Stories from the field
Haiti Diary: Sophie Chavanel
In memory of Moïse Henri
Port-au-Prince, March 3, 2011
I’ve had a cruel reminder that life is so fragile. My friend and colleague, Moïse Henri, has died at the age of 30. I still can’t believe it. It seems like at any moment, he will pop his head through the doorway and tell me that it was only a bad joke. I even know what he would say: "Everything will be alright, little Sophie." He always called me little one.
Moïse wore his heart on his sleeve and was always willing to do everything he could to help everyone. I remember after a lightning storm last September, when we had arrived at a camp where the Red Cross was replacing tents and plastic sheeting for families Moïse immediately began helping families set up their tents.
Over the last few months, I spent hours upon hours with Moïse traveling across the country in a car. He would laugh at me when we took shortcuts because it would make me carsick. He’d say: "Hold on, little one!" Oh, the hours we’ve spent stuck in traffic talking over everything and nothing without noticing time go by. We would talk nonsense that would send us into fits of giggles as much as we would have real conversations about our hopes, our ambitions, our fears, and our dreams.
Moïse wanted to go to the United States. He wanted to study architecture. He worked so hard towards his goal all while taking care of his mother and sisters. He saved what little was left over from his modest wages as a driver for this dream, which will now never be realized...
Moïse used to say that he had this name (Moses) because he was a lucky man. When the earthquake hit, he was standing near a concrete building that collapsed. His friend pushed him out of the way, Moïse survived, but his friend died immediately. He used to say that he was a lucky man; today, I think that I’m the one who is lucky to have had the chance to have him in my life.
As I write, I constantly erase and start over. I’m used to writing; it’s my profession. But for this, there are no words. No words seem good enough with which to honour his memory so I apologize.
I miss him...
“On January 12, 2010, the earth shook violently Haiti. I sat in the newsroom of Radio-Canada in Montreal when I heard the news. The days and weeks that followed were full of extremely strong emotions when I saw, like you, the images of a country of rubble. I then made a decision. I didn’t just want to report the events, I wanted to be there. I then started a new journey as a delegate of the Red Cross.” – Sophie Chavanel, Canadian Red Cross delegate, Haiti.
Sophie Chavanel is the senior communications coordinator for the Canadian Red Cross in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Sophie is a former journalist and joined the Red Cross team in Haiti in August 2010, where she will remain for 12 months. Follow her activities through her field diary below or on twitter at http://twitter.com/SophieChavanel.
