(ANS - Port-au-Prince) - Sr. Valeria Timóteo, FMA, from Brazil, has been living in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, since 2010. She works in the education of students from five major Salesian schools in the region. In an article in the Brazilian Salesian Bulletin, she speaks about what she has learned in Haiti.

by Camila Santos

I did not choose Haiti. It could have been any other country, any other place, but at that devastating moment, it was Haiti. I remember I was on vacation with the community. They were quiet days. Then between moments of fear and courage, I experienced many contrasting feelings. I thought, what will I do? I will never forget it. It was a situation that I had not expected. The answer had to be yes or no. Everything happened quickly. The images on television came flooding like a waterfall. I thought that I had few of the qualities needed for this new mission, so unexpected and difficult. Humanly, I felt so small in front of the reality that was facing me. God would give me whatever else I needed when the time came, and this is what happened. I'm glad I said yes.

There are many difficulties in Haiti today. I do not know which is the biggest but I believe that political instability is creating a general instability. As a result, investors and even emigrants do not have the courage to invest in the country, and the result is total abandonment. There is a lack of jobs, of decent housing, and of hospitals. Everybody is short of food. There are no decent schools, no basic sanitation, street cleaning, garbage collection, drinking water, and no paved roads in the city. There are no recreation facilities for the young people, who are crammed into the city with nothing to do. There are no buses for public transport, and so on.

In the last six months there has been unparalleled violence against the Church. It has been terrible. Religious communities - especially those of women - were attacked violently (...). These past few months have been very difficult. The Church of Jesus is being persecuted today. In most cases the attacks were carried out by young people.  Perhaps some were even students of our Catholic schools, like the majority of young people in the country. What a situation!

Many things have improved considerably in the country. But it is still not possible to see children in streets that are clean and safe, with street lighting at night and without piles of rubbish.

These people taught me the courage to fight, to have courage, the courage to go on living even in inhuman situations.

The full article is available, in Portuguese, on the site of the Brazilian Salesian Bulletin.

Published 7/10/2015