Riche Zamor, a Boston man who serves as president of the University of Fondwa tells the Reporter today that the school's facilities have been completely destroyed.

Boston transplant Rich Innocent relays a tale of survival, teamwork among the people of Delmas
Richardson Innocent: Proud Bostonian, Haitian now searching for survivors in DelmasFor the third consecutive night, Richardson Innocent will rest his head tonight underneath a tree in Delmas, a neighborhood of Port-au-Prince. There’s a machete and a chisel close by his side. Clustered around him is his cousin, Norton, and a frightened family he has known for only a few weeks.
All over the neighborhood, a rumor has spread that another aftershock is coming tonight at midnight. No one will sleep indoors for fear of being entombed in rubble like so many others all around them if another one hits.
Innocent, 36, isn’t sure what to think any more. A longtime Boston resident who just moved back to his native Haiti last month, he’s not the superstitious type. But, after the events of the last 60 hours, he’s not taking any chances. He and a group of nine others will sleep under the tree tonight, far enough away from a nearby house, one of the few still standing in Delmas 35.
In the morning, Richardson and his cousin will rise early and hit the streets of this community on the outskirts of Haiti’s destroyed capitol city. They will spend their daylight hours searching for survivors and for supplies to help feed their friends and neighbors.
Every able-bodied person in the neighborhood is doing their part. Without any discernable help from the outside world — there are no rescue teams, no soldiers, no heavy equipment in Delmas yet— Haitians are helping Haitians.

Congressman Stephen F. Lynch along with Brockton Mayor Linda Balzotti will be hosting a community meeting and information session on rescue and relief operations underway following the earthquake in Haiti. Representatives from the United States Coast Guard, the U.S. Citizen and Immigration Services and other federal agencies will be available to give updates on the current situation and offer information to those who have been impacted by the earthquake and have family or loved ones living or travelling in Haiti.

WHEN: Sunday, January 17, 2010

The White House has released a transcript of President Obama's latest remarks on the situation in Haiti, made today in the White House just after 1 p.m.

A coalition of organizations from across Boston are joining forces to raise funds for Haiti's relief effort on Saturday, Jan. 16 in Roxbury's Dudley Square. Billed as a "collaborative earthquake relief effort", organizers say that funds and items collected at the event will go to the American Red Cross, Partners in Health and The Boston Foundation. The event, set to run from 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. at Hibernian Hall, 184 Dudley St., will include a speaking program and entertainment. For more information on supporting the event, contact Nancy Rosseau at miss_rousseau@yahoo.com.

Updated: Thurs., Jan. 28 — An emergency resource center set up to assist the families of earthquake victims and survivors will continue to offer assistance for two more weeks, according to officials who run the operation. It is now located at the Mattapan branch library on Blue Hill Avenue. The center, coordinated by staff from the union and the Boston Public Health Commission, has been helping Haitian Americans connect to relatives and other services. The new number for the center is 617-593-0363.
Beginning next week, the City of Boston's Referral and Support Center will continue to operate out of the Mattapan Public Library at the following times:
Tuesdays: 2:00-7:00 pm
Thursdays: 2:00-6:00 pm
Saturdays 12:00-5:00 pm
Attorneys and mental health counselors will continue to be available during these hours.
Call (617) 593-0363 for more information.

Emily Rooney discusses the aftermath of the earthquake on her radio program on WGBH 89.7 on Wednesday. Go to WGBH to see a preview of a special documentary "Egalité for All", about The Haitian Revolution (1791–1803) and Toussaint Louverture (1743–1803), which will air on PBS stations locally on Friday, Jan. 15.

Rev. Richard ButlerThe Reporter has made contact with Fr. Richard J. Butler, a Boston Archdiocesan priest who arrived in Haiti on Tuesday, just hours before the quake. Butler, a senior priest at St. Mary of the Assumption in Brookline, was traveling to a Boston-affiliated hospital— St. Boniface— in the southern town of Fond des Blanc when the earthquake hit.

In an e-mail today he reports the following:

"We arrived Tuesday at 1:30 at Port au Prince and were almost at Fond des Blancs when the earthquake occurred. Thank God as we arrived at the St. Boniface Hospital the damage was minor. We quickly heard how severe was the damage elsewhere.
"We have had continuing tremors and are staying alert but we are safe."

Western Union, the money transfer company, has begun offering "no fee" money transfers to Haiti today, the company tells the Haitian Reporter. The company says the offer is good on "any amount sent to Haiti from the United States, Canada and France... for a period of seven days, once service is reestablished throughout the country, when sending money to Haiti from the U.S., Canada and in France, in cooperation with our Agents."