Chabad-Lubavitch Rabbi Shimon Pelman counsels earthquake survivors in a United Nations tent in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. (Photo: Marc Asnin/Chabad.org)
By Joshua Runyan
In the wake of anarchy, violence and looting taking rein in isolated pockets across the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince, calls poured in from all corners for a Dominican Republic rabbi, whose web of contacts among local governments, foreign missions and American suppliers gave him a unique ability to push shipments through.
From S. Domingo, just hours, and a world away, from the destruction on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola, Chabad-Lubavitch Rabbi ShimonPelman said that troops, doctors and diplomats from Israel, Mexico, South Africa and France, had all requested help in obtaining food and medical supplies. If they went hungry, they stressed, no one could be helped.
Adding to the strain was the breakdown of order in Port-au-Prince, where an impoverished populace was cracking under the strain of a lack of food, water and medicine. Less than five days after the Jan. 12 earthquake sent hospitals, hotels and government agencies crumbling to the ground, a stench of death hung low over densely populated neighborhoods and shantytowns. Predictions from several sources indicated that casualties could eventually top 200,000 lives lost.
