|
|
|
The day after a 7.0 earthquake devastated Haiti, Yves Donastien of the Dedham Temple Haitian Seventh-Day Adventist Church is among those having trouble getting through to family in the country.
Donastien, the first elder of the church in Dedham Square, said he has many relatives in Haiti, some of whom are fine.
“I have my sister and my niece. My brother called early this morning. He told my sister he’s OK, my family’s OK, but my nephews, I haven’t heard anything about my nephews in Carrefour Feuilles,” he said this afternoon, referring to the neighborhood in Port-au-Prince where they live.
| Share your story |
|---|
| Do you have Dedham and Haiti connections? Contact Dedham Transcript staff writer Edward B. Colby at 781-433-8336 or ecolby@cnc.com. |
The earthquake, the largest in Haiti in more than two centuries, struck at 4:53 p.m. Tuesday and was centered 10 miles southwest of the capital, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
“I have almost 20 nephews and nieces, I don’t have anything about them,” Donastien said, referring to phone networks that are down. “There is no contacting Haiti for now.”
Donastien, 51, who has been at the church on Washington Street for nearly three years, said it serves almost 160 people from Dedham, Hyde Park, Readville, Mattapan and Dorchester.
The tremor leveled countless buildings, killing many people – initial estimates are in the thousands, or even hundreds of thousands – and trapping more in rubble. Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.
The National Palace, cathedral, and three big hospitals all collapsed, as did many buildings in the suburb of Petionville, Donastien said.
“There is a lot, a lot of things collapsed down in Haiti,” he said. “It is bad in Haiti now.”
For more on this story, visit wickedlocaldedham.com in the coming days.
Do you have Dedham and Haiti connections? Contact Dedham Transcript staff writer Edward B. Colby at 781-433-8336 or ecolby@cnc.com.
The day after a 7.0 earthquake devastated Haiti, Yves Donastien of the Dedham Temple Haitian Seventh-Day Adventist Church is among those having trouble getting through to family in the country.
Donastien, the first elder of the church in Dedham Square, said he has many relatives in Haiti, some of whom are fine.
“I have my sister and my niece. My brother called early this morning. He told my sister he’s OK, my family’s OK, but my nephews, I haven’t heard anything about my nephews in Carrefour Feuilles,” he said this afternoon, referring to the neighborhood in Port-au-Prince where they live.
| Share your story |
|---|
| Do you have Dedham and Haiti connections? Contact Dedham Transcript staff writer Edward B. Colby at 781-433-8336 or ecolby@cnc.com. |
The earthquake, the largest in Haiti in more than two centuries, struck at 4:53 p.m. Tuesday and was centered 10 miles southwest of the capital, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
“I have almost 20 nephews and nieces, I don’t have anything about them,” Donastien said, referring to phone networks that are down. “There is no contacting Haiti for now.”
Donastien, 51, who has been at the church on Washington Street for nearly three years, said it serves almost 160 people from Dedham, Hyde Park, Readville, Mattapan and Dorchester.
The tremor leveled countless buildings, killing many people – initial estimates are in the thousands, or even hundreds of thousands – and trapping more in rubble. Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.
The National Palace, cathedral, and three big hospitals all collapsed, as did many buildings in the suburb of Petionville, Donastien said.
“There is a lot, a lot of things collapsed down in Haiti,” he said. “It is bad in Haiti now.”
For more on this story, visit wickedlocaldedham.com in the coming days.
Do you have Dedham and Haiti connections? Contact Dedham Transcript staff writer Edward B. Colby at 781-433-8336 or ecolby@cnc.com.
