A call for support to the Pace Community

I am a Haitian-American who has lived in Haiti my whole life. After my first semester away from home, I went back to Haiti for Christmas break. On Jan. 12, I was on my way to get ice cream at the Village at the Montana Hotel with my friend Claudia. The Village is on top of a parking garage. It had shops, restaurants and a chapel.

As we approached the door to the ice cream parlor, the windows began to shatter and the floor began to crumble under my feet. The fountain sprung up in the air and the building crumbled and collapsed to the bottom of the parking garage. Had I been parking in the garage for 30 more seconds, I would have buried under the rubble.

After the quake, I was able to go back home by foot, because my neighbor Chrystelle, who I had not known, was coincidently the chef at the Montana Hotel and had just fled the kitchen before it collapsed. Chrystelle knew a short cut to walk to our neighborhood. We decided to walk because it was starting to get dark. Claudia lost her shoes during the quake and cut her foot but still managed to walk.

Meanwhile my parents thought I was still at my previous location, the Petionville Club. As I approached my home, I ran into my parents who were walking towards the Montana Hotel looking for me. We reunited on the road; both heading in opposite directions and the emotions ran wild.

We all cried, sobbed and were relieved that Claudia and I were alive.
A few days later, after sleeping in the driveway of my home, I was evacuated in the US Air Force plane and headed to the McGuire US Air Force Base in New Jersey. Now I have to muster up all my strength as I return to college for my spring semester in my freshman year at the University.

I am a Haitian-American, 18-years-old, with a profound love for my motherland. I am deeply devastated by its current situation, but I am convinced that this is the new beginning of a bright future for my beloved Haiti. AYITI CHERI! I hope that all students at the University could help save the previously impoverished nation by donating money to credible charities.