Kent-Meridian student watches homeland of Haiti recovering from quake

For many people, the images of devastation from the earthquake in Haiti are those of a far-off nation crumbling and in need of immediate aid.

But for Kent-Meridian High School junior Viliana Apollon, who grew up in a suburb of the Haitian capital of Port-Au-Prince, those pictures hit home, literally.

“It was really bad watching it,” Apollon said of the news footage after the quake. “Every time I see it I feel like crying.”

“We keep thinking it could have been one of us,” she added of her brothers and sisters.

Fortunately, Apollon’s family is all safe and alive, but in the hours after the quake hit, Apollon and her family were left waiting and wondering about their relatives.

Apollon, 17, moved to the U.S. in 2006, after spending most of her life in Haiti, though she still has many aunts, uncles and cousins living on the island.

“I live in Port-Au-prince my whole life,” she said.

Apollon first heard about the quake from a cousin who is going to school in the Dominican Republic, the nation that shares the Island of Hispaniola with Haiti. Her cousin had not yet heard from her mother and was concerned, wondering if Apollon or her family had heard anything.

At home, Apollon said she and her mother watched the news footage of the area, but the destruction was almost too much for her.

“My mom started crying when she saw the people dying,” she said.

When they first saw footage of the nation’s collapsed presidential palace, Apollon said she was “shocked” and worried because her aunt lives in a neighborhood close by.

“My mom was like ‘If the palace is like that, what about the houses?'” she said.

Another shot showed the school she used to attend – and the hospital attached to it – leveled by the quake

Thankfully, on Friday, three days after the quake hit, the family finally got word that everyone was alive and safe, though some family members had homes affected by the disaster.

“That was a relief to hear,” she said. “They are all OK.”

However, because of the aftershocks and the damage around them, Apollon said her family members are sleeping on top of the home, instead of inside, for fear another tremor might bring down the building.

Apollon said when she would visit in the summer, she and her cousins would often sleep on the roof for a night or two for fun, but she did not expect to hear of the whole family staying up there for safety.

But though they survived safely, the ensuing week has been difficult as even the necessities of life are difficult to come by, even for those with means.

“For them, it’s been really hard for food and water,” Apollon said. “They have the money, but there’s nowhere to buy.”

Apollon said her aunt told her Thursday night that the family is staying together and doing a lot of praying.

On top of that, the lack of plumbing and refrigeration, combined with the rubble of the capital city, is creating other, less dangerous problems as well.

“My aunt says it’s really smelly,” she said.

Apollon said her mother, who declined to be interviewed, is very upset by the images of her homeland and said she knows it is difficult for her to see, so she can only imagine what it’s like for her mother. In addition, Apollon said her family is trying to shield her younger siblings from seeing too much of the damage and the destruction because it is not healthy for them.

Apollon said if anything good came of this, it is that people who were unaware of the nation’s plight are seeing Haiti for the first time and contributing money that can help not only rebuild the nation better than before, but begin to lift it out of the poverty in which it seems to be mired.

“I know it’s not going to – boom – get better,” she said. “It’s going to take a long time.”

She added, “keep the help coming. They don’t just need it now.”