2016-01-08 15:36:00

U.S. Ambassador Hackett: my memories of Haiti’s 2010 quake


(Vatican Radio)  The U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See, Kenneth Hackett, recalled the “tragic and traumatic” event of Haiti’s devastating earthquake in January 2010 that killed nearly a quarter of a million people. Speaking as Haiti marks the 6th anniversary of the quake, Ambassador Hackett said he had “very vivid, compelling and upsetting” memories of the desperate scenes in the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, shortly after the quake struck. At that time, Hackett was President of Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and it was under his leadership that the Catholic humanitarian agency mounted a huge operation in Haiti in 2010 to respond to the disaster. He spoke to Linda Bordoni about his own personal memories of Haiti’s quake and its aftermath.

Listen to the interview with U.S. Ambassador Kenneth Hackett:  

Ambassador Hackett said what was unusual about the 2010 quake in Haiti and worsened the scope of the disaster was that its epicenter was very close to the capital Port-au-Prince, and therefore almost everyone in the city was personally impacted by the quake. He recalled seeing so many “dazed and traumatized” people, including local humanitarian workers, who were struggling to cope with their personal state of trauma in the wake of the disaster.  He spoke of how distraught residents in Port-au-Prince were combing the streets in the days after the quake desperately searching for their missing loved ones.

Hackett said although “the calamity really took its toll,” people from all over the world rallied to help the stricken population of Haiti, a nation which even before the quake struck was one of the poorest in the world. “It was a real coming-together event,” he said. 

Asked what are his hopes for the future of Haiti, Ambassador Hackett said he prayed the nation would experience “peace and progress”, a peaceful election and a transformation of its political process.” (The people of Haiti are due to vote in a delayed presidential run-off election later in January).








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