©Info“It was my 27th birthday on the day the earthquake hit,” says Ernst Ilfranc Moise. “I was at home with my family preparing for my party that evening. But bang – the earthquake hit. A wall came down in my house, it fell right down, and that whole side of the house is now damaged.”
Ernst, 27, was a maths teacher at a secondary school in Port-au-Prince, and a volunteer for the Red Cross. He was out distributing supplies immediately after the earthquake.
Now his home and job have gone, he is working as a driver for the American Red Cross.
Earthquake destruction
“My family lived in Carrefour, it is a busy area, many people live there,” Ernst says. “Carrefour was badly damaged by the earthquake. Now, my family live in a kindergarten school.
“My cousin worked at the presidential palace, she died when it collapsed. Near to my house in Carrefour there is a university. It was totally flattened. Everyone in there has died.
“I used to teach mathematics and accounting at a secondary school, the New Bird School. The school has gone now, it does not exist anymore, so neither does my job.
Red Cross volunteer
©Info“Now I have a job driving for the Red Cross. Before, I was also a volunteer for the Red Cross. My role was a stock keeper, dealing with emergency relief and deliveries.
"When the earthquake happened we got a lot of stock out to people – tarpaulins for those who have no home now, jerry cans for collecting water, buckets, the sorts of things people need in an emergency. We gave out everything we had.
“I don’t know how I feel now. I try not to think about it. I do things to relax, like reading to get away from my worries. I think about the future. I am still going to school, still studying. I am studying advocacy, so I can help other people.”
Ernst then demonstrates his skills as a teacher, helping our press officer to learn more Creole. He patiently corrects pronunciation and writes out phrases and translations in a notebook.
Read about distributions of shelter materials in Camp Afca.
In the event that we raise more money than can be reasonably and efficiently spent, any surplus funds will be used to help us prepare for and respond to other humanitarian disasters either overseas or here in the UK.