Resources, responses to questions, updates on Haiti
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Dear readers,
The cartoon at the left was prepared by well-known Uruguayan cartoonist and journalist Luis Haro, who sent it to a fellow Salesian journalist in Cambodia, Fr Albeiro Rodas, with the encouragement to use it freely in any campaign. Should readers prefer the original version (approx 2Mb download), let me know, or you can find a larger version on the blog http://enhaiti.wordpress.com/ which is being run by Fr Albeiro. This blog, largely in Spanish, contains video updates as well on the situation.
In the UK, Fr David O'Malley, vice provincial, has prepared a ppt presentation for use in their schools. It would be equally usable in other English-speaking settings. It too is approx a 2Mb download . He suggests 'Bridge over troubled waters' as a suitable musical accompaniment and would email you a wma file of that if you needed it.
The Salesian Missions CNN iReport may also be a useful resource for you.
In all of this we need to be very careful of misinformation, well-intentioned though it may be. Fr Mark Hyde who is coordinating the Salesian Relief operation from Salesian Missions in New Rochelle was in touch this morning noting that MISNA had stated '200 seminarians' under the rubble at the collapsed Salesian school at Enam. This is incorrect. They are school students. The report was then repeated by an Australian-based Catholic agency, Aid to the Church in Need.
Current information (there are now Salesians and FMA from Santo Domingo in Port-au-Prince evaluating the situation) suggest that four Salesians have died. A fifith, is seriously injured and will be flown to Santo Domingo at earliest opportunity. There is no change reported in the situation of the collapsed school where a significant number (200 is being quoted, some quote more) of students are under the rubble. Natural fears are that many if not most will not have survived but currently we simply do not know.
Other Salesians have been injured. The Antilles Provincial who is in Port-au-Prince is endeavouring to set up an 'air-bridge' to get the worst injured to hospitals in Santo Domingo. The Provincial in Port-au-Prince, who is unharmed, is setting up a coordination centre in what remains of the Provincial House. All the communities in the city were physically destroyed.
Santo Domingo Salesian presences are considered to be likely staging points for relief efforts already under way by Salesian and Catholic agencies. All of these efforts are being coordinated, however, in conjunction with the US Federal Emergency Management Agency.
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(continued from FMA report)
Sr. Elizabeth tells us: “Truly, the sisters feel the strong protection of Mary Help of Christians, with faith and serenity, and even though they are fearful because of the tremors that continue, they still have hope.” Notwithstanding the shock, they are seeking to give this hope to others and have taken on the care of the girls who are with them.
Their preoccupation is that of not being able to communicate.
The FMAs of the Antilles province are planning other trips to Haiti, and after having seen what is needed they are organizing things in the best way possible.
"When we arrived at the house of Pétion Ville,” continues Sr.Elizabeth, “from the outside we could already see the condition that it was in. We met the animator, Sr. Aline Nicolás, and were frightened, but she welcomed us with a smile and a strong embrace and said, ‘We are all safe!’
We will probably have to raze the house, but the sisters and aspirants are all right. Even the sisters of Kenscoff are fine. We have no news from the community at Jacmel, and we are planning to go there by a road that is less frequented.”
“I have one more thing I want to tell you,” said Sr. Elizabeth, “and it is about the people of Haiti who have been so afflicted. During our return trip, we saw lines of people who were looking for their loved ones or who were moving to leave the city. On their faces I saw dignity in their suffering. The suffering faces that I saw were also faces of hope. Even our sisters carry sorrow in their hearts, but they succeed in showing that they are hopeful and share the little that they have.”
"There is fear of rioting and problems, but there is hope that the international organizations that are arriving on the island can support the people with their help. A great problem is the crowds of people at the border with Santo Domingo, where people are trying to escape.”
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