Augustin raises funds to purchase land for earthquake refugees
By Jennifer Eisenbart
Editor
These days, what Mona Augustin calls home is a political mess.
In his home in Haiti when the devastating 7.0 earthquake hit in January 2010, people of his village thought he was dead until he emerged from his house two days later.
Since then, he and others in his village have endured an odyssey that has seen them trying to reconstruct their lives with tents and sheets.
Augustin, whose musical group 2Rasin has earned international acclaim with a fusion of Haitian and American musical roots, has vowed to find his people a home.
He appeared in Burlington at the Coffee House at Chestnut and Pine last week to raise funds in an effort to purchase land so his village will have a permanent home.
Candice Schneider, of Madison, who is serving as Augustin’s manager, called his trip to the United States a one-man mission.
“It’s going to be a safe place,” said Schneider of the land Augustin hopes to purchase for $50,000.
Augustin was fortunate to survive the earthquake. The day of the quake, he called in sick to the school where he taught music. The students who waited for him – never having gotten the message he wasn’t coming that day – perished when the building collapsed in the quake.
Augustin carries that with him now, Schneider said, in addition to the plight of the people of his village. More than one million were displaced into tent villages by the quake, and the people Augustin knew in Port-au-Prince were just a handful of them.
Originally using a vacant lot as a tent camp, Augustin and the people he knew as neighbors were happy – and relatively safe. Using tiles from the wreckage of their homes, the new shelter looked almost like a mosaic, said Schneider – leading the group to have the name “Mozayik.”
Those neighbors went to Augustin for help, knowing he was an international musician. They settled and lived there with the help of donations and their own makeshift efforts until the government wanted them off the land.
Initially, Augustin and his people fought to stay on the land. But after two years, they were forced off. The group relocated to Titayan – government-appointed land for refugees. A former medical waste dump, there was no running water, no shelter. Having been forcibly evicted from the vacant lot, most people lost everything, Schneider said. And most never received the $125 promised by the government.
Schneider and Augustin explained last week that it didn’t matter. With the support of a group called Haiti Allies, Mozayik settled again, rebuilt the community, even constructed a building that serves as a church and school.
Then, in December 2013, men showed up with what Schneider said were machetes and guns. The people of Mozayik were forcibly evicted from the land despite their verbal protestations.
Now the people of Mozayik reside in one structure further up the hill. Water, Schneider said, is brought in three times a week by truck, and there is no electricity.
“There’s absolutely nothing out there, but they have nowhere else to go,” Schneider said.
And so Augustin has returned to the states to seek help. As a community, Mozayik wants to purchase land so they can rebuild their village.
In his battle to play guardian to his people, Augustin has struggled as one man. And yet, as he explained, he knows he is not alone.
“I believe in God. By myself, I cannot (make this happen),” Augustin explained. “Many problem. Many misery.
“Now I believe I can find this money to buy this land for the people,” he said. “They have to get a better life than what they live now.”
A short DVD was produced about the struggles of Mozayik, and was shown to the people of Plymouth Congregational Church in Burlington Sunday. Augustin also spoke last week at the Community Prayer Breakfast in Burlington.
“I think the prayer breakfast went very well,” Pastor Bob Wang said. “They were certainly moved by (Mona’s) story. Unfortunately, you have big news when there’s an earthquake, and now four years later, they haven’t progressed a lot.
“As Mona said, the group he is representing … is still displaced.”
As Schneider explains, if everyone in Burlington gave $5, Mona’s goal would be reached. She breaks the goal into small, workable pieces – hoping that it will inspire people to help.
Augustin has been in the states for a month, and he’s planning on staying two to raise the money. He will head back to Haiti early if he raises the money.
“I want to be with the people, organize them a little bit. Give them hope,” he said.
For more information about donating, contact Plymouth Congregational at (262) 763-6890.
-
-
-
-
-