hgazette.com, Haverhill, MA

Home

Related Photos

  • Jan Seeger

    khaba177

Discussion

Welcome to our online comments feature. To join the discussion, you must first register with Disqus and verify your email address. Once you do, your comments will post automatically. We welcome your thoughts and your opinions, including unpopular ones. We ask only that you keep the conversation civil and clean. We reserve the right to remove comments that are obscene, racist or abusive and statements that are false or unverifiable. Repeat offenders will be blocked. You may flag objectionable comments for review by a moderator.

comments powered by Disqus
January 13, 2010

BREAKING NEWS: Local artist searches for news on Haitian mother

By Cara Spilsbury

After a 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck Haiti on Tuesday afternoon, 10 miles west of Port-au-Prince, those with loved ones in the island nation have been scrambling to find any news about their well-being. With limited communication, scattered reports have told of unthinkable damage, death and destruction.

Haitian born Joseph Cantave, 46, lived in Haverhill from 1991 to 2007 and has a prominent spot for his artwork at Margot's Gallery on Wingate Street. He is desperately trying to get information about his 72-year-old mother, Edith.

"What's most difficult right now is getting information," Cantave said. "Most people are getting through on the internet, but the people I know are not connected to the Internet. I cannot find out anything, but from what I've heard, it's very, very bad."

Cantave has heard that the school he used to attend is heavily damaged and the magnificent cathedral he used to draw as a child has collapsed. A six-story building, just blocks from where his mother calls home, has been leveled.

The earthquake, which is the strongest quake since 1770 in what is now Haiti according to the U.S. Geological Survey, has rocked a country already struggling with poverty. The country also has no construction standards and many homes are without foundations.

"Haiti is a very, very, very poor place," he said. "This is a country that has already suffered so much. It's going to take a lot of years to recover. Haiti doesn't have the safety nets like in America. Help is difficult to find. There's no infrastructure."

Cantave, who now lives in Framingham with his brother, works as a truck driver. He has lived in the United States for over 20 years, but has visited his homeland almost every year to connect with his mother and to communicate with a flourishing community of local artists. He worries that area, too, has been destroyed.

"That place that I love, produced so many good artists," he said.

Port-au-Prince has approximately 2 million residents. About 9,000 peacekeepers have been in Haiti since 2004, including 1,266 Brazilians. It's estimated that 3 million people in Port-au-Prince and surrounding communities need emergency aid, according to the Associated Press. The total population of the country is 9 million.

Cantave was driving a truck Tuesday when the earthquake hit. He hadn't heard anything about the disaster until his sister, who lives in Cambridge, called him in a panic. Finally, he was able to access the news for himself.

"I never considered the extent of the damage," he said.

Cantave's sister immediately set off for Haiti to find their mother.

"We're a very close family," he said. "But my sister and my mother are extremely close."

Cantave hopes that in the wake of the unimaginable crisis in Haiti, hearts will open around the world in support.

"I hope people let their humanity show," he said. "What happened in Haiti can happen anywhere."

 

President Barack Obama recently urged Americans concerned about loved ones in Haiti to call the State Department at 1-888-407-4747.

Text Only | Photo Reprints
Latest News

Sports
  • 10144100ET.jpg

    Carolyn Peters of Haverhill reaches up to catch a line-drive and makes it look easy during a softball game in the Dirt The Skirt league for women over 30. The league plays at the Pines Recreation Area in Groveland.

    Local women flock to over-30 league

    What the mind wants, the body sometimes can't provide. Especially as the body ages.
    It is with this thought in mind that Dirt the Skirt, a softball league for women over 30, was founded last year.
    "Once you hit 30, the body begins to sort of break down," says Christine Sullivan Higgins of Haverhill, president and founder of DTS, who adds that several similar leagues in the area allow players under 30 to play. "It's a different game when you're not 30 or over. We want to give women the opportunity to play against an equivalent peer group."

    Continued ...
    Posted 6 days ago 1 Photo
  • Young golfers square off in Garrison Junior Tour Posted 6 days ago

Arts & Entertainment

Forum

Photos of the Week