Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
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Pourcine (Agenzia Fides) - In Pourcine Pic Makaya, the sowing season is coming to an end. The next two months will be difficult for the people awaiting the harvest. They have "put everything they have in the form of money into the ground," that is, they have used it to prepare the land and sow.
"In the coming weeks, agricultural work will decrease significantly; the Community will be able to work on repairing some roads and paths that connect the village plateau with other towns," writes Father Massimo Miraglio, a Camillian missionary in Haiti, to Fides.
“With a salary for the people, organized into work teams, we can help several families in a very difficult economic time. The results we seek are twofold,” continues the Camillian parish priest of Notre Dame du Perpétuel Secours in Pourcine: “to improve the usability of some roads (also to make them safer for children going to school) and to financially assist more than 200 families with a small financial contribution from their work.”
The village of Pourcine Pic Makaya is located on a plateau at an altitude of approximately 1,000 meters and surrounded by rugged mountains, where numerous hamlets are connected by difficult and steep paths. Just under 300 families live in Pourcine, with a total of almost 1,500 people; the hamlets, about 15 in number, are home to around 2,000 people. The village is the center of all the area's inhabitants, and a market is held every Wednesday, the center of the area's economic activity. In Pourcine, there are two schools, one public and one parish, and a small (informal) parish clinic. Paths lead from the plateau to all the other villages (some several hours' walk away) and to the three main tracks that connect Pourcine to the rest of the region: the first to the town of Beaumont, the second to the adjacent Castillon valley, and the third to the valley floor and Jérémie.
“This entire network of mountain roads plays a fundamental role,” explains Fr. Miraglio, “allowing people to travel from the center to the villages, to the land they cultivate, to the markets for local produce, and to the neighboring towns in the region. Unfortunately, due to the terrain, heavy rainfall, and poor maintenance, this network of roads is in poor condition and, especially during the rainiest periods, is often impassable. Rural roads in particular, which are especially valuable because they allow the transport of products on mule and ensure connections to neighboring areas, are in poor condition. On rare occasions, the local community organizes, with the limited resources at its disposal, to clear the roads and improve their viability.”
To help the population, Father Máximo is working on a project to "rehabilitate and maintain the roads and mule tracks that connect the villages of the Pourcine-Pic Makaya mountain community." This project will enable the population to travel more safely and quickly, using the mules available to transport more local products and essential goods for the community's life. The project also aims to foster the economic and social development of the area, counteracting depopulation and promoting a participatory and sustainable work model.
“The direct beneficiaries of the project will be 268 people,” reports the Camillian, “who will be directly involved in the cleaning and maintenance of the trails, while the indirect beneficiaries will be the entire population of Poucine Pic Makaya, who will be able to benefit from the improvements to the trail network. In particular, the children who daily walk the trails leading from the various villages to the plateau where the school is located will be able to travel more safely and quickly. The direct beneficiaries, men and women (coordinators, team leaders and laborers), will be chosen from among the residents of the most remote areas who most need these income-generating activities at a particularly difficult time for the farmers in the area.” (AP) (Agenzia Fides, 19/3/2025)
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