NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — Saturday, a magnitude 7.2 earthquake rocked Haiti, leaving behind a path of death and destruction.
“They lost they houses and we lost family member and it’s devastating,” said Manel Charles.
Charles has lived in New Orleans for almost 20 years, but he’s originally from Haiti. Charles says two of his cousins were killed in the earthquake, and many of his family members are now homeless.
“You know how Katrina was when that happened, how hard that was even for you that you have resources, it was hard for American people? Imagine they have no resources out there,” said Charles.
So Charles and other Haitians in the New Orleans area are trying to help their families who are desperately in need.
“When I saw them videos they send to me, that made me cry because I know the situation was bad before, and now it’s coming harder,” said Mirtil Felisno, who is also trying to help his family in Haiti.
Haiti is still recovering from the 2010 earthquake that killed more than 200,000 people.
Now, the country will once again have to rebuild and Charles is doing his best to raise money to help.
“When your homeland tear down and you’re not able to do something, it hurts deeply. That’s why whatever I have here, I don’t take it for granted, because my people at home have nothing,” said Charles.
Manel has started a Go-Fund-Me page to raise money for his family in Haiti. If you would like to donate, visit this link: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-for-my-haitian-people-hit-by-earthquake?utm_campaign=p_cf+share-flow-1&utm_medium=chat&utm_source=whatsapp