There was a surprising calmness in Vanessa Michel’s voice, so calm that one might forget what we were talking about. She says it’s her faith that is helping her in the wait to hear from her sister who lives in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.

“I am a devote Christian, so I am really praying. That’s the only thing I can do is pray about it,” said Michel.

While she is from the Bahamans, her father is originally from Haiti and several family members still live there. Her aunt, who works in the Bahamian Diplomacy office, was lucky enough to be outside when the quake hit the city.

“She was out running and it was actually a good thing, when she got back to her apartment it was completely in half,” said Michel. “Since she is a diplomat, they gave her the choice to leave or stay. She decided to stay, because they needed help and luckily the Bahamian diplomatic office wasn’t destroyed, so she is able to stay in there.”

While her aunt is now safe in the diplomacy office she still has yet to hear from her little sister. She said it has been very difficult to deal with, in trying to balance school, work, and waiting to hear from her sister, it is almost enough to make her physically ill. But she also knows that would do no good, so all she can do now is wait and pray. She has faith that her sister is out there somewhere.

“I have to hold on to that faith or I would be going crazy right now. Because she is my little sister and I don’t know where she is. I am just praying she was in the city or maybe she was out of the country and we just didn’t know.”

Michel has not been idly waiting for news from Haiti. Along with her friends Lily Boisson, who also has family in Haiti, and Yasmin Glinton, the girls organized a clothing drive on STU campus to help all those left in the aftermath of the quake. After only a week of collecting, they were packing up 25 garbage bags full of clothing to get shipped out.

“In the initial days we were very distraught and confused, [as a result] Yasmin was affected, because she was right there with us, so the original idea came from her.”

Direct friends of Haitians are not the only ones reaching out to help either. The Students’ Union at the University of New Brunswick has set a goal to raise $20 000 for the Red Cross and Doctors Without Borders. They also said they would match the first $5000 raised through the donation website they have set up.

Ryan Brideau, Vice President External of the union, said there was no question of whether or not they would try to help.

“We knew we had to do something, to not do anything would be a further injustice.”

Up the hill, at St. Thomas University, the Students’ Union decided to help their neighbours reach their goal of $20 000 and also pledged to match the first $5000 raised on their campus.

The generosity has not been limited to students, Elizabeth Dvergsten-Beauce of the Fredericton Red Cross, said Atlantic Canadians, to date, have raised $2.7 million for Haiti.

Vanessa said she has been overwhelmed, but thankful, for the response from her fellow students and by the amount of people that have been willing to give. She also told her aunt in Haiti about all the clothing that they have collected. Her aunt said that it was wonderful, but beyond anything, they need everyone to keep the people of Haiti in their prayers.

To contribute to Canadian Red Cross efforts in Haiti, please click here.