Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
MM
by Antonella Prenna
Pourcine (Agenzia Fides) - "The hurricane has only hit us marginally, but the situation here in Pourcine is very difficult," said the Italian missionary Father Massimo Miraglio, directly from Port au Prince, to Fides about the recent passage of Hurricane Beryl (see Fides, 5/7/2024) in the Caribbean. A few days before the passage of the hurricane, the certificates were distributed at the Pourcine-Poc Makaya parish school.
"Unfortunately, the area of my parish is the most damaged on the south coast of the island of Haiti, as it is located between two gusts of wind", continued the Camillian Father, referring to the parish of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Pourcine, of which he is parish priest (see Fides, 28/9/2023).
"In particular, crops, fruit trees, banana trees, corn, were destroyed, causing serious damage to the already precarious food and economic situation of the population," continued the priest, "and bean plantations, the staple food of the population, were also badly hit, especially where they were already planted.
Paradoxically, fortunately, there are no real houses here, because first the houses were completely destroyed by Hurricane Matthew in 2016 (see Fides, 06/10/2016) and then the earthquake of 2021 (see Fides, 25/8/2021), which had its epicenter not far from the parish, demolished everything that was still standing. As a result, people are currently living in makeshift shelters. Most of them are clad in sheet metal and have withstood the impact. The most damaged are the houses of the poorest families, who have no roof at all."
"With the destruction of the crops, which, as already mentioned, provide a minimum of food security for the population, the coming months are also at risk, both in terms of the harvest and the sale of the country's produce, the only source of income.
Thank God there were no injuries or deaths, also because the force of the wind was unleashed when it was already morning. The wind started blowing around 11pm on Tuesday 3 July and dropped around 6pm the following day. In fact, when these events occur during the day they are more manageable", said the missionary.
"The biggest problem," says Father Miraglio, the only Italian Camillian priest who has been working in Haiti for 18 years, "is still the lack of a place to take shelter. If other hurricanes were to pass through and hit us harder than this one, especially at night, it would be very difficult to take shelter because there would be no place for people to gather and take shelter. And that is one of the things we are focusing on. This year we will definitely not be able to do it, but next year we want to try to build a small building that can accommodate the population.
When hurricanes are really strong, there is a high risk of losing lives because between falling trees, flying metal sheets, in the middle of mud and very impassable terrain, it becomes very difficult to escape." "In addition," concludes the Camillian Father, "one of the priorities is to build a church that will serve as a parish hall, a meeting place and, above all, as a refuge in the event of environmental disasters. Unfortunately, the village of Pourcine is in a very favorable position for the passage of hurricanes". (Agenzia Fides, 8/7/2024)
