From behind the bullet proof glass counter of his store, Haitian immigrant Benet Bien Aime listened to 1010WINS and spoke over his cell phone. But the call wasn’t to his native Haiti.
“I’ve tried to call two of my children, my brother, my sister, my son-in-law,” said Bien Aime, from the Carrefour neighborhood of Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince. He has three children in Port-au-Prince. “Everyone is very sad because they cannot reach anyone in Haiti.”
Like Bien Aime, who’s wife has been crying for two days, the Haitian community in Cambria Heights has had their eyes and ears glued to the radio, television stations and the Internet for clues that could lead them to news about family and friends in the devastated city.
“I feel very sad,” he said. “I cannot sleep and I cannot touch food.”
Between 45,000 and 50,000 people may have died as a result of the 7.0 earthquake that struck inland about ten miles from Port-au-Prince during the evening of Tuesday, January 12, according to Red Cross Haiti Coordinator Victor Jackson. The Red Cross estimates about three million people will be affected either due to injuries or homelessness.
Since the event, landline telephone communications with the capital have been impossible, though a lucky few have connected via cell phone text messaging and the Internet. Large sections of the city continue without electricity.
Over at the community organization Haitian-Americans United for Progress (HAUP) on 221 Street and Linden Boulevard, elected officials – Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, Borough President Helen Marshall, State Senator Malcolm Smith, Assemblymember Barbara Clark, Congressmember Gregory Meeks, Councilmembers Leroy Comrie and James Sanders – gathered with residents to pledge their support to the Haitian community.
They all also urged individuals to donate money to credible entities and not start cloth or toy drives because shipping these items to Haiti would be logistically difficult at this moment in time. In a related item, a spokesperson for UPS confirmed that the company will not ship items below 50 pounds to Haiti for free. They are, however, assisting organizations like the American Red Cross, CARE and UNICEF with monetary and in-kind services.
HAUP staff member Florcie Antoine shared that she had not reached her brother Florin Antoine and his family – a wife and two children – in Carrefour.
“I haven’t been able to sleep well because all I’ve been doing is watching the news and trying to get through,” she said. Her mother hasn’t left the house in two days and won’t eat. “You feel helpless and hopeless because you don’t know where they are.”
“How we’ve been able to communicate is through the news,” she said, adding that when they hear information they share it with Haitians calling their organization. “We are all frustrated.”
On Thursday, January 14, 2010, Leonel Fernandez, President of the Dominican Republic, instructed Dominican immigration officials to facilitate the entry of Haitian refugees into neighboring Dominican Republic with whom it shares the island of Hispañola.
Fernandez has mobilized Dominican troops, excavation and construction equipment to send to Haiti. He’s also volunteered the use of Dominican airports for the landing of humanitarian aid. Dominican hospitals have begun to receive the injured.
Commercial flights to Toussaint Louverture International Airport in Port-au-Prince have been cancelled, confirmed a spokesperson for American Airlines (AA). However, AA has one flight a day with provisions getting through and they hope to increase the number to three or four a day to help move in more medical supplies and doctors. AA has 180 employees at the airport whose whereabouts are still unknown.
“It’s important that everybody in Haiti understand, at this very moment one of the largest relief efforts in our recent history is moving towards Haiti,” said U.S. President Barack Obama on Thursday, January 14. “More American search and rescue teams are coming. More food. More water. Doctors, nurses, paramedics. More of the people, equipment and capabilities that can make the difference between life and death.”
But as the hours tick by, the despair grows.
A man, Leslie Françoise, who has ten phone cards in his car, said that his sister planned to fly to Santo Domingo, the capital of Dominican Republic and would take a motorcycle to Haiti. Françoise said that a friend of his died, his friend’s daughter died and his friend’s granddaughter died too. “Three people from the same family,” he said.
AA, however, does not recommend that people fly to Santo Domingo in an effort to get to Haiti.
“We really are not advising people to take extraordinary measures to get to Port-au-Prince unless they are specifically assigned rescue workers,” said Ned Raynolds of AA about rumors that Haitians plan to fly to Dominican Republic and drive over. “It will only worsen and complicate the situation.”
Another man, Joseph, complained that the media coverage has centered on the nicer neighborhoods like Petionville and Carrefour but not Bel Air or Cirque du Soleil. He explained that if he saw images from there he would be able to tell what happened.
“I never saw them talk about those places,” he said. “My brother works at the airport and I want to know if he’s alive.”
According to the 2008 Census American Community Factfinder survey, almost 38,000 Haitians live in Queens County, the second largest population of Haitians in NYC outside of Brooklyn. They primarily live in the neighborhoods of Cambria Heights, South Ozone Park, Richmond Hill, Ridgewood and Woodhaven.
TO ASSIST WITH EARTHQUAKE RELIEF EFFORTS CONTACT:
Red Cross, www.redcross.org
World Vision, www.worldvision.org
Save the Children, www.savethechildren.org
UNICEF, www.unicefusa.org
Mercy Corporation, www.mercycorps.org
U.S. State Department family information hotline: 888-407-4747
Residents can also call the city’s 3-1-1 hotline to find out how they can assist victims.
Councilmember James Sanders, Jr. will host a “Haiti Relief Effort.” All interested should contact his office at 718-527-4356.
Senator Joseph Addabbo encourages people who wan to help victims of the disaster in Haiti to call his office at 718-738-1111.
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