A Different View of Haiti

To counter the many reports and images of desperate Haitians looting stores, I offer these first-hand reports:

From Amber Munger, working with KONPAY, in Port-au-Prince, Jan 15, 2010:
"In my thirteen years of working in Haiti, not once before have I seen  such massive destruction as we are experiencing now.  Nor have I seen  such motivation, determination, compassion, and solidarity among  people.  When we entered portoprens after the quake struck, the city  had fallen and was continuing to fall as a result of continuous  aftershocks. The streets were full of people sitting together.  Everyone was sitting in the middle of the roads for fear that the  houses would continue to fall on them. They were singing. The whole  city was singing.  They were singing songs of solidarity. They were  singing songs of thanks and praise that they were still able to sing  and to be together. These people have lost everything. The city is  now a city of refugees. But they are putting their voices together to  be thankful."

From Danielle Saint-Lot with Vital Voices in Jacmel - January 15, 2010
We urgently need in Jacmel: an orthopedist, two anesthesiologists  and a surgeon.

I am safe with my daughter and my staff in Jacmel. Jacmel old city is completely destroyed. We are homeless and living in a camp in a Catholic community with 200 people that have lost more than their houses. We have been blessed.

In the Jacmel region around 2,000 families has been affected leaving around 20,000 people in very bad conditions. For the moment we have an estimate of 150 deaths but some children are still under a school building. We have set up 4 camps one of them with 4,000 persons.

I am part of the local camps management. We are doing our best to manage the situation in Jacmel with the assistance of the UN and local authorities. But we are still traumatized and are waiting for humanitarian assistance. The earth is still shaking at night.

Early by 5:00 am every morning, for two hours there are like 500 - 600 people on the streets singing religious songs, dancing and blessing God for being alive. It is like a parade, the local way of healing their pain, it is vey impressive. A real therapy for these victims which have lost everything except their [f]aith.

Tags: music
Topics: Building Community, Faith