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Article published August 25, 2010
FORGOTTEN HAITI Minister visits Zelie, says help still needed
ZELIENOPLE — It has been eight months since the devastating earthquake on Jan. 12 struck Haiti, killing thousands and leaving hundreds of thousands without food and shelter. The relief efforts were reported for weeks. But over the past few months that coverage has waned. However, the Rev. Lahens Sanon of Gonaives, Haiti, said the situation remains virtually the same there as in the weeks following the earthquake. People have lived in tents for eight months with no end in sight. Food is still scarce, and health care even scarcer. Sanon spoke Friday morning at the Kaufman House to the Zelienople Rotary Club about his country's plight. He thanked all Butler County Rotarians for their generous help. Don Ridgley, a former Zelienople Rotary Club president, said the Rotary Clubs in Zelienople and in Portersville-Prospect have concentrated their efforts recently to collect medical equipment such as wheelchairs and walkers. The Butler Rotary Club raised $36,000 that will enable Sanon to rebuild his school. Sanon plans to use a part of that new building as a medical treatment facility. He hopes to begin that building project as soon as he returns to Haiti. Haiti, a Caribbean country, occupies the western part of the island of Hispaniola along with the Dominican Republic. The total area of Haiti is about 10,700 square miles. Previous hurricanes had damaged Haiti, but when the earthquake hit in January, much of the country was either damaged or destroyed, he said. "How are these people going to make it through every day, I don't know. But, we still have people walking around and somehow making a living. There are good, strong people that live there. They shouldn't even be alive," Sanon said. Although millions of dollars have been donated to the island, he lamented nobody knows where it goes. Worse yet, Sanon said, he still does not see a plan from government leaders to restore and rebuild Haiti. Sanon has a long relationship with the county's Rotary clubs. Sponsored by the Rotary, he first came to this area about 20 years ago for training and to attend mechanic school. He came to learn English, and then he went into the ministry. Sanon's two children, Mary Linda and Enock, both live in this area to get an education. Mary Linda is in the Seneca Valley School District and lives with a family in Evans City. Enock lives in the New Castle Rescue Mission and hopes to attend college soon. Sanon founded the church in Gonaives, Haiti, and started a school for elementary and middle school-aged students. Since 1997, he has operated the church and a school that has about 150 students. Years before the earthquake, the Portersville-Prospect Rotary Club helped Sanon buy a bus for the children to get to school. Sanon said children come to school hungry, and when the school is able to get food, it might be the only meal the students have until the next day of school. Some children fail to go to school because they don't have clothes or shoes. Despite those kinds of conditions, Sanon said the school has had successes. Of this year's sixth grade class of 14 children, 100 percent passed Haiti's official proficiency examinations. "How are we going to rebuild Haiti? I don't know. I am praying and hoping there is a way, and that God will help us," Sanon said. "With God, we will have victory. With God, we will overcome."
