Following the earthquake last year many NGO got down to work immediately, according to their own special areas of competence, dealing with the initial emergency and then contributing to the re-construction of the country, accompaning the efforts of the Mission Offices and the Rinaldi Foundation, which from tne end of March 2010 assumed responsibility for the coordination of the work.
The various organisations are cooperating in a variety of works. At Cap Haitien work is in progress on repairing the water and electricity supplies and on the rebuilding of the premises of the agricultural school and of the community house.
Meanwhile, the house at Cayes is already re-connected with the internet and family support operations have re-commenced. At Cité Soleil 18 new pre-fabricated structures are being put up for school use and the plans for the rebuilding of the surrounding wall to ensure the securiity of the whole site have been approved.
At the centre in Drouillard re-building of the damaged parts is in progress. The work of re-construction at the “Ecole Nationale des Arts et Métiers” (ENAM) is proving more complicated. The complex centre includes a nursery section, a prmary school and a vocational training centre, the “Lakay” for street children, a teachers’ training centre and the administrative offices of the Little Schools of Father Bohnen (OPEPB) in addition to a bakery which is feeding about 20,000 children. Here, after the rubble was cleared, lessons started up again thanks to the temporary classrooms in the yard. Land had also be acquired on which to build the “Nouvel ENAM”.
At Fleuriot-Tabarre work has begun on the new house of the Vice Province, the study centre and postnovitiate, and at Fort-Libertè re-construction continues on the reception centre and on the school of nursing. At Gressier the buildings of the Institute are being repaired, those of the primary school and the external wall, while work on the community house and the teachers’ residence is still at the planning stage.
At Thorland work has been progressing on the surrounding wall and on some pre-fabicated buildings. At Pétion-ville, finally, the building of the school has been completed.
The various projects have been made possible thanks to the Salesian net work of solidarity set up shortly after the disaster. NGO, Mission Offices, Associations and private individuals have contributed in a thousand ways. The funds collected, amounting to about 4 million and 300,000 euros in total, were managed at the initial emergency phase by the New Rochelle Mission Office, and since the end of March by the Rinaldi Foundation of Haiti. The Provinces of the Congregation alone, responding to the appeal of the Rector Major made a few days after the earthquake, have raised about 2.6 million euros.
Published 12/01/2011
