American Jesuit Fr Pedro Suarez, returning
from the Dominican Republic, reports on the situation in Haiti, including the
relief efforts.
If anything good can come
out of a disaster like this, it is a new attitude of mercy and solidarity that I
found among the Dominican people towards their neighbors. TV marathons are
being held and there are many calls from all sides to generously help Haiti with
money, water, food, milk (the kind that can be stored without refrigeration),
bandages and medications.
Several Jesuits who work
with Haitians in the Dominican Republic have gone to Haiti to help. Every
parish and school in the DR is collecting goods for Haiti and even our Jesuit
House of Philosophy (where many young Haitian Jesuits are studying) has become
a ‘centro de acopio'(storage center) for receiving and distributing all kinds
of goods to the other side of the border. The President of the Dominican Republic, Lionel Fernandez, went to Port-au-Prince to show
his solidarity and that of his country to Monsieur Preval, the overwhelmed
Haitian President.
The only Jesuit who was
seriously hurt (known as Fr Nono) was brought to Santo Domingo to be operated
on and apparently his surgery went well and saved his leg, badly hurt by a
falling wall. He is the Director of ‘Fe y Alegria', a popular educational
institution spread out in many countries of Latin America and even Africa.
Not to repeat what
everyone has seen on TV or learned from emails, to say that the situation in
Haiti is critical is an understatement. On the plane from Santo Domingo to
Miami I was sitting next to a British journalist returning from Haiti who told
me that ‘in Haiti there is no government', as it has become dismantled by the
earthquake.
Lots of functionaries,
many members of the UN peace-keeping force (including its two highest-ranking
officials), the Archbishop of Port-au-Prince and his main aides, many priests,
nuns and seminarians, have all perished under the rubble, and
their offices destroyed, including heavy damage to the Presidential Palace. Many people of all persuasions (right,
left and in the middle) have expressed that this is the time when the US marines
could be a welcome force to impose some kind of order in the chaotic situation
that has been developing after the Tuesday earthquake.
One of the big problems
is that when help reaches Haiti,
until yesterday there was no central distribution centre where the help could
be sent and redirected from there. Today I learned that our Jesuit
novitiate, which is damaged but still standing, has become a distribution centre.
As there is no firm authority in the land, there is a danger of bands
of unruly youngsters trying to steal and disrupt charitable efforts. In
addition, it was reported that 4,000 convicted criminals escaped a local jail
when one of the walls came down and they are now free to roam the streets of
the capital city.
Please, let us help Haiti
by whatever way we can. This is a long-suffering and dignified people who
deserve a show of our Christian compassion and generosity in their time of
distress.
More news on the situation can be
found here: http://www.jrsusa.org/news/news_100117a.php
Picture: A damaged neighbourhood in Port-au-Prince (Wikipedia Commons).