Six days after the devastating earthquake leveled most of Haiti, many small communities like Petionville – a suburb of Port-au-Prince – are still waiting on international aid to trickle in.

theGrio’s Todd Johnson spoke with Marc Germaine who, along with his wife, has reopened the small school they operate in the hills of the town — and has transformed their space into a refuge. Gemanie says he and his wife are just “doing what they can to save lives” and to help victims in their community.

One of those victims in Jeanne Ker’s elderly mother. Ker was visiting Petionville from New Orleans when the neighborhood came tumbling down. She lived through Hurricane Katrina and wants to return home, but her priorities are now in Haiti.

“I want to go home,” Ker told theGrio’s Todd Johnson. “But I can’t leave my mother there on the floor.”

Follow theGrio’s Todd Johnson on Twitter at @rantoddj