Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
MM
by Antonella Prenna
Pourcine (Agenzia Fides) - "Although the international spotlight on Haiti has long since faded, newspapers and media no longer report on it, the situation has not changed or improved in any way". This is what the Italian Camillian Father Massimo Miraglio complains to Fides about the reality he found upon his return to Haiti after a long forced break in Italy.
"Despite the intervention of the UN units led by the Kenyan force, which arrived on the island on June 25 and which have been reinforced in recent days by additional soldiers from Jamaica and Belize, the situation is still disastrous. It can be said that the presence of these troops in Haiti is almost ineffective. They complain of a lack of material, fear of loss of life and restrictive rules of engagement", says the missionary. "In fact, the capital, Port au Prince, remains in the hands of armed gangs that spread terror among the population. All activities remain almost paralyzed. The entrances to the south and north of the capital are completely blocked, with various groups demanding bribes from people who stop them on the way. But this only applies to public transport and trucks, which in many cases are confiscated instead of letting them through. The exit to Jeremie, 200 km south of the capital, is also closed; it is practically impossible to get there by land. In this sad situation for the majority of the Haitian population, the new school year begins on October 1," explains Father Massimo, who has lived on the island for almost twenty years.
"We cannot hide the fact that the start of the school year will be accompanied by great fears and many difficulties. Many children will not go to school and many schools will be closed, especially in Port-au-Prince, due to the presence of armed gangs. Many children will not be able to go to school because they do not have the money to buy the minimum school supplies. Consider that 80 percent of schools in Haiti are private and costs are rising every year, while families are plunged further into poverty," the missionary says. In Jeremie - where the Camillians have a parish - the situation is also dramatic and many children are unlikely to be able to start the school year on time on October 1st. "Books, like all school materials, are prohibitively expensive and difficult to get from the capital. The same goes for uniforms and school bags for students. Finding a decent pair of shoes to send them to school has become very difficult and expensive. In short, it promises to be a very difficult school year for children in Haiti," adds Father Miraglio.
"In our parish in Pourcine, in the mountainous hinterland of Jeremie, 250 students will be enrolled in primary and kindergarten this year," explains Father Massimo, who is the parish priest (see Fides, 28/9/2023). "We have managed to build two very simple small buildings out of local wood, tents and sheet metal, which will accommodate six elementary school classes and two kindergarten classes. With just as much effort, we have managed to complete the teaching staff. They are all very young and the only ones who are prepared to teach in such a distant place despite the prospect of a salary. This will be the second school year in which the school will open here in the Pic Makaya mountains."
Among the various projects that the missionaries want to implement on the Caribbean island, the Camillians' top priority is the establishment of a medical clinic on site. "We would like to set up a small outpatient clinic in the parish to save the sick from having to travel long distances; our "Foyer Saint Camille" in Port au Prince is far away. In addition, this week we will organize a mobile clinic with a group of Cuban doctors and the support of a local organization, with which we can provide first aid to the sick in a mountain region and bring people from two neighboring valleys. This is also a difficult undertaking, because to reach the place where we want to set up the clinic, we need more than four hours on foot and the same time to return to the paths along the slopes, which are very dangerous, especially in this rainy season.”
“Following the charism of our founder, Saint Camillus, we want to work in this area with groups of chronically ill people, children with nutritional problems and the elderly who are often abandoned and alone in their homes. We hope to be able to set up an outpatient clinic by 2025, we are very grateful to the “Madian Orizzonti” organization of the Camillian Missionaries of Turin, who have supported us with great affection and we trust in the support of many other people who will meet us on our way," stresses the missionary. "At the moment, unfortunately, the province is not free of problems due to the enormous difficulties in communication with the capital. It is very complicated to receive all kinds of goods from Port au Prince because Haiti is a country where everything is very centralized and everything comes from the capital. Recently, transport from the province to the capital, Jeremie, has also been difficult due to the rising prices of diesel and gasoline," he reports.
"In Pourcine Pic-Makaya, in our community, work is continuing on the aqueduct, we bring the water from the source to the center of the village. This is very important, not only because it shortens the distance between the source and the valley where most people live, but above all because it allows us to purify the water and avoid/limit the constant and frequent epidemics of cholera and intestinal diseases. In addition to the aqueduct, work to support agriculture is also continuing. We hope to create a coffee nursery in the coming months in the area that in the past provided some prosperity. But we do not give up hope and we continue to fight for better living conditions," said Father Miraglio. "The aqueduct, the schools, the kindergarten, the mobile clinics, all these are important aspects to revive the hope of the population and ensure that their living conditions improve and prevent people from leaving these rural towns to concentrate in the metropolis or in the provincial towns that, like Jeremie, are already overcrowded and where there is no possibility of giving work and hope to these people who leave the countryside to come to the city. With courage and determination we continue our commitment alongside these rural populations, we try to support them in their faith, to accompany them so that one day they can have a decent standard of living," he concludes. (Agenzia Fides, 25/9/2024)
MM
