Remembering Haiti's dead

By Tom Tracy - Florida Catholic

Photographer: TOM TRACY | FC

Nadege Charles, left, a parishioner at Notre Dame d'Haiti Mission in Miami and a reporter for The Miami Herald, collects information Oct. 17, during a parish revival event at Notre Dame d'Haiti, for The Miami Herald's Haiti Memorial Database project, which provides survivors a place to register love ones� names, photos, and memories.

MIAMI � As thousands gathered to kick off a spiritual revival week at Notre Dame d�Haiti Church, Nadege Charles, a parishioner and local print journalist, searched for family or friends of Haiti earthquake victims.

Charles, a reporter for The Miami Herald, joined other volunteers who staffed an information booth Oct. 17 promoting a cyber project called the Haiti Memorial Database.

Volunteers at the newspaper hope to fill an information void following the Jan. 12 earthquake by gathering names of all those killed in the disaster and honoring their memory. Internet users can find the project online and enter names of earthquake victims, upload photos or write messages in memoriam to loved ones. Names are being collected by Herald staff in Haiti, as well as through Facebook.

Photographer: TOM TRACY | FC

Nancy San Martin, assistant world editor for Latin America at The Miami Herald, explains the newspaper's Haiti Memorial Database project while helping collect names during the Jericho revival Oct. 17 at Notre Dame d'Haiti.

�I had the idea to come here to the church and I will be here several nights this week and on Sunday,� said Charles, holding paperwork with names and information about the deceased. Now in its eighth year, the Jericho revival at Notre Dame d�Haiti attracts Haitian-Americans from around south Florida and beyond, including Haiti. More than 50 earthquake fatality reports were collected in the first several hours at the church.

�I find that nine months later that loss from the earthquake is still there. One lady here told us a stepson killed in the earthquake was wrapped up in a blanket and thrown into a hole. She said, �thank you� for taking his name down because we have nothing to remember him by,� Charles said.

Although an estimated 300,000 may have perished in the earthquake, �we are finding out the names are still unknown as a lot of people are not sure if a specific person is living or dead,� Charles said, adding that she keeps a stack of memorial forms with her at all times.

Notre Dame�s pastor, Father Reginald Jean-Mary, announced the Haiti Memorial Database project to his congregation from the church pulpit Sunday. He encouraged them to participate. The announcement prompted yet more parishioners to come forward, including Joyce Jennings, who said she lost her father, sister, cousins and others in the quake.

�The problem is that the day after the quake somebody picked them up and they were taken to the mass graves outside of Port-au-Prince,� Jennings said. �They are part of my life, very important to me, and I am still in pain. But if God did this then I can�t question God,� she said.

The Miami Herald�s assistant world editor for Latin America, Nancy San Martin, is credited with the idea behind what she calls the cyber memorial � an idea which came to fruition during a newsroom brainstorming session.

Photographer: TOM TRACY | FC

A flyer at Notre Dame d'Haiti Mission in Miami announces The Miami Herald's Haiti Memorial Database project.

�We hope to project the names somewhere at the screening of our documentary film on the earthquake in order to bring some recognition to the names. (They) are not just statistics,� she said.

�Nou Bouke� (We Are Tired) is the name of the Miami Herald Media Company's first documentary film, which will air on many PBS networks Jan. 13 next year. The title comes from words scrawled on the walls of ruined buildings throughout Port-au-Prince after the earthquake. It will also premiere Jan. 12 at a cultural center in Little Haiti, Miami.

The Haiti Memorial Database can be accessed at: www.miamiherald.com/haiti/memorial/