There is Hope in Haiti — February 2011

Faimi Tells her Story From Haiti

I was driving home from work and felt the car shaking. I turned around and saw part of the mountain coming down. That’s when I realized it was an earthquake.

We [Faimi’s husband and Faimi] parked the car and waited. Out on the street, there were a lot of cars going fast and people started streaming outside. Crying, yelling, that’s when we realized it might be big. We didn’t know. I tried calling my children but couldn’t reach them. They were in school. After 10 minutes, things calmed down a little and we were able to get in the car and drive the 10 minutes home.

We saw people lying dead in the streets. Bodies. Things were really bad.

You never get used to it. We were lucky. The house didn’t have any damage. After we got home, we were able to reach the children by cell phone. They were safe at school. We told them to stay there because all of the roads were blocked. We spent the night talking to them on the phone trying to keep them calm. They next day we went to pick them up.

When we went outside that next day, we saw the extent of the damage. Everything was crumbled. Big houses were underground.

It’s still not back to how it was — I think the rubble we’re going to have for 50 years — but life started to get a little more normal. People started coming back the next day to work to help. Everyone was doing emergency work. I didn’t get back to Sponsorship [Faimi is the Sponsorship Manager] until March.

Sponsors wrote a lot, asking what they could do, how to help, what to send. The best thing they can do is continue to support Save the Children [laughter]!

I think School Health and Nutrition has the biggest impact right now, especially with cholera. We have children ages 5 to 18 in our sponsorship programs and when you ask them what their favorite activities are, they always say washing hands! Washing hands! These children are not used to washing hands. They love being able to do it. And that is what Save the Children enables them to do. Then they go home and tell their parents that THEY need to wash their hands too or else they’ll get sick. I’m really proud of that. Knowing that Save the Children is doing that and it’s saving lives, definitely saving their lives.

After the earthquake, visitors would ask how we, Haitians, have the courage to smile. It’s natural for us. It’s within. We just keep on moving.