Bethlie Paul: Haitian Survivor Recalls Haiti Earthquake and the Road to Recovery
March 12, 2021 - San Antonio
Naïka Etienne and Bethlie Paul are survivors of the 2010 Haiti earthquake, which left thousands in ruin. Courtesy Image.
By: Valeria Torrealba - Senior Reporter, San Antonio Sentinel
On Jan. 12, 2010, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake struck Haiti, leaving the land and its residents to contend with a devastating aftermath. With separated families, loss of loved ones and the gloom of uncertainty hanging over the scene, the hopes of recovery were next to none for the locals. In the case of then 10-year-old Bethlie Paul, her family provided her with much-needed stability as she laid under the succumbed building that once was her school. Now, a resident of San Antonio, Paul traveled to the U.S. with Naïka Etienne, an extradition that allowed their legs to be saved.
Paul recalls the day of the earthquake — one filled with her normal routine, riddled with a hesitancy to attend her classes, that would later turn into a blur of memories.
“One day, I did not want to go to school at all. When my mom made me [go to school], everything went horrible. I had to stay after for tutoring — I needed help with some homework — and around 4 [in the afternoon] I heard this really, really loud roar,” Paul said. “I did not know what it was. I looked back, and the next thing I knew I was on the ground and there was the ceiling: about three to six inches away from my head, and the pillar is about two inches away from children.”
Paul lost her best friend to the earthquake. The building laid on top of her, the remains of her school crushing and suffocating her as she battled in and out of consciousness.
“She died next to me under the pillar. I was trapped for seven hours. My uncle spent hours and hours digging in different places, trying to get me out,” Paul said. “When I got out, they said that I broke my fibula and tibia. There were no doctors, they just took us to a field and the next day, they pushed both together with no anesthesia. It was the worst pain I’ve ever felt in my life. Finally, my mom and I were able to go get a car to go [get medical help]. We made it, and they told my mom I was going to get my leg cut off. A month later, some doctors from the U.S. came over. They were supposed to take one person to come to the U.S. for medical treatment. They saw my friend and I who were in really, really really bad shape… so they chose us.”
When revisiting the day of the earthquake, Paul recalls the fog she felt as she struggled to take in the aftermath of everything around her. The scene in Haiti was disastrous, with families screaming out for each other and grasping to find their loved ones.
“It was a blur. I was laying in a field on my back, screaming all around me. A lot, a lot of scared people, a lot of ruins, a lot of blood. A lot of people crying because they can’t find family, and that was an interesting experience, because I remember but I don’t remember at the same time. I remember being in a fog — everything was moving in a slow way,” Paul said.
“She died next to me under the pillar. I was trapped for seven hours. My uncle spent hours and hours digging in different places, trying to get me out,” Paul said. “When I got out, they said that I broke my fibula and tibia. There were no doctors, they just took us to a field and the next day, they pushed both together with no anesthesia. It was the worst pain I’ve ever felt in my life. - Bethlie Paul
Paul details her life, from the past of the earthquake when she was a 10-year-old child up to modern day where she now interns with CPS Energy and hopes to continue studying psychology. Courtesy Image.
Paul and Etienne’s future was hopeful at the hands of skilled medical personnel that would come aid them after the earthquake. However, the girls only had each other through the journey: two strangers who had never met before this catastrophe now relied on each other to make it through a new chapter in their lives. Etienne was fostered by Lori and Fred Tips, according to MySA news. As Paul got to the hospital, her foster mother — Nicole Foy — immediately comforted her.
“On the day we were supposed to go with our parents to the U.S., they said that no one can go with us and we were alone. We were alone. We were alone with two American men, we had no idea who they were. That was a first, and that was really scary,” Paul said. “The first night I got in the U.S., there were a bunch of interviews and I did not feel comfortable. As soon as I got to my room, the foster mom who they assigned me — as soon as she saw me, she got in the bed with me. That was unplanned, [but] for some reason that really calmed me down. A stranger… not knowing who I was, not knowing anything about me, just got in the bed with me just because I was scared.”
For Foy, rescuing and fostering Paul was in her nature. The prospect of a 10-year-old completely alone in a foreign country drove her to care for Paul, providing her a safe haven that allowed her to get the necessary medical treatment and begin a new life in a foreign country. A mother of three, Foy took Paul under her care, reminiscing on the weight of her actions and what they meant for Paul.
“I knew that Bethlie was coming here alone without her mom, and that meant that I had a big job to do, to just even provide that kind of love to Bethlie. Nobody can replace her mom, but I couldn’t imagine ever having to put my injured daughter on a helicopter to leave a country and be away from me,” Foy said. “Bethlie had grown up never traveling away from where she lived. In Haiti, she was just a young girl who had been forever at home — so for her mom to say yes to these American paramedics who saved her life.. You just can’t even imagine that, how hard that was.”
Paul recalls multiple surgeries and a fixator on her leg. As she slowly recovered, she gained the strength to go back to school, embarking on a new journey that would leave her with unique experiences she would otherwise not have had in her home country. She found herself dancing — something that years ago, she never thought she could do again.
“[High school] was a really fun experience. If I was in Haiti, I would’ve never gotten the opportunity to dance on a high school team for four years, and experience that lifestyle every Friday night. I mean.. Seven years ago, I could not even move out of my bed, and now I’m dancing every Friday night,” Paul said. “That was a beautiful thing: I was proud of myself for that one. I spent four years dancing, and I participated in a lot of fundraisers. I graduated in 2018.”
With Etienne miles away in Boston, Paul made friends for herself and centered around her future career path. She enrolled in higher education and started a degree in nursing, only to realize later that mental health is what drives her. Now, the two young adults live together in San Antonio, fortifying their future careers through college.
“I started going to [college] for nursing. As I got over the trauma of Haiti, I learned that nursing is not my thing, I’m more of a mental health person — I’m now majoring in psychology, and I’m appreciating it,” Paul said. “Honestly, my goal is to be a counselor one day, and that is really one of my number one goals: to have my own clinic. Right now, I’m working at CPS Energy as an intern with occupational health. Now, [Naïka] is at college at UIW. We’re roommates, and we’re really enjoying it.”
Once Paul began adapting to an American society, she feels her peers were incredibly inclusive. She adapted to English quickly, making friends along the way.
“I had a best friend, and I had a best friend right away,” Paul said. “People were very inclusive, very loving, caring, they seriously saved my life in a way. [My foster parents] also helped me stay in the United States. When they found I was diagnosed with Lupus, they said ‘She cannot go back to Haiti’ because I’m on a monthly medication. They fought really hard to keep me here. I’m grateful for them.”
Paul’s immigration process was a lengthy one. With a multitude of legal visits in the midst of her recovery, she barely remembers the experience — only that her foster parents fought hard to keep her on American soil.
Top Image: Bethlie Paul smiles for a photo with her foster family. She says that her foster family was a valuable tool in her recovery process from the 2010 Haitian earthquake. Courtesy Photo.
Bottom Image: Steve Spriester and Nicole Foy were the foster family which cared for Paul after she arrived in San Antonio. They continue to keep in touch with Paul, making sure she and her mother are safe and in good health. Courtesy Photo.
“It was [a long] process. It took about a year. I don’t remember much, because I was on so many medications, the language, everything was still a blur,” Paul said. “I remember lots of paperwork, lots of meetings with lawyers. I’m grateful that my foster parents fought that hard for me.”
Foy fought the legal battle for years, doing everything in her power to keep Paul in the U.S. past just a humanitarian parole. With Paul’s Lupus diagnosis, the healthcare she would receive in Haiti would not have been adequate enough for the treatment she needed.
“When she first came into the country, she was on humanitarian parole because of the earthquake [and her injuries]. If you have even traversed some of these legalities, you know how difficult it is to get all of this paperwork perfect — it took years. That was something that was agreed upon between me and her family, especially because of [her Lupus diagnosis]. That was the game changer. Before, when she first came, the paramedics [said] she’ll go back [to Haiti] when she’s healed, and we were all kind of prepared for that,” Foy said. “And then, she just kept getting sick and sick, just having all of this joint pain. After that diagnosis just came, we knew of Haiti’s health infrastructure. We just said she cannot go back to Haiti with Lupus and get the kind of care she needed, and of course her family agreed. We progressed to turn that humanitarian parole into permanent residency. She has the opportunity to become a citizen.”
The foster parents which had unconditional love for Paul — even after fostering her many years ago, they (Steve Spriester and Nicole Foy) continue to keep in touch with Paul, making sure she and her mother are safe and in good health.
“They are the most loving people, because to this day, even with the blackouts, my foster mom texted me asking if I was okay, if I needed any water,” Paul said. “She made sure that me and my parents were okay. That is a different kind of person — they are loving, they are sweet, and full of support.”
That love and care remains the same from Foy’s standpoint, for she cares for Paul as her own child.
“From my standpoint, I have always loved Bethlie like I would love my children,” Foy said.
The story of two young girls from Haiti is immortalized by their achievements and adjustment to the U.S. with the help of medical personnel and the nurture of loving foster parents who allowed them to thrive in a foreign land — against all odds.
Valeria Torrealba is an opinions columnist and public relations assistant at the University Star, a student publication of Texas State University. Email her at reporter@sasentinel.com