Remembering the Earthquake

Today I was asked to accompany a few of our local engineers to an event which memorialized the second anniversary of the earthquake in Haiti. It was sponsored by Sean Penn's organization, J/P HRO, which is a humanitarian organization that has tried to put a few communities back on their feet. Sean has been very active in Haiti over the last few years.

Just prior to beginning the training we were getting prepared and in walks Sean Penn. I introduced myself to him, shook his hand, and just like that he was gone. He had a bit of an entourage with him, so I didn't get a picture with him. After speaking with a few of the locals, they had no idea who Sean Penn was.

The training was focused on educating community members on earthquakes and why they happen. Most Haitians don't understand plate tectonics and simply believe that the earthquake was sent to Haiti as a punishment from God. We went through a simple slide show of plate tectonics, showed a short video, and then went on to discuss tsunamis. We showed a video clip of the Aceh tsunami damage that took place in Indonesia a few years ago. As we showed video of rivers of debris (cars, trees, houses, etc) rushing by, it was quickly evident that many of these people had no knowledge that natural disasters of this magnitude happend in another place. Many looked in horror at the images before them. As I looked into their eyes I could tell that they would not trade their circumstances with someone else, even considering all that they had been through the last few years.

It was interesting to speak with a few Haitians about where they were during the earthquake. The stories of survival are remarkable. With Port-au-Prince lossing approximately one-tenth of its population, everyone was impacted and knew someone that lost their life in the earthquake. Yet the people still push on and it is a great thing to be a part of.