The Boston Globe features a photo essay on Haiti at
www.boston.com/bigpicture/2010/01/earthquake_in_haiti.html

The following message concerning the Brothers of the Sacred Heart in Haiti is being forwarded to all CMSM Major Superiors, Councilors, and J & P Directors by T. Michael McNulty, SJ, CMSM Director of the Office of Justice and Peace:

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: Haiti Brothers of the Sacred Heart
Date: Tue, 19 Jan 2010 15:03:10 -0600
From: Bro. Bernard Couvillion BGCOUVILLION@GMAIL.COM
To: mmcnulty@cmsm.org

Letter of the Provincial of Haiti
Port-au-Prince January 16, 2010

 

Good morning Brothers from everywhere,

 

Fraternal greetings. I send you an account of the drama which our Haitian province community has been living though since January 12, 2010. Let me express my most sincere gratitude to the superior general, to the general counsellors, to the provincials and all the Brothers of the Institute who have manifest their solidarity with is in these tragic times that we are going through. I could not write you before now because the communication systems were not working. Still everything isn't functioning as it should, but with a little luck I found a way to get through to you.

 

Tuesday January 12, at about 4:56 p.m., an earthquake rated 7.3 on the Richter scale struck Haiti. In a few seconds, the city of Port-au-Prince was reduced to nothing. The cataclism had the force of three Hiroshima bombs striking Haiti at the same time. Night fell suddenly because of the dust of the pulverized buildings. We will never be able to calculate the loss. The victims are countless. The images portrayed in the media are harrowing enough, but it is very likely that the reality on the ground is more dramatic than what we see on TV. The Haitian Church has been annihilated. The Archbishop of Port-au-Prince is dead, the cathedral has collapsed, like many other churches in the country. Numerous men and women religious and seminarians are dead. Every sector of the national life is affected. It is a tragedy that has created so many victims and so much misery, but above all so much solidarity, so much courage and strength to survive and to help one another. As for our specific situation, most of the Brothers of the Sacred Heart of the Province of Haiti were at work in their respective mission:

• The brothers in Port-Salut felt the quake without suffering any damage. The same for those who work in Les Cayes (South) and Miragoane (Nippes).
• The quake shook Juvenat High School of Carrefour. There are cracks, but the buildings are holding up.
• In Thor, the novitiate collapsed, but the postulancy house is still standing.
• One part of the buildings of John XXIII Elementary School collapsed.
• All the buildings of St. John the Evangelist Elementary School collapsed while occupied by evening class students, Brothers and faculty members. Many were hurt and three people were killed immediately (a teacher, a student, and a musician). The principal, Brother Augustin Nelson, occupied in his office, was able to be rescued from the debris along with certain parents, members of the parents organization. The new residence collapsed with Brother Norbert inside; he suffered minor injuries and muscle pains.
• Canado-Haitien College (High School) was completely destroyed. When it collapsed, the principal, Brother Jacques Anthony Germeil, was in his office; evening course students were in class; the provincial was making his visit. Brother Anthony could be rescued from the wreckage; the provincial, who was on the upper floor, was saved by sliding down a tree next to the house. He had with him four younger brothers. Among the students, there were some injuries. We don't know if there are any still under the debris. A former brother who was a very close collaborator, M. Jacques Claude, was killed immediately. Others (a teacher and a student) were able to be rescued.
• The Professional Center of Haiti (CFPH) remains standing, but the building has been greatly weakened.
• The Provincial house was violently shaken, but it withstood the quake and remains standing.
• The Brothers' residence in Thomassin remains intact. I emphasize that it was a small three bedroom house [in the hills above Port-au-Prince].
• Brother Jean Kidd, missionary from Canada, was able to leave the country through the Canadian embassy. He lived through the events with serenity. The Oceanian brothers are doing well. They helped bring aid to victims. They can't leave the country because their passport is not in their possession.

In the face of this whole disastrous Haitian Good Friday, no Brother of the Sacred Heart perished. God saved us and we give thanks. On the other hand, many of us have lost their close ones and are in mourning. Everyone is in a state of shock. The trauma is profound especially among those who lived through the events in Port-au-Prince. There is no way to give them psychological help. Health care is getting harder and harder to find in this country of death.

Right now, the country is living in chaos with help being hard to organize. Aftershocks are being felt up to a magnitude of 5.9. Decaying bodies either under the debris or in the streets reek of death. It is difficult to find food and water. Everyone is sleeping out in the open.

 

The provincial gathered all the homeless brothers in the yard of the professional school for several days. Then he had an emergency meeting with the provincial council Friday January 15 with the goal of placing the brothers in houses where the damage was least, notably in the South and Nippes.

 

Our present preoccupation is meeting basic needs: feed the brothers, give them housing, give them work ...

 

In spite of all, we hope that Good Friday will be transformed into Easter Sunday for the Haitian people and for our Province. God is with us. He will put along our way generous souls who can help us to rebuild what has been destroyed.

 

Your Brother,

Jean Elithere Luxama, S.C.
Provincial
Brothers of the Sacred Heart, Haiti