USI Student Shaped By 2010 Earthquake In Haiti

Meschac Gervais is an old soul at 24.

Maybe that's because he's survived childhood poverty, lived through a catastrophic earthquake and its violent aftershocks, and experienced the culture shock of moving from the poorest country in the western hemisphere to the wealthiest one.

But, like his name-sake Meshach from the Book of Daniel, he has lived to tell of surviving the fires of his life.

He grew up in the city of Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti, and he's currently a student at the University of Southern Indiana, here for a year on a scholarship provided by the U.S. State Department.

He earned a bachelor's degree in public administration, with an emphasis on local government, from a college in Haiti, and this one-year program at USI is designed to "fill in the gaps," allowing him to take classes that match his degree.

He arrived in the United States last summer, and the culture shock was harsh and immediate. When he arrived at the Miami International Airport, he said, "I could see the differences right away. I had a moment of shock. It hurt me."

He explains, "I am this guy with a love for Haiti, studying local government [in the hopes] of bringing about big changes in Haiti, bringing people out from poverty, and I jumped into such a different situation than what I was in."

The culture shock began when he was in an airport restroom, and noticed the electronic dispenser for paper, actually "electronic everything. So much fancy things in the restroom, more than you would find in a house where four people sleep. The things in the restroom for thousands of dollars -- and people in Haiti can't find hundreds.

"It hurt me to see the differences."

As he waited for his connecting flight north, he thought to himself, "There is so much here."

When he was given his State Department scholarship, he was assigned to study at USI. When he arrived in southern Indiana he found "neat roads, no trash anywhere, so much organization. Everything is organized."

He remembers asking himself, Why can't things be as organized in my country?

Gervais has lived in Evansville for a summer, a fall and now a winter. As the months pass by, he admits he's getting used to the life style here, "to have all these things," and he's starting to wonder about the life he will soon return to in Haiti.

"It will be hard to go back and realize my I-Pad will not have WiFi twenty-four seven" -- "or even electricity twenty-four seven. It's hard to realize I'm going back as I get used to it here."

Despite those concerns, he says of his life "I'm pretty lucky. Actually, I'm pretty blessed."

He's a Catholic who was raised in one of the poorest areas of Haiti. His parents were able to save enough money to send him to primary school, and then he was accepted into a boarding school which is funded by Catholic parishes throughout the United States. Of his high school years, he says, "They fed us as you should be fed." It was during those years when he developed leadership skills, and was able to earn his way into a college.

Midway into that four-year program, Gervais and his country were rocked by a catastrophic magnitude 7.0 earthquake.

It was Jan. 12, 2010, and he was sitting in a classroom on the top floor of a college building when the earthquake began.

He felt the building shake, but didn't realize the cause. He laughs, now, as he remembers becoming a "peacemaker."

"I told everyone to calm down. I said, 'Don't worry. Stay in your seats.' Then I could feel everything break down."

At the time of the earthquake, most of the buildings in Haiti were constructed out of blocks, and as he sat in the classroom the wall next to him broke in half and fell on top of him. "I was completely squeezed. I couldn't move. I couldn't do anything," he remembers, adding, "I could hear people screaming."

After a long while, a fellow student, someone Gervais had been tutoring, began the search for him. As the student yelled, Gervais was able to respond. "He came and got me. He told everyone, 'Meschac is there,' and they started taking blocks off of me."

He was alive, but his pelvis was broken, and he couldn't walk.

The earthquake had claimed the lives of over 300,000 fellow Haitians.

His rescuers took him from the building and placed him in a nearby yard. He still remembers screaming "NO! Don't leave me here."

"I needed to be where there was nothing. I was scared of buildings. I laid there for the entire night. I couldn't move at all. I stayed on the ground, and I couldn't reach my parents. I cried a lot."

During the night, someone told him that there had been an earthquake and that thousands of people in Port-au-Prince had perished. He assumed that his parents had died.

He finally was able to connect with his father by phone. "I asked, 'Are you okay?' and he said, 'Yes, we are okay.' I said, 'Thanks be to God!'"

His father relayed the good news to his mother, but "she didn't believe it. She had heard that the university was all gone. She thought that I passed away right away. Everyone thought I was dead."

He remained in the yard, unable to move, until people arrived with a door which they used as a stretcher to carry him to a nearby medical clinic. They placed him amidst a throng of bodies. "You would see people and think they were alive, but they were dead."

Everyone, it seemed, was seeking medical attention, and there was little to be found. It was even harder to find relief for his pain. While he was lying on the ground, he talked with a women whose two children needed treatment. He gave her what little money he had in his pocket, and she left to buy pain medication for the three of them.

As the aftershocks continued, "everyone was screaming and crying," he remembers, adding, "I couldn't move."

In time, one of his friends appeared. A friend with a car. It took hours for them to find open, undamaged roads through the city in order to get him to his parents' home.

When he arrived, his mom was "lying down screaming and praying. When she saw me being carried in, she started crying because she was so happy to see me. She was screaming and crying and praising God that I was okay.

"She was so happy."

The walls in their family home had been cracked by the intensity of the earthquake "but we were happy that everyone could re-unite."

Shortly after the earthquake the U.S. Marines arrived in the capital city, and Gervais -- who speaks Spanish -- was recruited to help translate for the Cuban Americans from Miami who were helping with earthquake relief.

He still couldn't walk. "I was lying down and translating," he said, laughing at the memory. "But I felt good. I felt I was a help."

He was unable to walk for six months. He didn't see a doctor, but his parents asked a man to help with physical therapy. He encouraged the young man to "keep doing this," and "try to walk."

"He brought me a crutch, and finally I just got cured. Then I was able to walk. I finally went to the hospital, and had an X-ray. The doctor said the pelvis was broken, but it is healing."

His bones have healed now, but the mental anguish remains. "The stress is huge. It's still with me." When he feels a building shake the horrible memories return.

He says that what he learned from his experience is that in desperate times, God works his best miracles.

"He can use any situation to get you out of any situation."

Gervais was still in college when the earthquake occurred, and because he needed time to recuperate, he had to put his studies on hold. Because of that break, he was still eligible for the State Department scholarship when it was offered.

As a child he watched how God worked in his mother's life. "She is a good model," he said, "and I see God moving and acting in her life."

All of his life, she wanted a better life for her family. She especially wanted them to move from the most-poverty stricken area of the country, and she spent her life praying to God, asking Him to make that happen. "She also worked from 4 in the morning to 8:30 in the evening six days a week. "On Sunday, she would go to her church."

Meschac watched as God answered her prayers, and he realized "my life depended on her, and her life depended on God."

Because of that "I would not turn my back on God. I know he is true."

At the tender age of 24, he fully believes that God "is having a plan for my life."

"I'm still alive despite the earthquake. I'm pretty sure God has a plan, and I can't get all these blessings without building a relationship with him. I look forward to a stronger relationship, to be completely passionate about God."

And he dreams of showing others "God's love for me," and "to show them he loves them too."