EPWORTH, Iowa -- Two Haitian friends living thousands of miles from their homes in Port-au-Prince have cried and prayed together for the past two weeks, wondering and worrying about their families.
Stanley Jean and Karldy Isidor are studying English at Divine Word College in Epworth, Iowa. They were friends before coming to Iowa in September. Both want to become religious missionaries.
Called every day
Jean said he could not eat, sleep or study for the past two weeks. His quiet student life was torn apart on Jan. 12 by a phone call from the president of his college, telling him to watch the news, that something had happened in Haiti.
"I don't understand what happened. I went to the Internet to find out something, then I lost my control," said the soft-spoken 32-year-old.
Jean saw the ruins of the city's cathedral. "It was very beautiful."
Then he saw the country's destroyed presidential palace and his heart froze. His four sisters and three brothers lived close to the palace.
"I called them every day for 14 days. I used many phone cards. Nothing," Jean said.
Haiti update |
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* According to his mother, a former Maquoketa man and his wife were able to leave Haiti Saturday with 82 Haitian orphans, among them the toddler they are adopting and another baby they hope to adopt. Patrick and Kim Bentrott arrived Sunday in Colorado, where they have lived for several years, with Solomon and Valancia, both 14 months old. The couple moved to Port-au-Prince last year for a four-year stint with Global Ministries at the headquarters of the National Spiritual Council of Haitian Churches. The complex was destroyed in the earthquake as was the Bentrott's apartment. * Two sixth-graders at Jefferson Junior High School are running a week-long campaign at their school to raise money for Haiti. Jenna Behnke, 11, and Jerica Craddieth, 12, made and hung posters all over the school and collect money every morning in every classroom. In two days, the girls had collected $128. On Friday, they will present all the money to the American Red Cross of the Tri-states. * On Friday, Jan. 22, Table Mound Elementary School students raised more than $740 for the Red Cross Haiti fund. The day was designated "Hats for Haiti Day" and students were allowed to wear any type of hat for any donation amount. * Hempstead High School students raised more than $600 in a one-day collection campaign on Friday, Jan. 15. The money will go to help Haiti through the Red Cross. |
"Their house was completely destroyed and they are all living outside. The first week they lived on the street, then some of them left for Thomassique," a village in Haiti where their parents live, he said.
Student sees mother's nieghborhood in ruins
Isidor, 28, was chatting with a friend in Haiti late in the afternoon of Jan. 12. The connection went dead, but Isidor didn't think much about it -- Internet and phone service to Haiti is sporadic. Then he turned on the evening news and learned about the quake.
"I had a lot of questions. Oh, it was terrible," he said, glancing distractedly sideways while troubling memories welled up inside. "I saw a lot of people died and a lot of buildings collapsed and broken, ahh ..."
As he watched wavering images of death and destruction in the city he had left only months before, Isidor saw his mother's neighborhood behind a reporter. It was in shambles.
"I thought my mother has died," he said. "I try to call. I try, try, try, try. Nothing."
Isidor and Jean found each other.
"We shared our sad, our pain," Isidor said. "In that situation, only God can keep our families alive, so we prayed and prayed." They were not alone in their petitions to heaven. Divine Word students and staff prayed with them and for them daily.
Five days after the quake, Isidor learned his family, including his mother, was safe.
"God bless her life, but they have nothing now. Every night they sleep in a different place," Isidor said. His relatives managed to salvage some things from their ruined home.
Happy hearts, broken hearts
Neither man knows what the future holds for their families, or their country.
"It is difficult to rebuild because lot of things are lost. It will never be the same," Isidor said. If he had the money, he would travel back to Haiti over spring break to reunite with his family. "I want to meet my family."
With an intensity tempered by exhaustion, Jean gave vent to his mixed feelings.
"I am happy, I am sad. I am happy my family is alive. I am sad because my country is completely destroyed."
Haiti Students - Karldy Isidor and Stanley Jean, two Divine Word College students who are from Haiti, talk about the aftermath of the earthquake and how it felt to discover their families are alive.
