Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
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Pourcine-PicMacaya (Agenzia Fides) – "After three days of integration, each student takes their place in class, and things really get going. The students arrive in large numbers, the teachers are at their desks, and off they go... everyone has a great desire to spend a peaceful school year. In kindergarten and primary school, we have more than 200 children... for whose loving education we are responsible. Unfortunately, the situation is very different in many parts of Haiti, and many schools remain closed," commented Father Massimo Miraglio, Camillian missionary and parish priest in the village of Pourcine-Pic Makaya.
According to a new "Child Alert" report released by UNICEF in recent days, the number of children displaced by violence in Haiti has almost doubled in the last year. Six hundred and eighty thousand children have now been displaced from their homes, and a total of more than 1.3 million people have been forced to flee across the country, while spiraling violence, the collapse of services, and a lack of access to humanitarian aid are plunging the country into an ever-deepening crisis.
The number of refugee camps nationwide rose to 246 in the first half of 2025 alone, while many children have been forced to flee multiple times due to the escalating violence. "Children in Haiti face staggering levels of violence and displacement," said Catherine Russell, UNICEF Executive Director. "Every time they are forced to flee, they not only lose their homes but also the opportunity to go to school and simply be children. Schools often serve as places of refuge, further disrupting the education of nearly half a million students."
After the official opening of the new school year in his mountain community, Father Massimo also resumes the distribution of coffee plants from the nursery: 40 plots, each with approximately 70 seedlings. "The reviving coffee cultivation, which was delayed due to the rain and the closure of the land connection between Port-au-Prince and Jérémie, is of fundamental importance for the Pourcine-Pic Makaya community," the missionary had previously stated (see Fides, 5/3/2025).
"Several project participants came to the nursery with their own means of transport to collect their plots. Mules were also used," the missionary told Fides. "Others who live nearby came with sacks. During the final transplanting, the project participants are accompanied by a young agronomist who provides them with useful advice. Meanwhile, the coffee on the community land continues to ripen slowly. These first 4,000 seedlings are a small number, but they represent a small turnaround from recent years, when coffee began to disappear in various locations in the Pourcine-Pic Makaya region."
Haiti continues to face multiple crises: More than 3.3 million children require humanitarian assistance, and more than one million are affected by critical food insecurity. It is estimated that a total of 288,544 children under the age of five will suffer from acute malnutrition this year. (AP) (Agenzia Fides, 10/10/2025)
