New challenges ahead for Haiti
Vladimur Sibera
by Wai Phyo Myint.
Two weeks after the severe earthquake struck Haiti’s capital city, three million people are left homeless and the city faces a new set of challenges.
The 7.0 magnitude earthquake, centered just outside the capital city, Port-au-Prince, killed more than 200,000 people.
Vladimur Sibera, a Green Mountain College student, and Rebecca Saintil, a GMC alumni, were originally from Haiti. They were among the thousands who lived with anxiety for several days waiting for the news of their family members in Haiti.
“Found out my nephew almost died in the earthquake in Haiti. (I am) still waiting to hear from other family members. Please keep everyone in your prayers; in the end, we’re ONE world, ONE people.” Saintil posted on her Facebook on January 13.
She updated her friends with her January 16 facebook status post, “So far, so good. Nephew’s safe, mom’s side safe. Now just waiting to hear from my other family members.”
“I have not talked with them directly, but I got the news from my mother that my aunt and her family, who are living just outside of the capital, are safe,” Sibera, a first-year student stated. He continued, “but their house was destroyed. Now, they are living with other relatives,”
“My mother has been calling to her relatives back in Haiti and sending money back to them,” Sibera explained. His mother moved to the United States when he was two years old, and seven years ago, his siblings and he joined his monther in Florida.
Sibera, who is also a member of GMC’s basketball team, was 13 when he moved to the United States. Sibera, who spent his early teenage years and got his secondary education in Haiti, was hoping some positive things could come out of this tragic disaster. “I do hope that international governments see the situation people from Haiti have been going through and can help to bring some positive changes to the country.”
Sibera said that people from Haiti, which is one of the poorest countries in the Caribbean, have been suffering from a poor education and health care system, as well as a lack of proper infrastructure long before the earthquake struck the country.
“Most of us are not educated. I think, if we all were educated, things would not be that bad,” Sibera said.
He explained that the lack of rules and regulations in building construction projects could be one of the reasons contributing to why destruction got worse.
“We don’t have high-rise buildings, but we do have buildings that are like six or seven stories. But I think none of them follow any safety rules or regulations. People just come in and build houses,” Sibera stated.
Sibera also expressed his concerns about the security issues of his country. “Everyday, people are dying in shootings. They are killing for each other for no reason. The government did not do anything to stop them.” He said that corruption has widely spread in the country’s government. “If you have money, you can do anything you want,” Sibera said.
Several GMC student clubs raised funds for the earthquake victims. “On the first three days, we raised about $200,” according to Brenda Nsambu, the president of the International Awareness Club.
Short URL: http://www.themountaineer.org/?p=1252
Posted by Wai Phyo Myint
on Feb 4, 2010 Filed under Featured, World.
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