Home > Our World > News > News Archives by Date > 2010 > February 2010 > News - February 2010
All Haiti scholarship students reported safe

 
Translate

Eds: UPDATES with expression of joy for students, plans to offer assistance.

Updated 4:00 P.M. EST Feb. 8, 2010 | NEW YORK (UMNS)

Earthquake survivors in
 Haiti seek comfort in the Bible and worship. A UMNS photo by Mike 
DuBose.
Earthquake survivors in Haiti seek comfort in the Bible and worship.
A UMNS photo by Mike DuBose.

The students are safe.

For nearly a month after the Haiti earthquake, the scholarship office at the United Methodist Board of Global Ministries tried to contact the six university students it supports there, while church officials offered prayers and expressed concern for their safety.

Now, all six students are reported to be safe. Four former scholarship students, who have since graduated, also survived the earthquake. Another former student was thought to have been in the United States at the time.

“The joy is that they are alive,” said the Rev. Chris Heckert, a board spokesperson.  “They’ve all reported in one by one, both former and current scholars.”

As of Feb. 4, five students had e-mailed the scholarship office themselves and the message about a sixth came from family connections.

But the messages also indicated that -- like many other Haitians whose homes were damaged or unsafe -- most of the students and their families were living on the streets.

While the disrupted school year remains an issue, Heckert said the agency is aware that many of the students have immediate needs, such as access to housing, shelter, food and water.

Staff members with the Board of Global Ministries and United Methodist Committee on Relief are considering both short-term and long-term plans to assist the students. “We are looking for ways to enable people to continue with their program of study,” he added.

Jose-Asnia Deriveau, 
left, and Jules Daniel Josee. UMNS photo courtesy of GBGM.
Jose-Asnia Deriveau, left, and Jules Daniel Josee. UMNS photo courtesy of GBGM.

Marie-Antoine Amos, a medical student at Université Quisqueya, is one of the students without shelter. She said that she suffered a leg injury and that her mother was struck by a vehicle.

Louis Mercier-Lamusique, who studies medicine at Université Lumiere, was not in his classroom when the Jan. 12 earthquake occurred and escaped injury. He also reported that he and his family were living in the street.

The scholarship office at Global Ministries also had received word from the family of Fabiola Chikel, a current student of pediatrics, and had heard earlier from Jose-Asnia Deriveau, Jules Daniel Josee and Jean Maxary Bourdeau.

Deriveau is studying pediatrics at the Université Notre Dame d'Haiti, and Josee is a student of business administration at the Université Quisqueya in Port-au-Prince.

Bourdeau, a medical student at the University of Notre Dame of Haiti, reported that his house fell around him, adding that his university was badly damaged. He lost several friends, including his girlfriend, whose body he helped to clear from the rubble.

The scholarship holders are recipients of International Leadership Development grants from the Board of Global Ministries. These stipends are for multiple years of graduate study in order to equip students for leadership roles in church and society.

In total, directors of the mission agency approved $1,348,000 in various scholarships for the 2009-2010 academic year.

Jennifer Severe, a former Global Ministries scholar, wrote that the situation in Haiti now is much worse than what is shown on television. She said that she had lost her strength to cry, "but I have not lost the strength to pray."

*Bloom is a UMNS writer based in New York. Additional information came from a story written by Elliott Wright for the Board of Global Ministries.

News media contact: Linda Bloom, New York, (646) 369-3759 or newsdesk@umcom.org.

Comments will be moderated. Please see our Comment Policy for more information.
Comment Policy
Add a Comment

Ask Now

This will not reach a local church, district or conference office. InfoServ* staff will answer your question, or direct it to someone who can provide information and/or resources.

Phone
(optional)

*InfoServ ( about ) is a ministry of United Methodist Communications located in Nashville, Tennessee, USA. 1-800-251-8140

Not receiving a reply?
Your Spam Blocker might not recognize our email address. Add this address to your list of approved senders.

Would you like to ask any questions about this story?ASK US NOW