Freeport group welcomes Haiti quake survivor

For a year, Daniel Senesca has tried to focus not on what he lost in the Jan. 12, 2010, earthquake that rocked Haiti, but on what he and his native country gained: for him a new perspective on his life; and for Haiti, a renewed international interest in the island nation.

"It's a year that I would have been dead," said Senesca, 30, a former University of Haiti student who barely escaped with his life when he ran away from falling rubble in a parking garage during the quake. "I think it's the will of God that I have life."

Senesca was one of several survivors, volunteers and supporters of the quake's millions of victims who attended an event Wednesday at the Freeport offices of Haitian American Family of Long Island to pay tribute on the year anniversary of the quake, which killed about a quarter of a million people.

The event was held as a five-hour open house at the nonprofit organization, which provides food, transportation and financial support to Long Island's Haitian community.

"We need to reflect and pray and honor the dead," said Maryse Emmanuel-Garcy, co-founder of the organization. "It's also to show . . . that life can go on and that people have our support."

Emmanuel-Garcy said the event was open to the 20 or more quake victims who now live on Long Island, as well as anyone wishing to commemorate the day.

Senesca has been receiving support from the organization.

Since the earthquake, he said he has struggled with the images of dead bodies and collapsed buildings that continue to flash through his mind. When the living conditions became too challenging in Haiti, he came to Long Island in September. He lives with family members in Uniondale.

Once a theology major, Senesca has now found new interest in studying psychology. He, like many who survived the quake, still find themselves startled at the smallest sound.

Senesca said he hopes to return to Haiti but recognizes the ongoing challenges there. "People are still worried," he said. "If there has been a change, it's been for the worst. . . . We're living in doubt."