"Aftershock adds to trauma for quake survivors in seaside city" by Maria Sacchetti, Globe Staff | January 21, 2010
Residents sat outside the Asylum of St. Vincent De Paul, where they have been sleeping since the quake damaged its buildings. (Bill Greene/ Globe Staff)
LÉOGÂNE, Haiti - She had slept on the street for seven nights after last week’s devastating earthquake, so when the skies filled with rain clouds, Diememe Labrise decided to return to her damaged, but still intact, peach-colored home.
But early yesterday morning, the ground shook violently again, and she grabbed her frightened children and ran outside screaming. They got out just in time: The aftershock measuring 5.9 on the Richter scale, the most powerful tremor since the Jan. 12 quake, leveled their home. It was also a dismaying reminder that the threat has not subsided.
“I never thought it would happen,’’ the 26-year-old mother of three said solemnly, speaking through a translator, as she stood in front of her house. “We are walking dead people. At any time this could happen again and it could kill us.’’
Léogâne, a seaside farming city of about 30,000 an hour’s drive southwest of the capital of Port-au-Prince, was the epicenter of the cataclysmic 7.0 quake last week, and now it remains the hub of its traumatized aftermath. Ten people were injured in the city during yesterday’s aftershock, according to St. Croix Hospital, and residents of the nearby town of Gressier said two elderly people died, possibly of heart attacks.
The people of Léogâne have jumped in fear at every rattle and convulsion. Haitians had girded last weekend for a major aftershock, which is always a threat after a significant earthquake. But most of the tremors have been soft rumblings underneath them, like the vibration of a heavy truck. Then, just after 6 a.m. yesterday, the earth shook hard in Léogâne, and all the way to the capital.
Residents here said yesterday morning that they had not yet received food, water, shelter, or medicine from international aid groups, although media reports said the US Marines arrived yesterday afternoon to deliver food and water. In the city’s Chatuley et Pitit neighborhood, the open wounds from last week’s earthquake still festered on a dirt road that leads to the ocean. A man named Elison lay on his back on the floor of an abandoned lottery kiosk, blinking but unable to speak or eat. He has a severe leg injury, and lost his entire family last week. Neighbors said they are afraid he will die.
Families are living in gutters, sheltered by lean-tos of aluminum roofs or tents fashioned from bedsheets, sticks, and cinderblocks. A dog limped down the street, with a broken leg dangling. An orphaned 2-year-old boy babbles the word “God,’’ because adults are constantly praying in fear. Olgume Paul, 21, said she was sleeping on the street when the aftershock hit. She jumped and raced in a panic toward a cinderblock wall in her yard, screaming “Mama, help me.’’ She froze in fear as the wall swayed, threatening to fall on top of her, then breathed in relief when it fell in the opposite direction. “God loves his baby,’’ said her mother, Sonya Casamagor, 38, smiling at her daughter as she sat in their yard.
Others counted their blessings yesterday. Alixe Doresca refused to enter her rose-colored house after last week’s earthquake, even though it survived the shaking. Yesterday, after the aftershock, she heard the building collapsing in a rain of cinderblocks. “I don’t want to die,’’ said Doresca, 22.
Marie Yolette Boulin, 33, also refused to enter her concrete house, shaking her head yesterday morning as she stood beside it with a group of neighbors. As she spoke, another smaller tremor shook the earth. Boulin and a dozen others dashed to the street in a wild rush of adrenaline, fearing more houses would topple. “Everybody’s scared,’’ she said, clutching her chest afterward. “It’s getting everybody sick.’’
The aftershocks left some residents grasping for an explanation about why the ground continues to shudder. During the visit by a Globe reporter and photographer, Doresmond Andre, a 41-year-old farmer, gently tapped the reporter on the arm and said he was troubled by the shaking. He had seen on television that earthquakes in other nations seem to end. “Does this happen in other countries?’’ asked Andre. “This is the ninth day and it’s still happening to us.’’
I have an idea: Did a Plucked HAARP Hit Haiti?
Given that the operation has turned into a U.S. occupation, I'm curious about the whole thing.
He said he feared God was punishing Haiti, a stunningly beautiful country that has been racked by political instability for decades. Most of its people are poor, despite individual efforts to seek an education and progress. “A lot of people are doing a lot of bad things in Haiti, and God gets upset,’’ he said.
Maybe Haitians do think that way; however, I'm not believing it, and the paper makes them appear just what Robertson said they were, huh?
Of course, MAYBE he has a POINT considering the CIA and their DRUG-RUNNING through Haiti!
On the road out of town, the Asylum of St. Vincent de Paul, a peaceful compound where nuns care for 150 disabled, orphaned, elderly, or sick residents, was not spared the destruction. Ten residents and two nuns died in last week’s earthquake. Yesterday, the 150 remaining residents, ages 8 to 108, sat outside without shelter.
Sister Claudette Charles dismissed the notion that the destruction was God’s will. “It’s not God, it’s science,’’ said Charles, 58. “We’ve never had a government that takes responsibility. They’re cutting trees; they dump trash; they build homes without inspections. Everybody does what they want here. There’s no law.’’
She said her faith was unshaken. “I tell [people] if it was God, I would never believe in God, or wear this thing,’’ she said, touching her habit, a silver chain of the Virgin Mary around her neck. “I can’t believe He could do this.’’
But she was also hoping that others would help them rebuild. “I think of Oprah,’’ she said, and broke into a wide smile. “Tell her to do something for us?’’
--more--""Big aftershock fans survivors’ fears; Strongest shock since quake drives more into streets" by Paul Haven and Mike Melia, Associated Press | January 21, 2010
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - A frightening new aftershock yesterday forced more earthquake survivors onto the capital’s streets to live and sent others fleeing to the countryside, where aid was only beginning to reach wrecked towns.
A flotilla of rescue vessels, meanwhile, led by the US hospital ship Comfort, converged on Port-au-Prince harbor to help fill gaps in still-lagging global efforts to deliver water, food, and medical help. Hundreds of thousands of survivors of Haiti’s cataclysmic earthquake were living in makeshift tents or on blankets and plastic sheets under the tropical sun.
STILL LAGGING after a WEEK?!!!
The strongest tremor since the Jan. 12 quake struck at 6:03 a.m., just before sunrise while many still slept. From the teeming plaza near the collapsed presidential palace to a hillside tent city, the 5.9-magnitude aftershock lasted only seconds but panicked thousands of Haitians.
I'll bet a backfire makes 'em jump.
“Jesus!’’ they cried as rubble tumbled and dust rose anew from government buildings around the plaza. Parents gathered up children and ran. Up in the hills, where US troops were helping thousands of homeless, people bolted screaming from their tents. Jajoute Ricardo, 24, came running from his house, fearing its collapse. “Nobody will go to their house now,’’ he said, as he sought a tent of his own.
A slow vibration intensified into side-to-side shaking that lasted about eight seconds - compared with last week’s far stronger initial quake that seemed to go on for 30 seconds and registered 7.0 in magnitude. Throngs again sought out small, ramshackle “tap-tap’’ buses to take them away from the city. On Port-au-Prince’s beaches, more than 20,000 people looked for boats to carry them down the coast, the local Signal FM radio reported.
The death toll was estimated at 200,000, according to Haitian government figures relayed by the European Commission, with 80,000 buried in mass graves. The commission raised its estimate of homeless from 1.5 million to 2 million, and said 250,000 people needed urgent aid.
With search dogs and detection gear, US and other rescue teams worked into last night in hopes of finding buried survivors. But hopes were dimming. “It’s like trying to find a needle in a haystack, and each day the needles are disappearing,’’ said Steven Chin of the Los Angeles County rescue team. One rescue was reported. The International Medical Corps said it cared for a 5-year-old boy found in the ruins yesterday. Many badly injured Haitians still awaited lifesaving surgery. Dr. Evan Lyon, of US-based Partners in Health, messaged from the central University Hospital that the facility was within 24 hours of running out of key operating room supplies.
ALREADY? The EFFORT hasn't even really got started yet!!!!
Yesterday’s aftershock was yet another blow: Surgical teams and patients were forced to evacuate temporarily. US taxpayers who make donations for Haitian earthquake victims would be able to write off this charitable deduction when they file their 2009 taxes this spring, under a bill the US House passed yesterday.
Gee, Congress sure can get things done when it wants to, huh, America?
Under current law, donors would have to wait until they file their 2010 returns to take the deductions. But the newly advanced bill would allow donations made by the end of February to be deducted from 2009 returns. Meanwhile yesterday, a European Commission report described the security situation as “deteriorating.’’
FAILURE!
The aftershocks even reached here:
"Quake’s tremors felt close to home; Student’s revelation that relatives died in Haiti spurs a Tewksbury elementary school to action" by Brian R. Ballou, Globe Staff | January 21, 2010
TEWKSBURY - The word of the day was astonishing, and first-grade teacher Teresa Enos challenged her 20 students to use it in a sentence. Ethan Exilhomme, a shy 6-year-old who loves comic book action heroes, raised his hand and wiggled his fingers. He said it was astonishing that 10 of his family members had died in the Haiti earthquake....
The next day, the boy’s father called her, telling her that he had indeed lost 10 family members, including Ethan’s uncle, aunt, and cousins. Their two-story concrete house crashed down on them during dinner....
Not that the Haitians do not deserve it, but what about Palestinians?
Students have been raising money for the American Red Cross. Tuesday was declared Haiti Day, and students wore the red and blue of the Haitian flag. Yesterday was Pajama Day, and today is Backwards Day, when students can wear their clothing backward. Tomorrow is Sports Day. On each day, students are asked to donate a dollar....
Is this education or agenda-pushing brainwashing?
Spurred by the family’s grief, administrators at the school say they will continue to raise money and gather clothing to donate to the American Red Cross for use in Haiti. The school organized a fund-raising campaign last Friday, and plans are underway to expand the effort citywide to reach out to residents for donations....
Again, Haitians deserve all the support and aid they get (and more); however, where is the concern for Palestinian or Muslim kids being bombed into oblivion?
But it's all a heartwarming story of human outreach, isn't it?
"Local agencies use their AIDS network to help quake victims" by James F. Smith, Globe Staff | January 21, 2010
Two Massachusetts organizations that have spent years helping Haiti cope with its AIDS crisis have quickly put their supply-chain network to use for quake victims, getting tons of crucial bandages and antibiotics into the hands of doctors and nurses desperate for the most basic supplies.
“We converted what stock we had in the warehouse into emergency relief, and we basically put them into kits and got them out into hospitals,’’ said Dr. Jonathan D. Quick, chief executive of Management Sciences for Health. “I was amazed how fast it happened - the first deliveries left the warehouse in 48 hours.’’
The Cambridge-based nonprofit provides health management expertise and training in developing countries and has 187 employees in Haiti - all of whom survived the quake, Quick said....
With all these aid groups already in Haiti, how come the place is such a shit hole?
How many are CIA front organizations, readers?
Haiti has faced an avalanche of HIV and AIDS cases, giving it the highest infection rate in the Western Hemisphere....
Another crisis that remained concealed or mentioned much in the newspapers -- until now!
Management Sciences for Health jointly operates an AIDS drug network with the nonprofit arm of a global development consulting group, John Snow Inc. Based in South Boston, Snow has more than 500 US-based staff and has 81 international offices and 1,200 employees abroad. Its nonprofit arm is the JSI Research and Training Institute.
Really, you wonder why these places are in such poor shape with the globalists looking out for them?
Together, the two organizations created the Partnership for Supply Chain Management to ensure that national AIDS programs get the right amount of antiretroviral drugs when needed, and at the right price. It’s dangerous for patients who start antiretroviral treatments to stop taking them or to miss treatments. The supply chain partnership has helped set up drug supply systems in 17 countries, including some of the poorest nations. That work is funded through the US Agency for International Development and the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief. The supply chain now provides antiretrovirals to more than 1 million people around the world.
Quick said that even as it delivered emergency medical supplies, the Haiti supply chain also made its first routine resupply of antiretroviral medicines on Tuesday, ensuring that no one would miss a treatment for lack of drugs....
I think they already have -- if they are still alive.
And it is going to be a long haul, folks:
"City extends Haiti resource center operation" by Julie Balise, Globe Correspondent | January 21, 2010
Boston’s resource center that has been assisting local families affected by the devastating earthquake in Haiti will extend operations through next week, with the potential to remain open as needed.
Mayor Thomas M. Menino announced yesterday that he established a relief fund through
Do YOU trust Bank of America to look after YOUR MONEY, America?
