We all have watched the continued devastating news about the disaster in Haiti. As we mentioned in a recent post, the disaster has hit close to home for one of our co-workers. LAUS adviser Marie Villefranche is from Haiti and has several family members in Port-au-Prince.
She has not heard from all of her family members, but has reports from some who have survived; they are living in the street right now and have not had regular access to food or water. Marie is working on plans to move her family members out of Port-au-Prince and place them with relatives in the countryside who were not affected by the earthquake. The logistics of this are costly and difficult.
To find out how you can help, please contact Gay Catherman at glw1@psu.edu or Michele Moslak at mwm5@psu.edu. We are trying to pool our resources in a coordinated effort to help Marie and her family on January 22nd, so please contact Gay or Michele if you are interested in participating.
Marie’s mother told her yesterday that after the 6.1 magnitude aftershock hit Port-au-Prince, the family was able to help a few members leave the city. With their limited resources, they could only help a portion of the group to relocate. A group of 7, including her pregnant aunt, left the city yesterday. Communication lines were down, so they have yet to speak with those who left to make sure they arrived safely. It’s important to note that some of the countryside towns were also damaged during the earthquake, so they may need to go someplace else. But our goal remains: helping those in P-a-P relocate to the countryside and also aiding those who have traveled to the countryside rebuild their lives.
I know Marie and her family through my mom. I am not on campus as much this semester because of a full-time internship, but I will be more than willing to help out too, I’ll keep in touch with my mom about this to find ways to help out.
This is wonderful to hear. I am ready to help Marie & her family.
I’m so glad—and not surprised—that the ECON department is working to support Marie. I’ll be in touch with Gay and Michele.