Haiti Ambassador: Please Don't Forget

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - Help continues to pour in for the earthquake victims. The need for aid is overwhelming.

Consider this: 6-12 million gallons of water are needed daily. On Wednesday, Haiti's Ambassador to the U.S. urged people, "Please don't forget" his country in the months and years ahead.

The ambassador spoke to Washington-area business leaders, thanking them for their support but at the same time asking for a long-term commitment to the earthquake devastated country.

One of the people there was Salanges Vivens, a D.C. businesswoman from Haiti. Her niece was trapped inside a supermarket in Port-au-Prince after the earthquake. On Monday, she saw her niece rescued on TV and recounted her niece's harrowing experience.

"She said, 'I lived on peanut butter and jelly for six days.' because she was in the aisle where the peanut butter and jelly was. That's how she survived for six days," said Vivens.

Salanges owns a long-term management company. Her success allowed Vivens to start an orphanage for boys and build a school in Jacmel, about 25 miles from Port-au-Prince. They too were damaged in the quake, but she is planning to rebuild.

In the D.C. area, businesses large and small have donated hundreds of thousands of dollars to earthquake relief effort. Donations of clothes, medicine and supplies have poured into the Haitian Embassy in the week since the quake. What worries the ambassador is what happens in a few weeks, when the attention fades.

"We are an instant society. I think in the case of Haiti, we will need sustained action that's why I say for the long haul," said Ambassador Raymond Joseph.

The American Red Cross National Capital Area's command center continues monitoring the situation in Haiti, helping organize relief efforts and volunteers. It's help that is still needed.

"Our team is working around the clock to do everything we can. There are sleepless nights and sleepless days but our team is committed," said Linda Mathes, chief executive officer for the National Capital Area.

Help is coming. PEPCO, which has experience with power outages after disasters, donated money and now it's looking at sending workers to Haiti to get the electricity back on line.

"We do this throughout the United States especially on the East Coast, help each other all the time. This would be new for us to go international," said PEPCO Senior Vice President, David Velazquez.

What took minutes to destroy will take years to rebuild. Even as people are rescued from the rubble more than week after the quake, there is a mix of sadness seeing the country in ruins.

"It brought joy for us my family but a joy we can't even celebrate those that are still alive," said Vivens when talking about her niece's rescue.

Ambassador Joseph says if there is a silver lining, it's that his country, long the poorest in the hemisphere, will now have a chance to rebuild better than ever.