1 February 2010
Noel Michelle escaped with her life when the Haiti earthquake hit: but only just.
The accountancy student was in a class at university in Port-au-Prince when the tremors struck on 12 January.
Within seconds, part of the floor she was standing on collapsed but somehow she managed to escape the crumbling building.
Relief quickly turned to fear when she arrived at her aunt’s house, where 22-year-old Noel lived with her cousins.
She found the property had been flattened and the desperate search for her family began.
Noel spent the first nervous night after the quake not knowing what had happened to them as phone links had been knocked out.
The next day she made her way to a shop where her aunt worked to find it too had toppled into a pile of rubble. Then she was told the grim news of her aunt’s death.
Grief had little time to sink in before she learnt her cousins were alive and staying in the grounds of a Bible college run by Tearfund partner, the Evangelical Baptist Union of Haiti.
Lawless
Noel has been living at the compound ever since along with 4,000 others who have flocked there for the security it offers, compared to the dangers of sleeping on the lawless streets of the capital.
She’s glad to be with her family but the struggle for life continues. They are sleeping outside, there’s not enough sanitation and the smell of dead bodies makes her feel ill.
By the time you read this, more supplies should have reached our partner which has been overwhelmed by homeless people in need.
The generous response of people like you to Tearfund’s emergency appeal means our partners can provide food, water, shelter and medical treatment to thousands of Haitians.
But the need is not going away. Much more needs to be done. Tearfund’s Mark Butler, who has just returned from Haiti, says Port-au-Prince resembles a war zone.
Mark said, ‘There are still hundreds of thousands of people who are living in temporary shelter. There are lots of makeshift camps that have set up and so many buildings have been destroyed.
‘It’s not going to be normal here for a long time.’
- Please pray for the continuing relief effort in Haiti and for it to be effectively coordinated.
- Pray for people like Noel who have seen their lives turned upside down and have not had time to grieve. Ask the Lord to bring them comfort and strength.
- Pray for Tearfund staff and partners who continue to work in difficult surroundings and who themselves have been personally affected by the earthquake.
- Give thanks for the generosity of people around the world who’ve responded to Tearfund’s emergency appeal.