Fr. Jean-Juste just told me the devastating news of a school collapse in Port-au-Prince, a few miles from the St. Clare’s neighborhood. More than 500 children were inside. (None of the students we sponsor attend this school.) Over 50 children have died and many are still buried. Rescue workers are searching for survivors. Everyone is grieving this tragic loss. It’s so heartbreaking. Here’s an excerpt from a post I received via email:

“The three-story La Promesse school building in Petionville, Haiti, collapsed while class was in session with more than 500 to 700 students inside. The bodies of at least 50 children killed have been recovered so far, over 200 injured have been either treated or admitted for care; as the death toll is expected to reach in the hundreds. Trinite Hospital is the only working hospital open in Port-au-Prince. The other two, General Hospital and Hospital de la Paix, are closed by strikes. Mothers of the school children and neighbors who live around the school that our Haiti correspondents spoke to late yesterday evening say the screams and moans of more students, buried in the rubble of the concrete building, can still be heard throughout the night.” HLLN, November 7, 2008, Ezili Danto Witness Project, 9:55 pm, November 7, 2008