Thursday’s (1/14) Duluth News-Tribune (Minnesota) reports, “Waiting to learn the fate of family members missing in Haiti after Tuesday’s earthquake has been an ordeal, but Jean ‘Rudy’ Perrault received good news this morning—his mother, father and one uncle have been found safe. Another uncle still is unaccounted for. ‘I’m still waiting to hear from a lot of other friends,’ Perrault, a Haiti native who teaches music at the University of Minnesota Duluth, said.” In addition to teaching violin/viola and leading the orchestra program at UMD, Perrault taught at the Holy Trinity Music School in Port-au-Prince, which was destroyed in the earthquake. “After the quake, Perrault reached a sister who lives above Port-au-Prince, which had been devastated by the quake. But he didn’t know the fate of other family members until shortly before 11 a.m. today, when he talked to his mother. … Perrault’s mother was attending a church meeting when the earthquake hit. The old, historic building collapsed after perhaps 20 seconds. ‘She kept her cool and actually organized all the efforts to get everybody out the building,’ Perrault said. … On Wednesday she returned to her house and met her daughter, who had walked into Port-au-Prince looking for her mother. The women were unable to reach Perrault to give him the happy news until today.”
There are several ways to support Haitian relief efforts. Here are three: you may make donations through Partners In Health or Doctors Without Borders, or use your cell phone to text “Yele” to 501501 to automatically donate $5 to the Yele Haiti Earthquake Fund.
Posted January 15, 2010
