My name is Emmanuel Louijeune. I’m a citizen of Haiti and I’m majoring in civil engineering. Recently my country has encountered a tragic devastation due to an earthquake of 7.0 magnitudes. I thank God that my close family was not hit by death, but they suffered a lot of physical damages. I’ve lost many friends that were close to me. One of my friends, Beroti, lost her life with her baby brother under the house where we shared our childhood. The disaster killed thousands of people, men, women and children. Many of the survivors are critically injured; the population is living on the street, including many adolescents that are now orphans. In the midst of all these tragic dilemmas I thank all of those who generously decide to join their hands to help. Like the Haitian parable says, ‘men anpil chay pa lou,’ which means, ‘more hands, less weight.’ I thank Syracuse University for its contributions to the Haitian relief effort. I thank all the organizations and individuals who are participating in making a change in the life of my Haitian brothers and sisters who hopelessly need help. I thank the Step Center for its response to the disaster. They are organizing a drive for health hygiene kits, which each contain a hand towel, washcloth, wide-toothed comb, nail clipper, bar of soap, toothbrush, 6 Band-Aids and gallon-size plastic zipper bags. Any of these items can be dropped off at Hendricks Chapel’s dean’s office from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day until March 6. On March 6 at noon you are invited to come to Hendricks Chapel’s Noble Room to help assemble the kits that will be mailed to Haiti. I hope many will come to the town meeting sponsored by SU’s Haitian American Students Association at 6:30 p.m. tonight in Huntington Beard Crouse Hall’s Gifford Auditorium. The job is immense and your help is the solution. Please continue.

Thank you and God bless you,

Emmanuel Louijeune

Freshman civil engineering major