Abu Bakr Xavier partners with mosques and churches
By M. Scott Bortot - Staff Writer America.gov
Washington — Abu Bakr Xavier, a Muslim American of Haitian descent, is having trouble communicating with fellow Muslims in Port-au-Prince since it was shattered by the January 12 earthquake. But with what little contact he has made, Xavier knows the situation is dire for Haitians of all faiths.

“They have become a center for the community,” Xavier told America.gov about the relief efforts being carried out by the Al-Fatiha mosque (Mosquée Al-Fatiha) in Port-au-Prince. “They are helping Muslim brothers and Christians — they are helping everyone they can.”

Founder of Haitian American Islamic Community Inc., located in south Florida, Xavier said he is working with a number of organizations in the Miami area — including local mosques, churches and the Red Cross — to collect supplies needed by Haitian earthquake victims.

Americans of Haitian descent number approximately 800,000, according to press reports. Xavier said in the United States the Muslim Haitian community is concentrated mostly in Miami, New York, Boston and Chicago. In Haiti, the Muslim community numbers around 10,000, with about a dozen mosques throughout the country.

Xavier founded Haitian American Islamic Community in 2009 to help needy Muslims in Haiti and to educate Muslim Americans and Americans of other faiths about Islam in Haiti.

“We are in the process of getting more things set up,” Xavier said about his organization’s efforts to collect and later help deliver relief supplies to Haiti. “As a Haitian-American Muslim, I believe that it is my duty to help.”

Rather than collect funds, Xavier said, his organization is asking donors to send their money to organizations such as Islamic Relief USA. Meanwhile, Xavier is collecting donated supplies such as water, shoes and blankets and delivering them to a local warehouse to be shipped to Haiti.

“Delivery of supplies to Haiti will be going on for weeks and months,” Xavier said.

The son of Haitian immigrants to the United States, Xavier speaks Haitian Creole and is very familiar with Port-au-Prince — two attributes that will be helpful once he reaches Haiti. Although currently unable to travel and help directly with relief efforts in Haiti, Xavier expects to soon find transportation to the earthquake-ravaged country.

“It is not a time to differentiate between people, between Muslim and Christians,” Xavier said. “It is a time to act.”

More information about Haitian American Islamic Community is available on the organization’s Web site.

Help save lives in Haiti: Visit the White House Web site for options. The International Committee of the Red Cross provides a service to help people find loved ones, and the State Department has a Person Finder where people can post information about persons missing in Haiti.