This report was written by Hatchet reporter Katherine Pineda
Members of the GW community gathered in the Marvin Center Wednesday afternoon to commemorate the one-year anniversary of the devastating earthquake in Haiti and to serve as a reminder that work still needs to be done in the third-world country.
Following the earthquake last January, which left more than 600,000 people dead or injured, and 1 million people homeless, doctors from the Medical Center traveled to Haiti to help rescue people trapped under debris.
The University has been providing support to the decimated country, hosting conferences about how to rebuild Haiti’s infrastructure and education system, and working with the country’s first lady Elisabeth Preval, an alumna.
University President Steven Knapp praised the GW community for its response to the earthquake, but said GW’s work is not done.
“We knew our response was going to have to be a multi-year effort,” Knapp said.
With students in Haiti taking classes in tents, and only a small fraction of the ruble cleared, the ceremony stressed the need to remember the devastation a year later and for years to come.
Freshman Karl Delatour was studying in his home in Port-au-Prince when the earthquake shook his city.
“I was unquestionably sure that this was the end of the world,” Delatour said.
Delatour spoke of the devastating human losses and the massive amounts of infrastructure damage as well as rubble left in the city streets.
He offered solutions through the decentralization of the overpopulated capital and reinforcement of public institutions during crisis response.
Delatour stressed that education will be essential in fostering effective Haitian leaders.
Lt. Paul Shirky who was serving as an engineer officer on a ship that happened to be near Haiti on the day of the disaster, arrived to Port-au-Prince the afternoon after the earthquake.
“What we found was an endless stream of wounded,” Shirky said.
Shirky and his colleagues witnessed first hand the devastation.
“There is only one identity that matters and that is we are members of a human family,” Shirky said.
