reach anyone in PauP but others occasionally succeeded and the following is what we gathered:
victims. It was impossible to get specifics regarding Fr. Maxime Eugene, the bursar but everyone else are safe and sound.
Theologians were at CIFOR where they follow classes. They were in the bus ready to leave when they the quake occurred.
Scholastic was missing. He was found dead under the rubble. Where to lodge and feed these youg people, I don’t know yet…
Practically all of Port-au-Prince is in ruins. We’re all trying to get news of our family and friends but no way of contacting them. This is all the information I have for now… Father Dominique went to Les Cayes on his motorcycle and Fr. Stanley Casseus, the pastor, has left Port-au-Prince. They may return with some information. Thank you for your prayerful support during these trying times. In union of prayers. Maurice Gauthier omi
January 17, 2010 From Fr. Fred Charpentier to Fr. Joe Corriveau Hi, Joe... Thanks for your reply. I'll try to keep you informed as we go along, and as much as the power and system can work... not reliable... Fr. Thomas is back in La Savanne for now. The others you mentioned are still in Port au Prince somewhere... I have not been informed on Fr. Charles from Ouanaminthe, Bro Charles’ nephew. Price told me that there was a lot of damage in Jacmel, and on the road to Jacmel... and Fond D'Oie... The sisters' convent there is destroyed and one novice is dead. That's all I know for now. I hope to be able to send you pictures soon of the Provincial House and Turgeau... The house is still full of OMI "refugees". It's a good thing we have this Mission House. Get back to you when I can... Thanks for the prayers. Hello to all from all of us. Jan. 18 Thanks for the news, Joe. Ya, the phones are not quite in good working condition yet. We are having a bad time trying to communicate. The electricity is getting rationed because of the gas shortage in our area. As for Blanchard and Sibert: no damages. The scholastics from Turgeau are out of Port, and being spread out in our parishes of the 2 Les Cayes district. The scholastics in Blanchard will soon be relocated in our parishes up North. It's impossible to live in the Capitol at this time: looting, insecurity, threat of an epidemic, lack of everything, food, water, etc. It seems there is one church, St. Claire still in function, and they had Mass today, where Fr. Edmond is. There was also a Sunday Mass held outside on the esplanade of the cathedral with crowds of people attending. Our bishop has scheduled a presbyterial meeting at 9 AM in Bergeau. The price of Diesel fuel ranges from 250 to 450 gourdes on the open market... the pumps are closed, but selling "on the side "... like usual... There are no banks working, and so we are running out of money to operate. This coming week should be something else... I'll let you know... January 22 Fr. Gasner Joint and several Oblates attended a funeral service at the cathedral this morning for 8 diocesan seminarians, six of which were from Les Cayes. Mgr. Hubert, OMI came to greet us at our residence in Gabions that evening. He was on his way to Camp Perrin for the funeral of his nephew who died in the earthquake. He was working for “L’Union Europeenne”. Cazeau was destroyed but our men are OK. At Sibert the little church and the college were destroyed however the large hall and the rectory were not severely damaged. Fathers Printemps and Fanfan are sleeping outside because the rectory now has many cracks. The Scholasticate at Blanchard had less considerable damages but all the Scholastics are OK and now relocated in our northern parishes. Fr. Loubeau is with his mother who needs help. He also makes trips to check out the Provincial House and the Scholasticate in Turgeau. We had to pay a security company to watch these houses and protect our equipment and archives, otherwise these would easily have been stolen. Fathers Dominique and Almonor are staying at the Mazenod seminary residence in Camp Perrin. I have no idea where Frs. Bonard and Wilson are but they are OK. Fathers Gasner (Provincial) and Cator came to Gabions for a short visit this morning. As you may know they are settling in the residence formerly occupied by the lay Oblates. I haven’t seen Fr. Maxime, yet. The day before yesterday he fell in the yard of the Provincial House and injured his ankle. He is now resting with his family in Ducis. He is very, very tired and for a good reason. A number of people and organizations have been asking how they could help. Please be patient for a few days as we get over the trauma and regain control of our emotions. From Rome Fr. Loudeger Mazile informed me that he would be coming to Haiti next week. I’m sorry if I don’t always have answers to all your questions but communications are not always available or efficient. Once again, patience and prayers! A lot of people throughout the Port-au-Prince continue to sleep under the stars, in fear of another tremor. Fred January 18, 2010 From a Spiritan Religious, friend of Fr. Real “Joe” Corriveau Peace & Greetings From Fondwa! (“Fond d’Oies” is the parish, located in the mountains, where Fr. Real Corriveau does, or did, weekend ministry.) Thanks for your concern, your support and prayers. We have lost about 25 people in Fondwa including a member of the Sisters of St. Anthony of Fondwa: Sr. Odile Damus and a child of 2 years from the Fondwa Orphanage: Jude Dubic. They both died at the APF Guest Center, which have been destroyed completely. Everything in Fondwa has gone. The infrastructure that we have built in 22 years: the Orphanage, the School, the APF Center, the Clinic, the Radio Station ( Radyo Zetwal ) the Sisters' Convent, the buildings of the University of Fondwa ( 7 of them). Everything has gone. The epicenter of the earthquake was in Fondwa, between Leogane and Jacmel. The big building of Pastor Luc Guerrier has gone. The Roman Catholic Church in Fondwa has gone also. The Church of Philadelphie (a Protestant Church) has gone with about 15 young people under the concrete blocs. The Spiritan Fathers have lost one Seminarian, Stephane Douge who died with 12 other Seminarians at CIFOR. CIFOR (a theological school for religious in Port-au-Prince) is gone completely. The Cathedral of Port-au-Prince has gone also. The Archbishop of Port-au-Prince, Mgr. Joseph Serge Miot died and will be buried on Saturday January 24. A big part of St. Martial College has gone, specially the Elementary Section, which was also used as the Spiritan Pre-Novitiate House. All of the buildings of St. Martial are damaged a lot. Our Spiritan house in Senghor where I live with Fr. Patrick Eugene is seriously damaged. Our courtyard is used actually as a Refugee Center for about 200 victims of the earthquake. The other Spiritans are Ok. Fonkoze has lost 3 employees - 1 Branch (Bizoton near Port-au-Prince) has gone and 6 other branches very damaged. The Central Office and the Port-au-Prince branch are among them. But the rest of us are alive and are in strongly in solidarity with the rest of the Country. Together, we can rebuild Fondwa and Haiti.
While it is impossible to receive complete news of the Oblates living near the center of the January 12, 2010, earthquake in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, we've received these fragmentary reports. Part of the Provincial House has been destroyed (see library photo of the Provincial House, right) News and Notes from Oblates on the Ground in Haiti:January 13, 2010 From Fr. Adrien Difficile It’s now 11PM and the Novices are in the yard because of recurring tremors. Here, we are still OK but afraid to go to bed: we’re all in shock. Our church, near the Novitiate, has suffered minor damages when pieces of the roof fell to the ground. A house nearby crumbled but the residents are safe. In union of prayers, Adrien From Fr. Marc Boisvert Thanks to everyone for your supportive comments and for your prayers. Matante (Director) was overjoyed this afternoon to hear that her two daughters in Port-au-Prince are safe and that her grandson is fine. Two of our monitors, housemothers, have lost family in the earthquake. We have been inundated with people asking for money to get to Port-au-Prince to find their relatives. Maxime, who was recently married, lost his sister in the disaster and will be heading to PaP as soon as possible. It is hard to keep up with the individual stories. Joey Lamarre's mother is one of our housemothers. She spoke to Joey who was in class when the earthquake struck yesterday. His professor and two of Joey's classmates were killed as the walls of the university crashed down. Joey was hurt and was buried for six hours but he was finally freed and brought to a temporary clinic. He may have serious injuries and his mom is going to Port-au-Prince to be with him. The children and housemothers slept outside last night as the tremors continued. Not much sleeping took place and the kids are dragging this morning. I went by there around 5:00 this morning to check on them. Keep us in your prayers. The news from Port-au-Prince is very bad. Few could get through as the cell phones are either not working or the lines are jammed with everyone attempting to call. Heard from Andy Topp who is down here with a group helping out another orphanage in the area and they are all well. The focus right now is to help our sisters and brothers in the capital. Getting in and out of Port-au-Prince may not be possible, as I've heard that the road has become impassable. As all of us down south depend on food shipments (and all other commodities) from Port-au-Prince, this could become a major crisis for us. Please do what you can for the Haitians and keep us all in your prayers. Yes, we had an earthquake and it was amazing. Lots of shaking and questioning, enthralled kids but, thankfully, no one hurt and no structures damaged. I was surprised at the magnitude... much greater than the few I had experienced in CA. Now there's a tsunami watch so say a prayer! Thanks. January 19 Thanks to all of you who have helped us with a donation during the first days of this terrible disaster. We have raised a significant amount of money and I am relieved to report that we can now access funds to purchase supplies locally as they become available. We took a leap of faith by sharing much of our own resources with the local community as we all try to provide comfort to thousands of displaced Haitians. Once again you did not let us down. I am grateful. I am also grateful because our kids are mostly healthy and our facilities for the most part undamaged. But this catastrophe is not going to end any time soon. While International aid pours in to address the tragic loss of life and unprecedented destruction in Port au Prince, in Les Cayes, we are facing several new crises every day. As expected, the cost of food, fuel, and medical supplies has skyrocketed. Rice is now 300 Haitian dollars per bag, up from $100 per bag last week. Food and other provisions are running out fast. The situation here and in the local community is dire. Refugees are arriving daily and straining an already resource-strained community. The hospital is now without any medical supplies and we have shared as much as we could. With all of these grave challenges, our number one need now is money. Marc January 14, 2010 Since yesterday I’ve been trying to reach you to thank you for your assistance. After the earthquake our phone system was down and the Internet wasn’t always available. Here, at Camp Perrin, we had more fear than problems. The quake was powerful enough to automatically prompt us out of our rooms onto the sidewalk where we calmly commented on the experience seeing that we had to damage. However we soon learned of the catastrophic results in Port-au-Prince. We quickly learned more details from CNN and other French TV channels, information which, undoubtedly you already had. I was personally unable to reach anyone in PauP but others occasionally succeeded and the following is what we gathered:
victims. It was impossible to get specifics regarding Fr. Maxime Eugene, the bursar but everyone else are safe and sound.
Theologians were at CIFOR where they follow classes. They were in the bus ready to leave when they the quake occurred.
Scholastic was missing. He was found dead under the rubble. Where to lodge and feed these youg people, I don’t know yet…
Practically all of Port-au-Prince is in ruins. We’re all trying to get news of our family and friends but no way of contacting them. This is all the information I have for now… Father Dominique went to Les Cayes on his motorcycle and Fr. Stanley Casseus, the pastor, has left Port-au-Prince. They may return with some information. Thank you for your prayerful support during these trying times. In union of prayers. Maurice Gauthier omi
January 17, 2010 From Fr. Fred Charpentier to Fr. Joe Corriveau Hi, Joe... Thanks for your reply. I'll try to keep you informed as we go along, and as much as the power and system can work... not reliable... Fr. Thomas is back in La Savanne for now. The others you mentioned are still in Port au Prince somewhere... I have not been informed on Fr. Charles from Ouanaminthe, Bro Charles’ nephew. Price told me that there was a lot of damage in Jacmel, and on the road to Jacmel... and Fond D'Oie... The sisters' convent there is destroyed and one novice is dead. That's all I know for now. I hope to be able to send you pictures soon of the Provincial House and Turgeau... The house is still full of OMI "refugees". It's a good thing we have this Mission House. Get back to you when I can... Thanks for the prayers. Hello to all from all of us. Jan. 18 Thanks for the news, Joe. Ya, the phones are not quite in good working condition yet. We are having a bad time trying to communicate. The electricity is getting rationed because of the gas shortage in our area. As for Blanchard and Sibert: no damages. The scholastics from Turgeau are out of Port, and being spread out in our parishes of the 2 Les Cayes district. The scholastics in Blanchard will soon be relocated in our parishes up North. It's impossible to live in the Capitol at this time: looting, insecurity, threat of an epidemic, lack of everything, food, water, etc. It seems there is one church, St. Claire still in function, and they had Mass today, where Fr. Edmond is. There was also a Sunday Mass held outside on the esplanade of the cathedral with crowds of people attending. Our bishop has scheduled a presbyterial meeting at 9 AM in Bergeau. The price of Diesel fuel ranges from 250 to 450 gourdes on the open market... the pumps are closed, but selling "on the side "... like usual... There are no banks working, and so we are running out of money to operate. This coming week should be something else... I'll let you know... January 22 Fr. Gasner Joint and several Oblates attended a funeral service at the cathedral this morning for 8 diocesan seminarians, six of which were from Les Cayes. Mgr. Hubert, OMI came to greet us at our residence in Gabions that evening. He was on his way to Camp Perrin for the funeral of his nephew who died in the earthquake. He was working for “L’Union Europeenne”. Cazeau was destroyed but our men are OK. At Sibert the little church and the college were destroyed however the large hall and the rectory were not severely damaged. Fathers Printemps and Fanfan are sleeping outside because the rectory now has many cracks. The Scholasticate at Blanchard had less considerable damages but all the Scholastics are OK and now relocated in our northern parishes. Fr. Loubeau is with his mother who needs help. He also makes trips to check out the Provincial House and the Scholasticate in Turgeau. We had to pay a security company to watch these houses and protect our equipment and archives, otherwise these would easily have been stolen. Fathers Dominique and Almonor are staying at the Mazenod seminary residence in Camp Perrin. I have no idea where Frs. Bonard and Wilson are but they are OK. Fathers Gasner (Provincial) and Cator came to Gabions for a short visit this morning. As you may know they are settling in the residence formerly occupied by the lay Oblates. I haven’t seen Fr. Maxime, yet. The day before yesterday he fell in the yard of the Provincial House and injured his ankle. He is now resting with his family in Ducis. He is very, very tired and for a good reason. A number of people and organizations have been asking how they could help. Please be patient for a few days as we get over the trauma and regain control of our emotions. From Rome Fr. Loudeger Mazile informed me that he would be coming to Haiti next week. I’m sorry if I don’t always have answers to all your questions but communications are not always available or efficient. Once again, patience and prayers! A lot of people throughout the Port-au-Prince continue to sleep under the stars, in fear of another tremor. Fred January 18, 2010 From a Spiritan Religious, friend of Fr. Real “Joe” Corriveau Peace & Greetings From Fondwa! (“Fond d’Oies” is the parish, located in the mountains, where Fr. Real Corriveau does, or did, weekend ministry.) Thanks for your concern, your support and prayers. We have lost about 25 people in Fondwa including a member of the Sisters of St. Anthony of Fondwa: Sr. Odile Damus and a child of 2 years from the Fondwa Orphanage: Jude Dubic. They both died at the APF Guest Center, which have been destroyed completely. Everything in Fondwa has gone. The infrastructure that we have built in 22 years: the Orphanage, the School, the APF Center, the Clinic, the Radio Station ( Radyo Zetwal ) the Sisters' Convent, the buildings of the University of Fondwa ( 7 of them). Everything has gone. The epicenter of the earthquake was in Fondwa, between Leogane and Jacmel. The big building of Pastor Luc Guerrier has gone. The Roman Catholic Church in Fondwa has gone also. The Church of Philadelphie (a Protestant Church) has gone with about 15 young people under the concrete blocs. The Spiritan Fathers have lost one Seminarian, Stephane Douge who died with 12 other Seminarians at CIFOR. CIFOR (a theological school for religious in Port-au-Prince) is gone completely. The Cathedral of Port-au-Prince has gone also. The Archbishop of Port-au-Prince, Mgr. Joseph Serge Miot died and will be buried on Saturday January 24. A big part of St. Martial College has gone, specially the Elementary Section, which was also used as the Spiritan Pre-Novitiate House. All of the buildings of St. Martial are damaged a lot. Our Spiritan house in Senghor where I live with Fr. Patrick Eugene is seriously damaged. Our courtyard is used actually as a Refugee Center for about 200 victims of the earthquake. The other Spiritans are Ok. Fonkoze has lost 3 employees - 1 Branch (Bizoton near Port-au-Prince) has gone and 6 other branches very damaged. The Central Office and the Port-au-Prince branch are among them. But the rest of us are alive and are in strongly in solidarity with the rest of the Country. Together, we can rebuild Fondwa and Haiti.
From Fr. Marc Boisvert, O.M.I., founder of Hope House: |
