LI Haitians look back, one month after quake

It's been one month since an earthquake wracked the island nation of Haiti. One month since Acelus Etienne, at Radio Éclair in West Hempstead, tried to determine what had happened to one of his station's reporters in Haiti. One month since Yolette David found herself juggling a business, unanswered calls to family and a local effort to aid survivors. During that month, a lot has happened to both:Yesterday, the telephone at Myoda Salon International in Central Islip barely had time to trill before 15-year-old Christelle Lafortune picked it up.

It was a small thing, and yet it was a big thing.

Lafortune was at her father's house in Delmas, Haiti on Jan. 12, eating an afternoon meal of chicken, potatoes and salad when, she recalled, "I heard movement."

Lafortune stayed where she was for a moment, then dropped her plate and moved. The wall in her yard collapsed, covering the place where she had been seated.

"I don't know why, but I am alive," she said Saturday as her mother, Yolette David, stood by. "Sometimes I cry," she said. "I will watch CNN or I will hear something that reminds me, and I cry."

When the earthquake hit, David did not know where Christelle was, nor whether she was alive. But after reading about her plight, and about David's determination to get aid to her native Haiti, people began to call. "Then, I got word that her name was on a survivors' list."

Christelle and her father made their way from Delmas to the airport at Port-au-Prince. And then to a military plane, which took them to Florida. From there, they flew to New York.

Christelle is now living with her mom in Central Islip, where she hopes to enroll in the local high school. She said she's looking forward to the possibility of picking up her favorite subjects, English and social studies, and her favorite activity, cheerleading.

She keeps up with her friends online - which is where she also learned that her favorite math teacher, Mr. Marc, had died in the quake.

"Sometimes I look at the stars and I pray to God," the teenager said Saturday, "for Haiti to get some relief."

Meanwhile, David continues collecting supplies for shipment to Haiti. The stack of boxes of toothpaste and other toiletries in the shop Saturday is going to be part of the last shipment this month.

"Now, we turn to collecting funds," said David, who has family members still in Haiti who have no shelter. "I want to buy 500 shelters," she said, referring to tent-like structures that include bathrooms. "There is so much to be done," she said, before looking over at Christelle and simply smiling.

Acelus Etienne, minister, journalist and owner of Radio Éclair in West Hempstead, prayed Saturday for the people of Haiti. He began taking calls from listeners and praying on Friday, a national day of prayer in Haiti. And Radio Éclair will have a program of prayer Sunday.

"We will do three days," said Etienne, whose station plays Haitian Gospel music. "We are playing a lot of comforting music these days. We get a lot of people calling to pray for Haiti."

On Jan. 12, Etienne was on the telephone with a reporter in Haiti when the earthquake hit. He worried about the reporter's safety for days after, while two pastors, who have programs on the station, worried for the safety of their families, too.

Etienne, who has re-established what he called "not very solid contact" with Haiti, learned that his reporter was safe. But, he would also learn, that a second reporter, Marlene Joseph, was dead.

Meanwhile, one of Radio Éclair's ministers, Yvan Dalzon, pastor of Parusa Baptist Church in Haiti, found out that his wife and three children in Port-au-Prince were alive; while Theoma Tilus, pastor of Eglise Baptiste de Siloe Church in Central Islip, learned that his brother - despite a broken leg - was doing well.

But the news for Tilus was bittersweet.

Gratieuse Flaremat, his sister-in-law, was buried by rubble and died in the quake. Her funeral was in Haiti this week.

"We pray," Tilus said, "for God to deliver Haiti and help us with the suffering. We don't want to get involved with an earthquake like that again."