Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Rome (Agenzia Fides) – Wednesday, June 3, at 6pm, in the headquarters of “Italia Solidale” in Rome, Sr. Maria Goretti Puthen, Salesian missionary, will offer her first-hand account of the reality of the war in Darfur and the tragic living conditions of millions of people in refugee camps. From 2003, Darfur is at the center of the attention of the international community, on account of the internal conflict between the government and rebel factions. The situation became even worse when Sudanese President Omar Al Bashir, in protest to the warrant issued for his arrest by the International Crime Court in the Hague, expelled the majority of the humanitarian aid organizations, 40% of the total aid.
Sister Maria Goretti says: “The camp is home to 15,000 people, living in mud huts across a large area with no services. Many have lived here since the outbreak of the war between the North and South, nearly 25-30 years. They are people who have been left completely without strength, because they have never been able to work and have always had to eat food from aid programs. Many families are often formed only by women. There are thousands of women who spend the whole day sitting down, without being able to do anything, in their homes. Oftentimes they earn their keep by prostituting themselves, thus contributing to the spread of AIDS.
Their children live the worst suffering and often die. Myself and other sisters visit the camp every day to care for the children in the school, but not only them. We want to save these children, helping them and their families to regains their dignity and strength. I come from a long experience in India, where I had already worked with the association “Italia Solidale,” through their long-distance adoption program. Having seen the fruits this brings, I am now applying the same new mode of doing missions here, too, based on the “new culture” of Fr. Angelo Benolli, the association's founder. With this help, we hope to receive aid through the long-distance adoption program...But in order to do this, we need help and we count on the participation of generous souls.” (AP) (Agenzia Fides 1/06/2009)
