Café Brussels gets support from Houston-area community

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Natives of Belgium who live in the Houston area are devastated over the news. Many of the expatriates chose Cafe Brussels, owned by a Belgian woman, to show their support for that nation during this time.

The owner of the café, Catherine Dubex, a native of Belgium, said she woke up on Tuesday morning to text messages from her sister who lives in Brussels, and at that moment, all she could do was wait for updates from the rest of her family who all live there as well.

"This is ridiculous," said Dubex. "What they accomplish? Killing people, they think they're going to be rewarded for that?" 

The Honorary Consulate of Belgium in Texas shared the same grief as Dubex and said most people in the country still can't believe it happened.

Fortunately, none of Dubex's relatives or friends were injured, but she said she is still carrying a profound amount of sadness for her country of origin.

Those in the local community dropped flowers off at Dubex's café and made sure she knew she has their support.

"We're going to come show Catherine that we're totally behind her and all of Brussels and of Belgium," said Sharon Zavala, a Café Brussels customer. "And express our sorrow and our anger towards what happened in her country."

Another customer, Karen Myrow, had the same sentiment and added, "She deserves for us to give her her support for her country. She's very devastated right now, as we are."

Dubex said that many people in Belgium are donating blood including members of her family to help the victims and country in any way they can.