January 13th, 2009

Following a phone conversation of this morning from Danielle and Robert Penette, be reassured that the 44 children of the internal program are safe, the building in Bouthilliers is not damaged.

The Proximity house in Delmas, is also standing, it will be evaluated for internal damages as soon as transport is secure enough to reach it.

Robet Junior Penette was at a friend's house, but they had time to get out before the building collapsed.

They are now trying to reach the staff and their families to evaluate their needs, communication are still complicated, depending on the region they are trying to reach.

We will add more information as soon as we receive it.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

January 18, 2010, 9:08am

First of all, thank you to all family members, friends, humanitarian partners for your support, prayers and words of comfort and encouragement, all your messages makes us stronger and determined.

The energy factor being a problem, we use this opportunity, to thank each one of you, not being able to answer you separately.

Since the earthquake, tuesday 16:50, we do not have any electricity, the inverters batteries are empty, and the small quantity of gasoline that we have as a reserve is used for essential travelling purposes and to recharge regularly the inverter’s batteries for lighting and radio.

We woke up again this morning, thanking God to have kept us safe, the children of the internal program of MAEC, our children, our family, and friends. We are still under the shock, that Junior could have been buried under the remains of the house he was in, like so many victims, the pain of being a witness of the people suffering in the streets of Port-au-Prince, to be unable to give emergency help to the victims under the remains of those cement blocks…, again we thank God that the children of the internal program, at the shelter, were all inside the house at 16:50, preventing them to be hit by the two buses that moved meters beside the house.

So many victims, so many damages…..

We are very worried for the families of the external program, all living in the areas highly affected by the earthquake. We sent a radio message yesterday for the support group (mother delegates, peer educators and volunteers) to join us at the Delmas house

( Proximity house) for a meeting tomorrow, Tuesday. Two mother delegates heard the radio message and reached us. They all mentioned a need for drinking water. We hope to gather a maximum of people to establish an action plan, answer a certain amount of needs (water, food, clothes) and identify the children in difficulties.

The last phone communications we have with a few of the employees, the day after the earthquake, confirmed important lost in material , a lot of them were in the streets, their houses completely demolished, some looking for their loves ones, other confirming the lost of family members.

Until yesterday, the disaster victims are sleeping in the streets and the others outside their houses, fearing the earth tremors that are still present everyday. The children of the internal program are sleeping in the two buses and the older ones in the backyard, even with a cool temperature in Boutilliers of about 18 Celcius.

Danielle Reid Pénette

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

January 18th, 2010 11 :28pm

The phone communications are starting to work , the employees present at Boutilliers are doing a first countdown : Junie, receptionnist, is missing….no news from her. All the others are safe, but many of them are living in the streets, three auxiliary nurses, one nurse, lost everything: house, clothes, mementos, years of sacrifices lost in only one minute....but...we comfort each others, these are only material goods.

So we carefully plan tomorrow: distribution of food, hygienic products to the members of the support groups, the ones who will answer the call sent by radio yesterday and again today.

We analyze, trying to find the most secure way to make the distribution, to protect our families and also our offices, there is a lot of looting in the city....a phone call just advised us that a nurse close to the MAEC has died.

Complete consternation among us and everybody starts to reflect again ! Not her....why...her children...and the child from the internal program that she would welcome each year for the months of july and august....but...even overwhelmed by the sadness that takes over, we need to continue, we need to find the force and the courage to continue. The children of the internal program are around us and needs us, the families of the external program are counting on us...so..we must continue.

Four barrels and also cardboard boxes are full of jerseys and shirts ( over four thousand ), a donation of a Canadian benefactress close to the Quebec foundation, sandals, donation of an international organization, all for tomorrow’s distribution in four refugee camps close to the Proximity house in Delmas. Also, one hundred and fifty bags will be prepared for the members of the support groups that will come tomorrow....well...we hope so much they heard our radio messages !

Today, the children of the internal program understood more what happened in the city, the proof is that one of them, Andieu, 17, worried, asked yesterday to visit his uncle on the route called Frères. Andieu ,walked for many hours to get there, and then many more to come back. He saw all those refugees located on the public squares of Petionville, he saw buildings, some of them schools completely destroyed, he crossed a school buddy, crying the death of his mother under the rubbles of one of the buildings, he saw corpses and when he came back he shared his feelings with the other children, everyone closely listening to his description.

Following his testimony, the children started to mobilize...preparing bags, cleaning the buses. Each one of them participated, they are all ready for departure, tomorrow tuesday, 9am.

Danielle Reid Pénette

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------