Haitians scour rubble for belongings after quake

(24 Aug 2021) People in southern Haiti continued scouring the rubble in search of their belongings on Tuesday, over a week after the Caribbean nation was hit by a magnitude 7.2 earthquake.

At the edge of a pile of rubble, Michael Jules plunged an iron bar over and over into the crumbling concrete of his grandmother's home in Maniche. A younger cousin squatted at his feet, pulling away smaller debris with a trowel.

It was Jules' third day working the spot like an archaeologist, removing layer upon layer of rock. He had established more or less the perimeter of his room. On Tuesday morning he uncovered a corner of his mattress.

While Jules, 21, toiled with handheld tools, and at times his bare hands, just down the street, heavy-duty earthmovers cleared lots, depositing entire households into dump trucks and scraping collapsed homes into neat piles.

Jules kept digging. His goal was two-fold: to find his clothes - he was wearing only borrowed Spider-Man boxers - and his passport.

As a professional soccer player for América des Cayes, he said he would need his passport to be able to travel to tournaments in the Dominican Republic or Cuba.

"I have not found anything yet," he said.

Out of uniform and standing atop a rubble pile he was still immediately recognized by a fan.

"You're from here?" the man, a motorcycle taxi driver from Les Cayes, asked in disbelief. "I didn't know you were from Maniche."

Maniche is a teeth-rattling hour's drive from paved roads, over a mountain pass, and settled in a wide, green valley. The town lost 80% to 90% of its homes, according to preliminary estimates.

On Tuesday, U.S.-based relief organization Samaritan's Purse handed out big blue tarps for temporary shelters and small solar lights that also allow people to charge their cell phones.

Ultimately, Jules managed to remove his twin mattress.

More crumbling concrete immediately filled the void.



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