Death pangs felt by Haitians here

IF it is one thing that Jean, a Haiti student here has in abundance, it is faith in his God.

He will need that faith now more than ever as he continues to pursue his studies at the United Theological College of the University of the West Indies (UTCWI) Kingston campus.

Ronyi-Bataille, 27, lost his mother in the January 12 earthquake which decimated his country. The building in which she was attending a prayer meeting at the time when disaster struck collapsed.

"I really lost someone who is really important to me and who played a major role in my life," he told the Sunday Observer.

The pain gets worse. Ronyi-Bataille said that three weeks after the disaster, his mother's body had not been found among the rubble. On top of that, he has not been able to get home and must rely on his sister for news of how the family is faring.

"It is like it is not real that until today we still do not have her body. It's harder when they cannot even find the body," he moaned.

Frantz Duklin Camille, another student of the UTCWI was luckier; while the bank in which his sister worked was badly damaged and she was stuck inside the building for a day before she was rescued, no members of his family died or were seriously injured.

The two shared stories of other students at the College who had lost family members. One female student was especially hard hit, losing her sister and her sister's three children to the quake. Two of her brothers had to have limbs amputated. Two other students lost cousins. Both Camille and Ronyi-Bataille had planned trips back home the day after the earthquake but their flight was cancelled.

"It's difficult not being able to be there for them," Ronyi-Battaille said, sighing. "I just want to be there to see. We are just waiting for the opportunity to spend time with friends and family that are still alive."

Neither feels any relief about being saved from the disaster by being in Jamaica.

"I wish I could be down there so I could face the reality with them," said Camille. "It's like I'm here and okay and I have something to eat, and then I think do they have anything to eat?"

But they were grateful for the relief effort, even while questions are being raised by some Jamaicans as to whether the country can afford to offer any more help.

"I'm not sure that we have to expect more," Camille rationalised. "I think Jamaicans are legitimate to have any kind of attitude because they are the drivers and we are the passengers."

For Ronyi-Bataille, it is an opportunity for the Jamaican and Haitian communities to become closer.

"It's a chance for us to have a better relationship," he said, at the same time pleading for those involved in the relief effort to help his people retain their dignity even in the face of tragedy.

"I would like to say that while people are trying to help Haiti, that they respect the dignity and at the same time try to value their humanity. We (Haitians) are a courageous people. We can stand and fight. We have that in our blood."

Camille underlined the fact that while all the Haitian students of the College had been close before, the earthquake had brought them even closer together.

"We share the pain together," he said, adding that in the face of tragedy his network had broadened. "Before, I knew seven Haitians in Jamaica, but I know a lot more of them right now."

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