Davenport, Iowa- Three Haitian students in the Quad City will be facing a difficult challenge when they return to their native country, which was ransacked by a strong earthquake last January.
‘’I don’t really know what will be my impression of Haiti. I know it will be hard… but I’m trying to be optimistic and prepared for that moment, ‘’ Anne-Jasmine Phanold said.
Phanold is an international student in the United States; along with Nadege Orancile and Josue Myrtil, she is preparing to come back to her native country, Haiti, a nation that was greatly shaken by earthquake on January 12th, 2010. More than 200,000 lives were victimized by this disaster.
‘’I don’t know if I will be able to recognize my community, since most of the things were destroyed,’’ Myrtil said.
As a way of trying to forget about what happened and move forward, when Myrtil, his family and friends talk on the phone, they prefer not to talk about the tragedy.
These students came to the United States in August of 2008, through a scholarship from The Cooperative Association of States for Scholarships (CASS). For almost two years, they have been studying an associate degree in business at Scott Community College. With this degree, the students will be able to get a good job in Haiti, and in some way contribute to the relief of their country.
They are putting a lot of effort into contacting nonprofit international organizations (NGOs) such as: Red Cross International, United Nations, United States Association for International Development (USAID) and others. They strongly believe these organizations will be able to help to improve lives of their families and communities.
Despite what happened, they said that they feel very happy about going back because they would see their families and friends.
‘’I’m ready to help my community as much as I can… to do volunteer work… because I know that Haiti is now trying to survive,’’ Orancile said. Orancile lives in Port-au-Prince, the area that was hit the worst. ‘’I’m proud of the courage that Haiti show during this tragedy, and I am also extremely grateful for the help that people from here and from all around the world has been giving to us.’’
The students are departing to Haiti on July 8. They will face a difficult task of adapting to a current situation and at the same time, they will do as much as they can to help their country.
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