Haïti – Séisme : Reprise des activités dans les maisons de transfert et dans les banques

Ce jeudi, on observe une réouverture timide des maisons de transfert et des banques, neuf jours après le violent séisme qui a ravagé Port-au-Prince et d’autres régions du pays. De longues files s’étirent.

Une maison de transfert s’ouvre et c’est la cohue. Après le séisme, les proches de l’étranger s’empressent d’envoyer de l’argent pour soulager leurs proches en Haïti. Ces derniers courent à la recherche de la moindre maison de transfert pour récupérer cette manne.

Les salles d’accueil de ces maisons de commerce sont insuffisantes pour les contenir.

Fermées en raison du séisme dévastateur, certaines banques de la capitale s’activent aussi a relancer leurs opérations.

La banque centrale a rouvert partiellement avec des guichets d’urgence. Ce qui attire la grande foule. Parallèlement, l’association privée des banques annonce la reprise partielle de leurs activités en accordant des montants fixes à tous les clients : ces derniers peuvent tirer au maximum 100 000 gourdes ou 2 500 dollars américains.

Haïti-Séisme : Un centre d’appel international au stade Sylvio Cator

Telecom Sans Frontières, un centre international de Télécommunication établi 2 jours après le séisme en Haïti, permet à des centaines de personnes de la zone métropolitaine de communiquer avec leurs proches.

« Nous permettons aux gens de passer gratuitement des appels pour communiquer avec leurs proches en Haïti ou à l’étranger », indique Thony Nhoro, l’un des responsables de Telecom sans frontières rencontré mercredi au Stade Sylvio Cator.

Une longue file s’étirerait devant un poste placé à l’entrée du stade, la plupart des appelants voulant communiquer avec un proche à l’étranger pour donner de ses nouvelles, de dire que tout va bien, ou demander de remplir au plus vite des formalités d’émigration… La plupart des gens appellent aux Etats-Unis, au Canada, quelques-uns en France, apprend-on.

« En accord avec la commission européenne, nous offrons nos services a la population haïtienne. On constitue aussi un centre de communication pour les ONG en leur facilitant l’accès à Internet », précise M. Nhoro.

Cet organisme était déjà en Haïti en 2004. Leurs membres viennent de plusieurs pays et collaborent avec les nationaux.

A noter que toutes les communications étaient tombées en panne le jour même du séisme et toute communication avec Haïti s’avérait impossible. La situation s’est améliorée depuis.

JJ/HPN

Canadian Celebs Participate in Benefit for Haiti

Some of Canada’s biggest stars including Céline Dion, James Cameron and Michael J. Fox will take part in a televised benefit for Haiti.

Film stars who will participate in Friday night’s “Canada for Haiti” benefit include Jason Reitman, Ryan Reynolds, William Shatner, Rachelle Lefevre, Joshua Jackson, Pamela Anderson, Eugene Levy, Norman Jewison, Will Arnett and Sandra Oh.

Musicians Justin Bieber, Nelly Furtado, Sarah McLachlan, Barenaked Ladies, Simple Plan and David Foster will also participate.

Hockey star Wayne Gretzky and basketball player Steve Nash will be there.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Governor General Michaëlle Jean will have special messages for Canadians.

The telethon will begin at 7 p.m. and air on CBC, Global, CTV, MuchMusic and MTV.

The U.S. is organizing a star-studded telethon of its own that will air at 8 p.m. Friday, after the Canadian telethon. Beyoncé and Madonna have been added as performers for the multi-network “Hope for Haiti Now” telethon, and Denzel Washington, Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio and former president Bill Clinton are among the participants.

A statement released Thursday said Beyoncé would perform from London, and Madonna from New York City. The list of musical performers already includes such heavyweights as Bruce Springsteen, Alicia Keys, Stevie Wonder, Taylor Swift, Justin Timberlake and Keith Urban.

The two-hour telethon will be shown on all the major networks and a host of other channels. It will be broadcast from New York, London, Los Angeles and Haiti.

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

With family alive in Haiti, Ducasse can return focus to Senior Bowl

The text messages jolted Vladimir Ducasse’s phone last Tuesday evening. The early ones told of an earthquake back in Haiti. The later ones—You and your family are in our prayers—pushed one of the country’s best collegiate offensive left tackles to action.

“I turned on the TV,” he said, “and it was right there.”

It was his hometown, and it was rubble and bodies and chaos. With a flick of the remote control, Ducasse’s All-American honors at Division I-AA Massachusetts, his NFL draft preparation, his Senior Bowl invitation all plummeted in importance.

One of this generation’s epic natural tragedies had hit Port-au-Prince, the city where Ducasse had lived his first 14 years. And as he worked out in a New Jersey gym, his father, step-mother and two of his three siblings were somewhere amid the disaster.

“When I talked to Vladimir that day, he wasn’t showing any emotion about it,” said Macarthur Ducasse, Vladimir’s older brother. “I know this is really affecting him. But he’s always been the strong one.”

Tracking the source of Vladimir Ducasse’s strength takes more than a GPS. His mother died when he was 5, and though his father’s job as an accountant for the Central Bank of Haiti gave the family a house, quality of life remained a day-to-day variable. The memories, he said, are a mix of good and scary.

Electricity would flip on and off without warning. He feared kidnappers, who would prey on the children of the few families with money in hopes for high-dollar ransoms. Later in life, Ducasse told football teammates about taking long taxi rides as an 11-year-old to go grocery shopping in one of the planet’s poorest downtowns.

“He had to run the show a little bit at a young age,” said Liam Coen, a UMass quarterback who played with Ducasse from 2005-08. “The things we could just ask of parents to do, he had to learn them to take care of his family.”

Stability was supposed to arrive when Ducasse’s father, Delinois, sent 14-year-old Vladimir and 15-year-old Macarthur to live with relatives in Connecticut. The scenery changed, and now nothing seemed normal: new people, a new language and a new game that Vladimir couldn’t escape.

The boys’ new apartment overlooked Stamford High’s football field. Vlad preferred basketball and playing goalie in soccer—he had heard of football only through a handful of television clips and Haitian friends who had visited the U.S.

But by his sophomore year, too many folks had noticed the boy well on the way to the 6-5, 330 pounds he stands today. Big boy could move, too. He caved to peer pressure and joined Stamford’s football team despite needing most basic instruction.

“It was, ‘OK, this is a mouthpiece,’ ” said Kevin Jones, Stamford’s coach. “And this is where this pad goes.”

Jones, a former assistant at Minnesota and Boston College, stayed patient. His newest, largest pupil brought the important qualities—physical gifts, a team-first attitude and a thirst for improvement. Ducasse would spend summer days lifting in Stamford’s weight room and watching tape in Jones’ office. Maybe getting better motivated him. Maybe the air conditioning beat sitting in a bedroom he shared with Macarthur and a male cousin.

Regardless, Ducasse in three years went from not knowing a first down from a touchdown to giving a verbal commitment to UMass. His lack of experience scared away big schools, though Temple tried to offer a scholarship late.

The fruits of college football, from improved weight training to more nuanced coaching, turned Ducasse into a small-school star. He started at left tackle as a sophomore, and scouts began calling after he shut down Texas Tech’s Brandon Williams during a 2008 game. Nearly every NFL team visited UMass in recent months to check out Ducasse, and experts project him as a second- or third-round pick come April.

His path to the draft starts next week in Mobile, Ala., where he’ll work against some of the nation’s best senior pass rushers in a week of practices and an exhibition game. And he’ll walk that path at peace.

Ducasse needed two days to get word from those family members in Port-au-Prince. Their house suffered structural damage and couldn’t be inhabited, but everyone had survived. More relief came this week, when Ducasse’s stepmother and his two younger siblings flew to Miami.

“It’s so good to know they are OK,” Vladimir said. “I tried to stay calm. That’s how I am. But it is easier to be calm now.”

So when he heads to Alabama, Ducasse can return all his focus to completing his incredible journey toward the NFL. He hopes to return to Haiti someday, to see his family and help rebuild.

For now, he’d rather inspire his Haitian people by getting drafted and making a pro roster. And the family reunion can take place at an NFL opener in the fall.

Dave Curtis is a writer for Sporting News. E-mail him at dcurtis@sportingnews.com.
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