LDS Salt Lake Temple grounds: Prayers offered for Haitian families, friends

SALT LAKE CITY — Relief came at 3 a.m. when the phone rang.

Daniel Cameau had spent days pacing and switching between home and cell phone for just one word about beloved family members. He was especially worried about his cousin Marcus Idelphonse, who lives in Port- au-Prince, Haiti, where a devastating earthquake on Tuesday left the city in shambles and people counting the dead by the thousands.

The early Sunday call came from Cameau's sister who said Idelphonse and other relatives had survived.

"For four days we didn't hear anything from our family," said Cameau, who left Haiti when he was 20 years old for a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints mission. "My sister called me as soon as they heard."

Cameau's twin brother, David, said he received the good news when he returned home from church later that day.

"I heard and I was like woohoo!" David Cameau said — shouting the last word in glee.

The Cameau twins huddled amid more than 100 people in the cold alongside the reflection pool near the LDS Salt Lake Temple Sunday afternoon to pray and sing for their Haitian brothers and sisters.

Families and friends gathered, all with connections to Haiti. Many are former missionaries who remember Haiti as it was before the earthquake spread chaos in Port-au-Prince.

"This is a trying time for us," said Steve Eror, who served his LDS mission from 1997 to 1999. "I look at the National Palace and I've been in that building, and now it's a shambles."

Eror, who is part of a group of returned missionaries to Haiti that are calling themselves Our Haitian Heroes, said the earthquake is only part of the problem.

The devastation filling Haiti's streets is "horrible," but problems have existed for years, Eror said.

"They say on the news there's still no running water; well, there never was any running water," he said. "They talk about the lack of electricity; well, there never was that much electricity to begin with."

"The government is bogged down. The country is run down by gangs," Eror said.

But for now, groups like Our Haitian Heroes and Haiti to Utah, a group focused on helping Haitian students continue their education despite the recent tragedy, are stepping in to help.

At the reflection pool, families stood in silence — thinking of their loved ones.

Even with the good news for their family, the Cameaus say not all things are well.

Idelphonse's house collapsed and his infant child was injured in the destruction.

"I was so worried," said Daniel Cameau, who lives in Provo with his wife, Eva, and their children.

Daniel Cameau said that like a lot of LDS families from Haiti, he feels he should still be looking after his beloved cousin. He said Idelphonse and his family went to their Haitian LDS ward building where they were helped and given ways to call relatives in the United States Sunday morning.

"We're just grateful to know they're OK," David Cameau said.

e-mail: lgroves@desnews.com