'Praying For A Better Outcome': Haitian-American Elected Officials Gather To Pray For Those Back Home Impacted By Devastating Earthquake
MIAMI (CBSMiami) – Exactly one week to the day that the 7.2 magnitude earthquake rocked Haiti, the National Haitian American Elected Officials Network came together to pray for their home country and its people.
"Folks they don't have anywhere to sleep, aid is not getting to them, so the situation is ideally bad," said North Miami Commissioner Alix Desulme.
Desulme is also the president of NHAEON. On Saturday, the group came together to ask for divine intervention.
"The big cities are getting a lot of attention, but there are a lot of people in the out country that the aids are not getting to," he said.
Desulme said the delay in assistance can be blamed on the multiple things, including the heavy rain from Tropical Storm Grace and the fact that many roadways have been either taken over by rebels or destroyed in the earthquake.
But the groups concern goes beyond those impacted by last Saturday's events.
"Haiti has not recuperated from the 2010 earthquake," said State Rep. Marie Woodson. "Some people are still living under makeshift tents and they're fighting every day for a better quality of life."
Woodson, who migrated to the U.S. from Haiti in her 20s, says the country has been dealing with crisis after crisis for years, and it has left the people in a huge deficit.
"I understand that a lot of help is getting to Haiti, but they need so much more," she said. "And we have to move. We have to move fast. We cannot continue to be reactive, we have to be proactive.
And Woodson said the first step in being proactive is turning to God – sentiments echoed by Desulme.
"That's why we're praying. We're praying for a better outcome," said Desulme.
