Elmont activists encourage international aid for Haiti

The international crisis in Haiti has ailed the country for years. As gang violence floods the country’s streets with chaos and disorder, Elmont residents hope to raise awareness and provide immediate enhanced aid to the Haitian people.

As of October, the United Nations Human Rights Watch reported more than 5,500 cases of gang violence, more than 3,100 killings, more than 1,000 injuries and more than 1,200 kidnappings so far this year in Haiti.

“Haiti cannot wait anymore,” said David Duchatellier, head organizer for Haiti Relief Effort. “Kids cannot go to school freely.”

For Haitian people who need to get money from relatives abroad, he said they have to wait for violence to lull before they’re able to collect their funds.

The recent violence has touched Duchatellier’s family personally — his uncle’s home south of Port-Au-Prince, Haiti was set ablaze in September.

“We have to care of not only our families in Haiti, but also here in the United States,” said Mimi Pierre-Johnson, founder of the Elmont Cultural Center.

She has heard stories of struggle within Haiti. In a Catholic school there, Pierre-Johnson said children have been confined without food as gangs have barred them from leaving the school. Families in the region face a similar reality, living in fear of when a gang might decide to strike.

Haiti Relief Effort has worked to provide aid to the country since 2008 when the group heard that Haitian children were eating “dirt cookies.” After the 2010 earthquake, the group registered as a nonprofit organization and sent close to 400 pounds of goods and materials to Haiti. Duchatellier is hopeful that the Haitian people will see a resurgence of relief from the international community, similar to what was provided after the 2010 earthquake.

The nonprofit has provided medical aid to Haiti for years now, Duchatellier said the group but has not been able to go since 2019 because of the violence. Other nonprofit international groups that provide aid have also not been able to provide medical aid in the area for the same reason.

Since 2010, gang violence in Haiti has grown. In 2021, former Haitian president Jovenel Moïse was assassinated and the situation has only grown increasingly dire.

“This is a national security issue,” County Legislator Carriè Solages said. “If we have a power vacuum and complete chaos in Haiti, that creates an unfortunate and very dangerous situations that may affect the United States.”

The U.S. State Department has issued travel advisories to advise travelers to proceed with caution if traveling to Haiti because of the violence.

To support the delivery of aid and raise awareness about the crisis in Haiti, community members are encouraged to take part in a rally scheduled for Oct. 21 between noon and 5 p.m. The march will take place rain or shine, and will begin at the intersection of Dutch Broadway and Corona Avenue in Valley Stream and culminate at the Dutch Broadway Sports Complex Park in Elmont.

Rally attendees are encouraged to bring Haitian and American flags to the rally in support of international aid efforts to the region.

“Let’s get together for Haiti,” Duchatellier said. “For the kids of Haiti, so they can go to school. For the people in Haiti, so they can move freely.”