 "Photo: Chris Ripley")
 "Photo: photo courtesy of Craig Centrie")
It was day twelve of the new decade, and the nation of Haiti was hit by what could be one of the ten deadliest earthquakes ever recorded.
The 7.0 magnitude quake devastated the capital city, Port Au Prince, killing as many as 200,000 people. Haitian authorities estimate that roughly three-quarters of the city will need to be rebuilt.
With roughly 3,000 Americans still unaccounted for in Haiti, as well as 1,400 Canadians, the impacts of this disaster are proving to be tremendous both near and far. Virtually every developed nation is contributing what they can to the global relief effort.
Dr. Craig Centrie, an associate professor in the Education Department at Medaille, spent the first 12 years of his life in Haiti.
“I was born very near Port Au Prince,” said Centrie. “As a child, I had been there for 12 years. As an adult, I had been back and stayed there for two-and-a-half to three years… and I did keep my own little residence there in the 1980s. There have been innumerable long summers during my adulthood when I went back and stayed.”
According to Centrie, as of January 20 it was impossible to know for a fact just how many of his friends or family members have been affected by this tragedy.
“I have no immediate family there anymore; everyone left back in the 60s and 70s. For sure there must be extended family… but it’s virtually impossible to get through to anybody to find out,” he said.
“The country, as I understand it… its infrastructure is gone, and its government is essentially one that is not functioning.”
“I am not aware of any specific friend or family member who has died. I have to presume though, because of the massive amount of destruction, that there has to be somebody I know who has not made it,” said Centrie.
While he does feel the emotional effects of the earthquake, Centrie also realizes that now is not the right time for anyone to be making a personal trip to the nation.
“Ever since the earthquake I have fielded maybe about three phone calls a day and several e-mails to concerned people,” he said. “They feel desperate and would very much like to go there immediately to lend a helping hand. I urge people not to even think of doing that because, since there’s no infrastructure – there’s no water, there’s no place to stay, there’s no medical help, there’s no food, there’s no electricity – if you’re not a part of an organized group, you are immediately going to become part of the problem and maybe a victim yourself.”
If the international community steps in and helps restore Haiti to a state of civil order within the next few months, Centrie plans on traveling there during the summer.
“If I can figure out a place where I can stay, I would go during the summer for at least a couple of weeks just to track down some people and some old neighbors,” he said, “…to see if there’s anything I can do from here and what I might be able to do immediately.”
However, Centrie thinks that chances of Haiti being restored to order in such a short period of time are slim.
“The president has no place to live. A number of parliamentarians have died, crushed in collapsing buildings. This is going to be a really terrible thing to overcome, and to be honest, I’m not especially hopeful that anything like this could possibly turn around in years,” he said.
He also noted that the full scope of this disaster has yet to be realized by most people, pointing out that the National Museum of Haiti, which contained significant cultural and historical artifacts, was destroyed.
Prior to the earthquake, Haiti was known for being an incredibly poor country. Throughout the 21st century, rebellions and widespread violence made it difficult for governmental forces to maintain control over the population. While Centrie is unsure about how fast Haiti will be able to overcome this tragedy, he recognizes the potential for great changes.
“Now that (Haiti) has literally been torn down to the foundation, you have an opportunity to start from scratch, which means there are going to be fewer hindrances that are going to prevent changes from occurring,” he said. “If change can happen, this will be the best time to be able to do it.”
Centrie, who has made donations to the relief effort through the Red Cross, said he’s never seen as much attention focused on Haiti in his entire life as he is seeing now.
“I think it’s very good that (Haiti) is getting all of this attention. I also think that when the next global disaster occurs Haiti is going to go on the back burner. That’s a concern because I think that the problems that Haiti’s experienced are so massive that somewhere they have to remain to the forefront,” said Centrie.
“This is a very stressful story,” he said. “And as time goes by, I am anticipating hearing some really bad news.”
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