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General News: Haitian Family Flees Earthquake
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| The Debrosse family at their new home in New Windsor. |
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| The streets of Port-au-Prince were filled with death and destruction during the days when the Debrosses were trying to leave. |
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| Houses like these in the city's slums collapsed quickly in the earthquake. |
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| The Debrosse extended family at home. |
February 04, 2010
It was three weeks ago that Rodolphe Debrosse was driving his two young children and a nephew home from school in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, when the earth began to shake and they all were cast into a nightmare of loss that they still feel today as they sit in the home of a relative in New Windsor, where they try to cope with the collapse of their world.
Two young children, Dory Sarah and Kristoffer, have enrolled in Willow Avenue school, where their classmates and the staff have stretched out welcoming arms. Rodolphe’s cousin, Lola, who acted as interpreter from French Creole to English during a recent interview, says that Willow students have been learning French words to try to talk with the youngsters and people have donated gift cards worth $500 to help ease the family’s transition.
The Trauma Unleashed by the Earthquake
Dory, a fourth-grader, laughs and smiles during the interview along with her cousin, May-lissa, a 20-year-old, who studies law back in Haiti. Kristoffer, age six, is more somber. He sits quietly and listens while his father recounts what happened immediately after the earthquake.
With the three children in tow, Rodolphe abandoned his car and walked through the chaotic streets of the city where injured people cried out and dead bodies lay everywhere. His wife, Mary Guerda, a nurse with an international relief agency, Concern Worldwide, was at home alone for three hours, waiting for her family members – crying, singing, praying that they were alive. When the quake occurred she narrowly escaped a grocery store where she was picking up food for dinner. The building collapsed around her.
When Rodolphe finally arrived at his home, he saw the collapsed walls and roof but also saw his wife and other family members, all accounted for except for a sister and a 78-year-old aunt.
A Beloved Family Member Lost
“I knew that if my sister was alive, that we had to come and get her,” Rodolphe recalled as he described how he and his brother set off on a three-hour journey through the devastated streets to the school where she taught. When they arrived, they found the school had collapsed. From the ruins people called out for help but without heavy equipment they could not pull anyone out. At last they found his sister’s classroom and recognized a ring and a watch on a hand sticking out from beneath the rubble.
Until that moment, neither Rodolphe nor his brother could believe that she was dead. His brother began to wail and Rodolphe nearly collapsed in pain. As he recounted how he returned every day to try and get her body out from the ruins, tears filled Rodolphe’s eyes. “He saw so many dead bodies that he didn’t think he had any more tears to cry,” Lola explained, saying that it was the first time he had talked about the horror of that day.
Escape to New York
Mary Guerda said that the Debrosse family was lucky. They had visas to the United States – both their children were born here -- and they were able to retrieve their passports from the ruins of their home. After sleeping in the streets for a couple of days, the family made it to the airport where thousands of people were trying to get out of the country. They were able to board a U.S. Air Force flight to Florida on January 17th, five days after the earthquake occurred. Two days later they were in New York, settling into the brand new house that their cousin Lola and her family had moved into in September.
While the family is warm and comfortable together, the adults have their minds set on returning to Haiti, where they know the reconstruction will be long and difficult. Mary Guerda is returning this Sunday to work with Concern Worldwide to help meet the tremendous demand for health services in the country. Rodolphe is studying English at BOCES and would like to get a job in his field, social work.
The children have no school to return to in Haiti and they seem to making the transition quite well. Dory has gotten a violin from her music teacher at school and is resuming her practice. May-lissa, who is also a published author of a young adult fiction book, is hoping to attend law school in the United States.
They Are the Lucky Ones
The family is relieved to have found relatives in New Windsor who provide great comfort. Lola has two boys who also attend Willow Avenue School and one of them, nine-year-old Danny, remembers that just six months ago they were living in a two-bedroom apartment in Scarsdale, which would have been overcrowded with the new arrivals. “God gave us this house to have for them to move in,” Danny said.
Rodolphe said the family’s needs are being met, but if people would like to help, they can make a donation to Haiti. “We are considered to be the lucky ones,” he said. “So many people need a bottle of water and they don’t have it. It’s hard to live in the streets.”
There are several opportunities to make donations through the schools to Haiti relief, including at a special “Hope for Haiti Benefit Concert” on Monday, February 8th at 7pm at Cornwall Central Middle School.
Comments:
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What a beautiful story....and thank you so much for showing how the aftermath of the Haitian disaster touches us so close to home. Welcome to the Debrosse family! And may the work of their homeland's recovery be speedy and blessed.
posted by Sharon Thomson on 02/16/10 at 11:45 AM
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