Special print edition of BHR now available

Earthquake edition: Will be published on Jan. 21The Boston Haitian Reporter has published a special print edition of our newspaper that is now being circulated throughout Greater Boston's Haitian-American community. It is also available as a PDF version for online readers. This special edition includes news articles and photographs documenting the Jan. 12th earthquake and the week-long struggle for survival that followed. It also includes a section "Voices from Boston" devoted to the reaction of Boston's Haitian community with more than 20 contributors, including Steve Desrosiers, Yolette Ibokette, Elizabeth St. Victor, Riché Zamor, Sr., Joseph Chery, State Rep. Marie St. Fleur and State Rep. Linda Dorcena Forry, Max Clermont, Michaelle Raphael, Belinda Ancion, Nancy Rousseau, Joelle Jean-Fontaine, NECN's Scot Yount, Jacques Jean, Fafa Girault, and Bill Forry. The edition features an exclusive diary of Richardson Innocent, a former BHR staffer who survived last Tuesday's devastating earthquake while visiting friends in Delmas, Port-au-Prince. Innocent has been relaying daily accounts of his experiences in Haiti's capitol and the outskirts to the Reporter's newsroom. The Boston Haitian Reporter, founded in 2001, is published monthly and circulated in Greater Boston. It is a publication of Boston Neighborhood News, Inc., which also publishes the Dorchester Reporter, Mattapan Reporter and Boston Irish Reporter newspapers. For another vantage point on the last week's response in Boston's Haitian community, see this article in the Boston Phoenix.

In Cabaret, Haiti: Another day, another earthquake

Richardson Innocent: Former Reporter staffer relays the latest news from Haiti.Wednesday, Jan. 20 — This morning, at roughly 6 a.m., Haiti was jolted for ten seconds by another earthquake measuring 6.1. Richardson Innocent, in Cabaret, tells me that he is fine. A wall just collapsed behind the house where he is staying with relatives. No one in the village seems to be hurt. “We were on the porch. Everyone was up anyway so we all just went out to the street,” he said. “We’re up with the sunrise here at 4, 5 o’clock. No one sleeps inside right now, so when the sun comes up, everyone’s awake and going to work.” “I’m going to try and see if I can help somehow,” Rich says. Earlier coverage of the BHR's Richardson Innocent's experiences in Haiti since Jan. 12: Rich Innocent, now safely in Cabaret, re-visits Port-au-Prince In Delmas, it's Haitians helping Haitians with no sign yet of outside help

WGBH-2 will air Hope for Haiti telethon on Friday

WGBH joins stations across the globe in airing Hope for Haiti Now, the benefit/telethon hosted by George Clooney, Wyclef Jean and CNN's Anderson Cooper, on Friday, January 22 from 8-10pm on WGBH 2/HD. Hope for Haiti Now features performances and celebrity appearances, as well as live news reports from CNN. All donations directly benefit Oxfam America, Partners in Health, Red Cross, UNICEF and Jean's Yele Haiti Foundation.

Eyewitness: Boston man evacuated from earthquake zone

Escape from Port-au-Prince: Patrick Jean Louis was among the Americans who were evacuated from Haiti aboard a U.S. military cargo plane on Saturday.On Tuesday January 12, Patrick Jean-Louis arrived in Haiti for the first time in seven years. Besides visiting family, Jean-Louis — who works at Roxbury Community College —had heard that Haiti’s economic situation “was moving in the right direction, so [he] went to see that.” On the afternoon of his arrival, the 7.0 earthquake struck the two-floor building in Belleville where he, his uncle, and cousin were visiting. Jean-Louis asked his uncle, “What is that? It felt as though it was coming towards us.” His uncle replied that it was an earthquake. Jean-Louis ran down from the second floor and out the door. “It wasn’t easy getting out the house – the stairs were shaking.” There were smaller, nearby homes that collapsed but Jean Louis reports that the larger buildings in the area, including the one he’d quickly left, were intact.

"Certain" Haitian orphans cleared to enter United States

The Obama administration today has announced it will allow "certain" orphaned Haitian children to come to the U.S. where families are waiting to adopt them. The Miami Herald provides a full report here. The press release, sent to the Reporter by the Department of Homeland Security is below: SECRETARY NAPOLITANO ANNOUNCES HUMANITARIAN PAROLE POLICY FOR CERTAIN HAITIAN ORPHANS

Today! Artists unite to benefit Haitian relief in Roxbury

The Massachusetts Haitian American Earthquake Task Force is teaming up with local artists, gospel choirs, and special guests from across the nation to launch a major fundraising effort this Sunday, Jan. 24 to benefit organizations working to support victims of the January earthquake in Haiti. The program will be staged from 3-9 p.m. at Madison Park High School , 75 Malcom X Boulevard , Roxbury.

Helping kids cope during crisis: What do we tell them?

“Will we have an earthquake in Cambridge?” That’s one of the questions my students asked during a discussion about the earthquake. You can bet that in numerous schools and households throughout the country, the same question is being asked. It’s important that adults address children’s concerns during this difficult time. Here are some suggestions from Dr. David Fassler, a child and adolescent psychiatrist practicing in Vermont.

Help needed! Translate messages from victims for emergency responders

The Center for Future Civic Media at MIT has reached out the BHR and our staff and readers for help with a new database intended to help get emergency responders to Haiti's earthquake victims. A new text/SMS code — 4636— is being employed in Haiti to help coordinate emergency response to those in need. We are asking all of our Creole-English speaking readers to help with this effort ASAP. Please follow the directions carefully. Here is a brief backgrounder from Christopher Csikszentmihalyi, who is directing MIT's efforts on the project:

Update: BHR's Rich Innocent now in Cabaret, north of Port-au-Prince

The Boston Haitian Reporter's Richardson Innocent has left the Delmas section of Port-au-Prince and is now in Cabaret, a town north of Haiti's capitol where the situation is considerably less dire. The Reporter spoke to Innocent on Sunday afternoon just before 3 p.m. We had last talked with him on Thursday when he was still in Delmas.

A troubling call from Les Cayes

(2:20 p.m.)- Our newsroom just received a call from Renel Louis Jean, 22, who is in Au Cayes and is desperately looking for help. He has left Port-au-Prince, where he was when the earthquake hit, with a group of survivors. His says mother Alourdes Pierre and his father, Jeanty Louis Jean, were killed in the earthquake and have been buried in Carrefour, just outside Port-au-Prince, where he is from. “They are still picking up bodies from the streets,” he said. “We are not getting any help.” Les Cayes is located several hours away from Haiti's capitol.

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