Update from Haiti: Root finds compassion at home

CORNWALL — It’s been 13 years since she left Cornwall Consolidated School (CCS) but in that time, “Nothing has changed,� Devon Root proclaimed. She meant it in a good way. After months in earthquake-torn Haiti, she was sorely in need of a homecoming. And that’s what she got recently, when she visited her alma mater.

Part of what hasn’t changed here is the compassionate nature of Cornwall people. Since the January earthquake, followed by devastating aftershocks, groups at the school have organized fundraisers to help the Haitian people. Knowing that Root was there, caring for the sick and injured, spurred them on.

In the CCS library, Root met Thursday, May 13, with third-, fourth- and fifth-graders in the Roots and Shoots program, a worldwide effort to empower youngsters to make a difference.

Their leader in Cornwall, teaching assistant Tricia Collins, explained that Root was here only for a few days. She will return to her work in Haiti, where she is a nurse in a clinic that treats pregnant women and malnourished children.

“Thank you for everything,� Root said to a crowd of youngsters in awe of this heroic person they had been hearing about for months. “I want to show you pictures of where the money you raised went. It was wonderful to feel so supported by the people in my hometown during such a difficult time.�

Since last November, Root has been in Jeremie, about 100 miles from the earthquake’s epicenter in Port-au-Prince — and now the adopted home of tens of thousands of refugees from the capital city. She plans to stay until this November, on a mission through the Connecticut-based Haitian Health Foundation.

“We’ll see what happens,� she said, alluding to the possibility that she will stay longer.

Despite a rough lifestyle, she said that, as a vegetarian, she enjoys the diet of rice and beans and tropical fruit. She glows when she speaks of “her little ones� at the clinic, and the Haitians who rise above a life that was extremely poor to begin with in a politically unsettled country.

What was once a tropical paradise is now a place of ditches filled with sewage and garbage, not enough food, and schools only for those who can pay the annual tuition of $60 (more than the average person makes in a year).

“What kind of games do the kids play?� the Cornwall children asked her.

“The kids don’t play a lot,� Root said. “They don’t really have time. They have to collect water and do a lot of work just to live.�

She told them how Haitians carry everything on their heads, which prompted the students to decide Haitians must have very flat heads.

Root mentioned that she learned the Creole spoken in Haiti.

“Say something!� someone shouted. The students were delighted to hear her French-like translations of the phrases they tossed out.

Root proceeded cautiously when speaking with the students about the earthquake and its aftermath. But the questions kept coming back to that. They were obviously concerned about the people there, and about Root’s own well-being.

Yes, she was there when the earthquake hit, she told them.

“I had just got home and was doing yoga. The house started shaking. I had no idea what it was. I thought I was going to pass out. Then glasses and things in the house started shaking. It was very quiet at first. Then there was a very loud sound, like a freight train. It didn’t last long, and when it was over, there was dead silence for about 10 seconds. Then the screaming started.�

There was only moderate damage in Jeremie. The walls of her house are now cracked. It wasn’t until she spoke with her parents, Laurie and Mike Root, back in Cornwall that she had any real idea of what had happened across the island nation.

“Did a couple of people die?� one student asked.

“A lot of people died,� Root said. “The big earthquake was very short, but there were lots of aftershocks. Just last week a small quake dropped some buildings.�

She talked about her American friend in Haiti, who was buried in her collapsed home in Port-au-Prince for 10 hours. Root was able to get through to her by cell phone, hoping for good news but discovering that  she was not OK.

“It was very scary. She and a housemate were stuck in a small space. They didn’t think they were going to live.�

As news filtered out of the capital city, the desperation of the situation took shape.

“There were no phones, TV or radio for a few days. The airport was closed. The roads were destroyed. All the food, medical supplies, everything we need to live, comes from Port-au-Prince. We knew it was only a matter of time before we would run out.�

Within a few days, refugees started to arrive, by boat and on mountain roads, injured and not having eaten for days. The 50,000-person population of Jeremie swelled to 120,000.

“Food and water were handed out on the wharf. The Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts were a big part of the relief effort. They gave out food, helped carry the injured and took care of children who arrived with no parents.�

Remarkably, no tent village has grown out of the influx. Every refugee was taken into the already cramped homes of Jeremie residents. And while Haitians are always hungry, Root said, they are determined to survive. Bundles of clothing or food collected from relief efforts are given to people to sell, offering them a way to make a living and to stimulate the economy.

Root showed the children photos of the hygiene kits assembled by the foundation. It’s easy to take for granted essentials such as soap and toothpaste, she said — until you can’t get any.

Collins asked what people here can do now. Collections of money, clothing and supplies are good, Root said.

“There has never been any mail in Haiti. The only way supplies arrive are by container ship or with visitors. It’s three or four months between ships. There is one being loaded in Connecticut now that will arrive in July.�

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