One and half year since godou-godou*

JEN Staff(J): Hello, could you introduce yourself?

B:Hello, My name is Virgille Borlande. I was born in 28th of September in 1983. I live in Petion Ville.

J: Where were you when the earthquake hit? and what did you do after it happened?

B:When it happened, I was at home with my 2 sisters. They were on the first floor and I was on the 2nd.
I was jumping around from a roof to other roof.
One sister left the house immediately. But another finally came out right before the house collapsed by the aftershocks.
When the house collapsed, luckily all 3 of us were 30-40 minutes away that saved our lives.
None of us have never experienced this big earthquake, but I remember hearing odd sound.

J:What do you remember most during the earthquake was happening?

B:Got out of the house, I was jomping from the house to another, I saw the scene in front of me was also jumping.

J:What do you remember about your neighborhood right after the earthquake?

B:People were screaming and trying to figure out their loved ones safety.
Even before the aftershocks hit, houses were collapsing, but the number increased after the aftershocks.
I also saw people crying as calling the names of their loved ones who didn't survive.
The first thing I felt was fear. I couldn't know what was happening.
Then I realized that there were people buried under the debris and so many victims.
I felt the night came early while people were walking around to find survivors.
I was in a big shock that I didn't know what to do.
The only thing I was thinking was if my sisters evacuated the house safe.
So I was asking around if they know whereabouts of them.
I felt a big relieve when I met them. Then I started calling my relatives.

J: Was the phone line still working?

B:Yes, it started working 1 hour after the earthquake.

J:Did any of your friends get affected by this earthquake?

B:Yes, I used to work as a mechanic in Jakmel. My cousin who was the manager in the office and his 17 years old son were killed.

J:Where did you spend the night right after the earthquake?

B:Spent a night with many people at the soccer stadium.
It's not like everyone was alone there, but also we didn't form groups either.
People come and go all night. Aftershocks was still going on, everytime it happens, people got panicked. There are people crying or call for God.

J:Did you see any robbery?

B:While the earthquake still kept happning, I couldn't care if its happening or what. I was in a fear wondering why the earthquake was happening
But, after a few days later, I noticed some of our belongings were missing. Probably that was when robberry started happening.

J:Did you actually saw any robberies?

B:No, I didn't get to see them since I was at the soccer stadium. But sure some stuffs were missing from my house.

J:What do you think Haiti will be like in the future?

B:Well, things goes very slow and bit by bit.
They need to give us some relives through any temporary event since we are still in fear.
I still feel the fear everytime I hear the noise which reminds me of the massive earthquake.
When it comes to reconstruction of this country, it only works through the international organizations at the moment. I assume reconstruction is to take time.

*godou-godou >> the onomatopoeic Haitian word for earthquake