The latest news from Haiti via Fr. Mike Mendl's office in New Rochelle arrived in my e-mail box this afternoon. The Salesians are doing great relief work.
Support them if you can.
Aid Continues to Arrive from D.R.; Assessment of Properties Begins
Fr. Rogelio of the Antilles left for Port-au-Prince with two trucks of food on Tuesday, Feb. 2. A new shipment of food is being organized for Pétion-Ville, Carrefour-Thorland, and Cap-Haitien. The Antilles Province has already bought 4,000 family food rations, of which 2,000 will be sent to Cap-Haitien.
Salesian Missions is developing an emergency relief and reconstruction database (database) to help provide accountability of participating Salesian partners. Also, Salesian Missions will be contacting the Don Bosco Network and our GHQ in Rome to elicit comments and feedback in regard to compatibility and usefulness of this effort.
Fr. Mark is asking for feedback on the Salesian Haiti Emergency Relief Accountability Guidelines distributed on Jan. 17.
A shipment of medicines arranged by Jugend Eine Welt-Austria has arrived in Santo Domingo and will clear customs on the 3rd.
OXFAM is installing outdoor water spigots in Thorland to serve a displaced population of 12,000; three are already in operation.
Fr. Mark and the assessment and reconstruction team (VIS-NR) toured damaged facilities on Feb. 2; they are focusing on buildings and educational infrastructure reconstruction.
ANS has published the photo (above) and caption from the installation of Haiti’s new provincial. Your humble editor has added a bit to the caption.
Pétion-Ville, Haiti -¬ January 30, 2010 – At a solemn ceremony in Pétion-Ville on the eve of the feast of St. John Bosco, Fr. Ducange Sylvain (to left of bishop, presumably) took over as superior of the vice province of Haiti. Among those present were Archbishop Louis Kebreau, SDB, of Cap-Haitien, Fr. Esteban Ortiz, general councilor for the InterAmerica Region (bishop’s right), Fr. Victor Pichardo, provincial of the Antilles Province, Fr. Mark Hyde, director of Salesian Missions in New Rochelle (behind Fr. Ortiz), many of the Hatian Salesians, and representatives of the other branches of the Salesian Family.
