Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Port au Prince (Agenzia Fides) – The Work of pontifical right Aid to the Church in Need (ACN) has launched a campaign to support the people of Haiti, which suffers the drama of infantile under nourishment and extreme poverty affecting 55% of the population. According to the World Bank and UNICEF, life expectancy in Haiti is 59 years; 23 per cent of the children suffers from serious under nourishment; 42 per cent of the population has no access to clean water; the infant mortality rate among children under 5 is 7.6 per cent, (21,000 children die every year); and 47 per cent of the population is illiterate.
Carmen Lagos, a volunteer working at a medical centre in the suburbs of Port au Prince, Haiti, says, “although we know that Haiti is the poorest country in Latin America, there are situations which are so different from ours that they are unbelievable ”. For example in Haiti “it is not obvious for there to be running water, it is not obvious that people can read and write, since only half of the children go to school ”. Carmen is a medical doctor and she saw the people suffer because of rising food prices due to the world economic crisis, “at the health centre the children we examined were increasingly under nourished ”.
Major Claudio Ramírez, a Chilean member of the UN peacekeeping mission in Haiti, says “our presence and work is fundamental for keeping order and supporting the local police and army”. However this is not enough, “the presence of a foreign peacekeeping force to guarantee a minimum of stability is not enough to promote the education and dignity of the people ” he added. In this field the local Catholic Church plays a fundamental role "preaching peace, promoting education and social work through parishes which are the basis of the future of the nation”.
The campaign launched by Aid to the Church in Need is based on three projects: adult education radio programmes; support for a parish; restructuring a centre of assistance and development for children, young people and the elderly.
Social and political unrest has gradually led Haiti back into the plague of violence. In this context the media have an important responsibility for promoting social peace. Information, according to how it is presented, can help to lessen tension or increase it. Aware of this the 9 Catholic radios in Haiti see themselves as “ peace-building media ” for rebuilding social peace. Radio stations receiving foreign aid are members of the Rete Stella network. ACN funds expenses for staff, technology and production. These Catholic radios provide important adult education programmes at the request of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Haiti, aware that education promotes national development.
The parish which ACN intends to support is San Pedro in Fond-Pierre parish opened in 2004. Its population of 15,000 subsistence farmers is extremely poor. The parish has 6 small chapels but no proper parish church. What is more the chapel at Fond-Pierre, which serves as a parish church, is in such a poor condition that it is too dangerous to use, and Mass is celebrated in a tent.
The third project is to restructure the Emmaus Centre which runs programmes for children, young people and the elderly. The Centre already provides programmes for the promotion of women, courses of formation for catechists, Bible study courses, courses for singing in church, preparation for baptism, first communion, confirmation and marriage and courses on topics such as justice and peace. (RG) (Agenzia Fides 25/6/2009; righe 44, parole 618)
