Rock Rapids, Iowa — Residents of Haiti are still showing up in hospitals with injuries from this weekend’s earthquake in the island nation. A northwest Iowa family with close ties to Haiti is concerned.
Kayla Raymond is originally from Rock Rapids, but lived in Haiti for several years, where she met her husband and assisted with several mission programs including a school run by her husband, Webert, and a program that helps women make items that they sell in their store and coffee shop, Rosie’s Sit-A-Minute in Rock Rapids, and their Rosie’s store in Haiti.
Raymond tells us that they lived about 75 miles away from the epicenter, so there wasn’t any damage there that she is aware of.
She says it was much different for the Haitians there in 2010.
Also, says Raymond, in 2010, the epicenter was right in the large city of Port-Au-Prince. She says the area struck by this earthquake is much more rural, so the death toll is not expected to be as large.
Raymond tells us her husband is going to make a trip back to Haiti soon.
According to Raymond, some of the farmers that produce the coffee that they sell at Rosie’s have been affected by the earthquake, and they believe some of them have lost their homes. She says the news is slow to come in, and they will probably know more as the days and weeks continue.
You can find more information on Rosie’s Facebook pages, including https://www.facebook.com/Rosiesinhaiti.
