Remembering the Haiti earthquake

By Tanya Connor | The Catholic Free Press

The 10th anniversary of the devastating earthquake in Haiti is a time for some people to remember a local young Catholic woman whose life it claimed.
The people of Haiti are also remembered and appreciated, as efforts to serve them continue.
“Ten years ago I drove my Britney to the airport so she could go on her first missionary trip to Haiti,” Cherylann Gengel, of St. John Parish in Worcester, said in a Jan. 4 Facebook posting. “I didn’t know it would be the last time I saw her.”  
Britney Gengel was among an estimated 300,000 people who lost their lives in the Jan. 12, 2010 earthquake. The 19-year-old had gone on a Food for the Poor “Journey of Hope” trip with 11 fellow students and two faculty members from Lynn University in Boca Raton, Florida. Four students and the faculty members died as a result of the earthquake.
Britney’s father, Leonard Gengel, told The Catholic Free Press Tuesday that his heart goes out to other parents who have lost children in tragic ways, and he feels the pain in Haiti over other earthquake victims.
In the midst of this, he spoke of having faith and hope for eternal peace and of “the love we have felt – and still feel – the love of God.” The words “faith, hope and love” are on Britney’s grave.
The Gengels wrote a book called “Heartache and Hope in Haiti,” started the Be Like Brit Foundation Inc. and built an orphanage in Grand Goave, the town Britney was scheduled to travel to the day after the earthquake.
Tomorrow there is an open house from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. at the Be Like Brit headquarters at 66 Pullman St. in Worcester.
Ms. Gengel said they want to share the story of Britney and Be Like Brit and why she fell in love with Haiti.
Visitors can see a house like those Be Like Brit builds for people in Haiti, said Taylor Marek, Britsionary program coordinator. (People who go to Haiti to help with projects like building these homes and teaching the children skills are called Britsionarys.)
Ms. Gengel said she emailed Bishop McManus an invitation to the open house and he said he would offer his Mass for Britney on Sunday.
Father John F. Madden, St. John’s pastor, said he is celebrating the parish’s 12:15 p.m. Mass on Sunday for Britney. Ms. Gengel is to be there and Be Like Brit is inviting supporters to attend.
On Sunday “we have a candlelight vigil at Brit’s Home” (the orphanage in Haiti), Mr. Gengel said. But he and Britney’s brothers are to be at a remembrance service at Lynn University, which is also having a speaker Friday and an anniversary dinner Saturday.
Britney inspired the building of the orphanage, which has taken in 33 boys and 33 girls – “symbolic of the 33 days Brit was missing in the rubble at The Hotel Montana,” the website www.belikebrit.org says.
Three hours before the earthquake, she texted her mother, describing the poverty-stricken people she’d met in Haiti, the website says.
“They love us so much and everyone is so happy,” she texted. “They love what they have and they work so hard to get nowhere, yet they are all so appreciative. I want to move here and start an orphanage myself.”
On Tuesday, looking at a photo of a beaming Britney on that trip, her mother said to The Catholic Free Press, “Look at that face! She’s so happy to be there. It’s where she’s supposed to be.”
Ms. Gengel said her own faith, and assurance of Britney’s faith, has helped her.
“She had her faith when she was alive; she had her faith when she passed on, and that gives me a lot of peace,” the mother said. In Haiti, Britney wore the cross her parents gave her for her confirmation. Ms. Gengel said it was one of the few things she got after her daughter’s body was found.
“I’ve never questioned my faith,” Ms. Gengel said, adding that Father Madden has been a great support.
“We’re just grateful to all of those who have been with us the past 10 years,” she said.
The Gengels recalled how Bishop McManus played basketball with Brit’s Home children when he visited the orphanage a few years ago; Mr. Gengel said they’re still talking about it.
Among locals who have been Britsionarys are people from Holy Name, St. Peter-Marian and St. John high schools, and the College of the Holy Cross, the Gengels said. Mr. Gengel said some who now work or volunteer for them originally came on one of these trips.
He said they haven’t taken a missionary group since August because of the unrest in Haiti, but he goes each month.     
“Things have started to calm down,” Mrs. Gengel said. She said she plans take some of their staff from Worcester and some medical workers in February.
“This has not been a journey that our family has done alone,” Mr. Gengel said. “Every year we probably get between $80,000 and $100,000 in in-kind donations.” He said their website posts a wish list.    
“Cherylann and I made a commitment 10 years ago that we would dedicate our lives to Haiti and we have,” Mr. Gengel said. “And I couldn’t be happier” – in the sense that they’re raising the next generation of leaders, preparing the children, through use of technology, to compete in the world.
“Pray for the people of Haiti,” Ms. Gengel said. “They’re wonderful people.”

Photos courtesy of BeLike Brit