Today in the World: Haitian Students Address Current Status of their Home Country

Written by The Moody Standard  //  September 14, 2010  //  Nation/World, News  //  No comments

by Katie Skero correspondent

September 12 marked eight months since the earthquake in Haiti, but according to Haitian students at Moody, the devastation is not over.

Abbel Joseph, a first year graduate student studying spiritual formation and discipleship, comes to MBI from Delmas, Haiti. Joseph left his home country in August with the earthquake devastation still fresh in his memory.

“I was in a financial institution when suddenly I felt the building shake,” Joseph recalled. He described the sound of glass shattering, high-tension power lines shaking and the walls cracking all around him until it came to a sudden stop, and he realized the damage. “It was a hard situation, but I know that God has used it to teach us. Praise to him, my family is all well,” he explained. However, he said, “Emotionally, we were affected to see the people around us—the people we love, our neighbors, our church family—die in the earthquake.”

Joseph contends that Haiti shows only minimal improvement from its state last winter. Schools have reopened in tents, but the learning environment is compromised due to the midday heat, chance of rain and inability to house children on multiple floors. One major change he observed is that “the doctors have gone home, and the food distribution has stopped.”

Welson Cesar, senior pastoral ministry pre-seminary major, returned to his hometown of Carrefour, Haiti this March. “I was devastated. I saw exactly what was on TV—rubble and tent cities. But the next morning, when I could not recognize the neighborhood I grew up in, I could not take it anymore. The reality of death hit me hard,” he recalled.

Since Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the western hemisphere, some question the difference between the pre- and post-earthquake conditions. Cesar and Joseph agree the current situation is far worse than before. “Even the few infrastructures we had were destroyed–government buildings, offices, banks,” explained Cesar. “Now all of these people are scrambling to find a place to work.” Cesar emphasized the need for jobs, saying, “You can’t keep giving to people. Money is not supposed to be just spent; it needs to reproduce itself.” He added, “People need to produce, not just consume.”

Joseph explained the emotional turmoil of survivors. Seeing the buildings here in Chicago caused flashbacks for him. He said, “I am mature and I can handle it. But young children, they cannot.”

Both men still find purpose and joy after the disaster. “I have seen the faith of the Christians grow stronger. And many have come to Christ as a result. My home church has doubled in size,” said Cesar.

Joseph added, “After the earthquake, many people accepted Christ. One of them was my father.” He stated, “It was also a great privilege to see the international community coming and helping with passion—that was a grace from God. Praise to God. We are alive,” he concluded. “And we keep on living.”

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