Viviane Noel, a West Point resident who spent the first 13 years of her life in Haiti, has spent the last week watching reports from the earthquake damage there, her heart breaking along with the city.

“It’s horrible. It’s frustrating. It’s heart-wrenching. It’s a nightmare you cannot wake up from,” she said. “You watch the TV reports and you can hear people’s cries in the background. You know what they are crying for.”

And it’s intensely personal for Noel and her husband, Roosevelt, also a Haiti native. Six of Viviane Noel’s family members have yet to be found. Because those family members recently had moved - into one of the hardest-hit sections of Port-au-Prince - no one even knows where to begin to look for them.

“If they are wounded or dead, we can’t get to them,” Viviane Noel said. “We can’t collect the remains.”

Noel was born in the United States, then moved back to Haiti with her family shortly after that, “when the country was at its best,” she said.

Roosevelt Noel’s family lives in the Haitian countryside and felt the quake, but destruction was not as bad.

He said 12 people are confirmed dead in his best friend’s family, all earthquake victims.

“We are praying, but preparing for the worst,” Viviane Noel said.

A trained licensed practical nurse, Noel will be doing what she can to help in the relief efforts. She leaves this weekend with her brother-in-law, a doctor, on a medical mission to her country with about 200 medical staff.

“I just want to do what I can to lend a hand,” she said. “We’ll be carrying medical supplies, since a lot of the shipping crates can’t get in.”

Roosevelt Noel said his brother, wife and the other members of the medical team will carry the supplies in with their personal luggage, since he said the neighboring Dominican Republic is no longer allowing large trucks of supplies to get into the country that way.

“They don’t want the big trucks on their roads because they say it’s affecting tourism,” he said. “That’s frustrating. I’m a little bit terrified for my brother being there, but at least he’ll be with a medical organization.”

Roosevelt Noel works at Walgreens pharmacy in LaGrange.

The Noels have lived in West Point for six years and their children have attended Springwood School in nearby Lanett, Ala., for three years. In the days since the initial earthquake, the school has raised about $1,800 for Noel to take with her to the country to help with recovery.

Headmaster Bill Parsons spoke to the students after the quake, showing a video about the earthquake and challenging them to help.

Most of the donations came through students passing a bucket during lunch hour, choosing to help with the effort instead of getting an extra Gatorade or lunchtime treat. Students in the elementary grades are preparing individual shoe boxes with supplies for Haitian children.

“I was shocked when I heard” about the fundraising, Roosevelt Noel said.

Jennifer Shrader may be reached at jshrader@lagrangenews.com or at (706) 884-7311, Ext. 236.