Judson student committed to helping his native Haiti

Forget eating, sleeping or paying attention in class.

With three sisters, a niece and dozens of cousins and friends in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, when the devastating earthquake struck Jan. 12, Judson University senior Sanon Eustache couldn't focus on anything until he learned who was OK - and who wasn't.

It took Eustache three days to hear that his adult sisters and 18-year-old niece had made it out alive, walking five hours north from Haiti's capital city to hitch a ride to the family's hometown of Pignon.

"They said they could see blood running like water in the street. They had to cross over people, jump over dead bodies and buildings," said Eustache, a business administration student at the university in Elgin and a resident of West Dundee.

Friends and members of his former choir, as well as a 22-year-old cousin, weren't so lucky.

"It's very tough, a very difficult moment."

Eustache came to Judson after hearing about the school firsthand from a West Dundee resident on a mission trip to his hometown.

In the days since the earthquake, Eustache has been part of local fundraising efforts to help earthquake victims.

Last week, he spoke at the Elgin Public House to help the Elgin Jaycees raise funds for a ShelterBox, a 10-person tent with basic living essentials.

"I don't know how else I'm going to be able to help. I'm hoping to wire money to friends and family. I know they need clothes and stuff. I want to do anything I can," he said.

As far as relief efforts on behalf of organizations, including the Red Cross, "there is a lot to be done. I'm thankful for what they do. But to be honest there's no way they're going to be able to reach out to everybody."