Haitian Americans turn to LI radio station for help

HAITI It's a small gospel station that Acelus Etienne started twenty years ago.

"We start working since this morning, every second the telephone is ringing. They want to know what is going on in their country," Etienne said.

Suddenly he's a beacon of comfort for Haitians across the tri-state area, who call the station with names of the missing in hopes someone in Haiti with power and an internet connection will hear them and send back a message their loved ones are ok.

"There are some cities they can call among themselves and then they can call the US.

But with such devastation there's precious little information in haiti, let alone hundreds of miles away in West Hempstead.

So armed with CNN and the bible, all they really can do, is give comfort.

It isn't easy for Pastor Ivan Dalzon. He's the only member of his own family, who is not in Haiti.

"My wife, my sons, my father, my mother, brother and sister live in Haiti. We don't have any information," Dalzon said. "We hope in God. We believe in God. We trust."

Meantime, the phone keeps ringing, as the nightmare gets even worse.

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To check the database on survivors of the earthquake, or to provide information on a missing family member, go to www.familylinks.icrc.org/haiti/people

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