Haiti earthquake shakes the world and hits close to home for local family

by Karin L. Nauber
karin@inhnews.com

"The world is coming to an end!"
These words were caught on video as the largest earthquake ever recorded in Haiti rocked that area on Tuesday, January 12.
Port-Au-Prince, the capitol city lay in ruins after the earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 7.0 struck chaos and massive destruction and brought death to the poverty ridden country where about half of the people live on less than $1 a day, according to one report.
The earthquake was centered approximately 10 miles west of Port-Au-Prince, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. According to the report it had a depth of five miles and was the first major quake since one in 1984 that measured 6.7 in magnitude.
After shocks also took their toll as buildings crumbled, trapping and killing thousands.
Early estimates stated that over 50,000 lives may have been lost in this natural disaster. More recent estimates state this number could be as high as 200,000.
One official, Karel Zelenka, a Catholic Relief Services representative, described the area as "total disaster and chaos."
Communications have been disrupted making it difficult for family and friends to ascertain if people are alive or dead.
Minor earthquakes are common in the Caribbean, but Haiti has not seen a major quake in 16 years, according to one report.
Haiti is a country with a population of approximately 9 million people, most of whom live in poverty.
The devastation reaches far and wide even hours away from the center of the quake.
People from all over the world have reached out to help, but security is becoming an issue as survivors are becoming more and more desperate because of the conditions.
President Barack Obama has announced that the United States will help with "one of the largest relief efforts in our recent history." The U.S. will start the aid process to Haiti with $100 million.
Approximately 900 paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division have landed in Haiti from North Carolina as well to help support disaster relief. More than 2000 Marines have also arrived.
These American troops will help relieve some of the pressure on the United Nations workers.
Planeloads of high-energy biscuits and other food, water and water purification systems, blankets and other supplies have been sent from many nations.
There have been reports of survivors trapped under the rubble, but as the hours turn into days, those reports are becoming more and more scarce.
A local tie to Haiti
Nathan McLaughlin of Clarissa has a special connection to the country of Haiti as his parents Frank and Jeanette McLaughlin operate a mission called Haiti Mercy Mission in Pignon, Haiti which is approximately four hours north from the capitol city of Port-Au-Prince.
His parents and his brother Erik and several other volunteers traveled to Haiti just days before the quake to help out at the orphanages for a few weeks.
"My parents spend every winter there since retiring. They started this mission a few years ago and adopted a group of orphanages up in the mountain areas of Northern Haiti. They landed just a few days prior to the earthquake and had planned to stay until April," said Nathan who has been able to communicate with them via Skype.
"They are not faced with any major destruction. However, many people from the area my parents are located often travel to the capitol to look for work. The word on lost lives from the area is now in the many hundreds. Also, the capitol is the place where the flow of food, water, and supplies moves out of," said Nathan.
"The concern for areas outside the capitol is that the flow of food will stop. In the coming weeks when the news has focused on the next issue, the real concerns of hunger and disease will start because of the lack of food, medical supplies, water, etcetera," he said.
Outlaying areas of Haiti will feel the affects of the crisis in the coming weeks. This was the case after the hurricane which devastated the area in 2008.
"There is a story about Haitians making 'mud cakes' that provide no nutritional value, but helped stop hunger pangs for a time," said Nathan.
Right now the mission is trying to secure travel back to the states for the volunteers that traveled with them.
"We were able to buy three weeks worth of food for the orphanage along with a few weeks supply of water. The rice prices, in a few days time, have doubled and tripled along with fuel," related Nathan.
The McLaughlins have been involved with and formally founded the Haiti Mercy Mission as a non-profit organization six years ago.
"They met one of the Haitians at the hospital in Nisswa where my mom worked, who was training in the medical field. They visited the orphanages and started having people adopt a child in Haiti so that the children could receive nutrition, education, and basic medical attention. They have even helped to support orphans by sending them to college when funds are available," said Nathan of his parents' work in Haiti.
At this time they are assessing if they will stay in the country.
"It will depend on how security goes. If times get hard, it turns safety and security into a huge issue so they will have to think about that as time goes on," said Nathan.
The McLaughlins related on their website at www.haitimercymission.com: "We have had no damage in our area, but felt lots of shaking and have had several after shocks. We ask [for] your prayers for our orphanage director and Sasitte our college student. They are in Port-Au-Prince. We did hear from Anne right after the initial quake that they were both okay, but all phone communication is down and we have not heard from them since. We went out right away this morning and bought about a month's supply of food and fuel for the truck and generator. Our real concern is for all the people of this region as most of our food supply comes through Port-Au-Prince. As the weeks go by without outside help things will get desperate. We are in no danger and are happy to be here and helping."
"We are happy to report Anne and Sasitte returned to Pignon tonight, January 14. They brought with them four refugees that will spend a few days with us. On January 16 [we] had several more people show up today--three very young children all in good shape, but tired and hungry. The road is full of cars, trucks and motorcycles bringing people from Port north. We have had rumors of 600 people from Pignon who passed away in Port-Au-Prince. Last night there was a rumor going around that another earthquake was going to hit so the kids slept outside."
On January 17, the McLaughlins updated the story of Anne and Sasitte.
"They were in the earthquake on the third floor of a four story building. The building's bottom two floors collapsed and they had to crawl out [of] a window. They slept in the street that night. The next day they looked for friends and relatives. They found some, then they all walked about 10 miles to get transportation to Pignon. Sasitte had moved out of her old apartment and into the new one [just] four hours before the quake. Everyone in her old building was killed. We thank God for his mercy!!"
The Haiti Mercy Mission is an organization based out of Nisswa.
"The needs will be many for Haiti Mercy Mission," said Nathan.
On his Small Cities Mayor blog site a link is included for you to donate to them if you wish. It is located at: http://smallcitymayor.com.
"Your money will go directly to Haiti. Your donation will go 100% to providing aid, supplies and comfort. There will be no funds used for administration, overhead, fundraising, etcetera," said Nathan.
You can also follow up with more on his family at that link.
If you want to send a donation through the mail, you can send it to: Haiti Mercy Mission, P.O. Box 164, Nisswa, MN 56468.
"The real impact for the rest of the country is the transportation system halting. Food, fuel, and everyday items are generally scarce in a country like Haiti. This earthquake will make it a crisis in a very short period of time. We will be trying to keep in contact with my parents to see how we can try and assist in the delivery of supplies to their remote location," said Nathan.
Nathan's mother sent an update on Monday, January 18.
"Our emergency plan is already going. We have tons of people at the orphanage and we will house additional refugees at the church. We are giving one set of clothes per person and emergency food. Cap Haitian is now out of fuel. Huge problem. We evacuated our mission group out at 3 a.m. through the Dominican. Four Americans will stay. Frank, Erik, Marianne and Jeanette. There is too much to do to abandon the Haitians now. The voodoo drums are beating, but the churches are singing 'The King is Coming.' Acene (Dr. Acene Jean Pierre) and I did our first surgery this morning with a sterilized box cutter. So much for Blue Cross Blue Shield. Erik held the child down, so he is an anesthesiologist. Please pray for us. Riots will be just around the corner. If anyone gives to the mission for relief efforts we will keep that money separate and use it exclusively for the refugees. Pray for us. Jeanette"

Photos:

Top photo: This photo shows the widespread devastation as buildings collapsed, trapping victims inside. No one was immune as hospitals, orphanages and even the presidential palace succumbed to the power of the shaking earth. The downtown core shows the damage after an earthquake measuring 7 plus on the Richter scale rocked Port-Au-Prince, Haiti just before 5 p.m. on January 12.
’ÄîThis file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license and is used with permission

Middle photo: Frank and Jeanette McLaughlin of Nisswa are the president and secretary/treasurer of the Haiti Mercy Mission located in Pignon, Haiti which is about four hours from the capitol Port-Au-Prince.

Bottom photo: Orphans and others have been arriving at the Haiti Mercy Mission since the quake that rocked the Port-Au-Prince area on Tuesday, January 12. Pictured holding one of the children in the background is Erik McLaughlin.