By Billy S. Garland
The morning of Tuesday, Jan. 12 began as usual for the small island nation of Haiti, with millions of impoverished people going about their lives, mostly without the attention of the rest of the world. Then, in the late afternoon, the ground began to shake. The full force of a 7.1 magnitude earthquake struck the capitol city of Port-au-Prince, leaving buildings in rubble and thousands upon thousands dead or missing.
Now, a week after the cataclysmic disaster, many students at the University of Louisville are left waiting and watching as the situation continues to worsen.
“It’s awful; it’s terrible…Thousands have died,” said Andrew Carroll, Student Government Association chief of staff. “It is tragic, and I don’t think that even sums it up. I know there are several students at U of L that have traveled abroad to Haiti, that are probably affected.”
One student who has been strongly affected is senior biology major Katie Trimble.
“I haven’t been able to watch the news very much,” said Trimble. “It just makes me cry.”
Trimble, who is in the process of writing her senior thesis on Haiti, has been on multiple humanitarian trips to the country over recent years. Her work has been in conjunction with the Christian humanitarian group, Christian Flights International.
“In the past, I have worked in house building and on churches there,” said Trimble. “Last summer I worked in a clinic which reached out to widows and orphans. Christian Flights is keeping their upcoming trips open, but now their work is going to be primarily relief efforts.”
The massive devastation caused in this quake has sparked an international outpouring of relief and support efforts, on a scale the tiny nation has never before seen. On the local front, religious groups have been gearing up to raise funds that can then be forwarded to larger international relief efforts.
Mark Peyton, pastor of the St. Paul Baptist Church at Shively Heights, has been on more than 25 mission trips to the region, and is planning a return trip that will be focused
on relief efforts. He is encouraging his congregation and other concerned individuals to donate to international organizations, like the Southern Baptist Convention’s relief fund, known as Baptist Global Response.
BGR is one of the top religious-based humanitarian relief funds in existence. According to its annual report, the organization spent nearly $2.5 million on humanitarian efforts in 2009.
However, Haiti is predominantly a Catholic nation. The Archdiocese of Louisville is encouraging those interested in helping to send money to Catholic Charities.
“Essentially, what we are doing is collecting funds that will be directly forwarded to the Catholic Relief Services,” said Bart Weigel, a representative for the local branch of Catholic Charities. “They have been there for years, providing humanitarian efforts. And they will be there for the long haul.”
It is the long haul that has many people concerned about the future of such relief efforts.
“Most western nations see Haiti as a country from which there is nothing to gain,” said Louis Rabaut, a linguistics professor at U of L. “This is a country that is almost completely deforested, with very few other natural resources to speak of. I think there will be very little international attention in two months or so. I think we will get a death toll and that will be it.”
Trimble echoed this fear, and said she is praying people will continue to care about and give to this country in the years to come.
For now however, the attention of relief workers remains focused on the immediate needs of the country. Death tolls continue to rise and an untold number of people are still listed as missing. Even in cities outside of the capitol, death and devastation abound. Rabaut shared an e-mail that he had received from a personal contact of his in Haiti.
Sister Mary Spano is a nun working in a small city called Leogane, about 10 miles outside of Port-au-Prince. Her message was brief, but painted a descriptive picture of the carnage that has overtaken the small nation.
“Reports are not even doing Leogane justice,” said Spano. “The town is almost completely destroyed. The whole town smells of blood, and dogs are eating bodies in the streets. They are in desperate need of help and supplies.”
If you are interested in donating to the cause, visit louisvillecardinal.com for links to the different organizations mentioned in this article.
