(ANS - Port-au-Prince) - On 12 January 2010, the history of Haiti changed forever. At 4.53 p.m. local time a strong earthquake, with its epicentre 15 kilometres from Port-au-Prince, shook the earth with an intensity of 7.0 on the Richter scale. It needed only a few seconds for everything to become a cloud of dust as most of the buildings collapsed. Today, thanks to the solidarity and support received, the Salesians continue to work in the country.

The earthquake brought death and desolation. Schools and hospitals collapsed. It left thousands of refugees, a million orphans and more than 350,000 people injured. The Salesians, who have been serving the Haitian people for almost 80 years, continue to work for the reconstruction of schools, training centres and infrastructure for those most in need. With help from all over the world they were able to repair some damaged buildings and build new ones, but especially, they gave young people the opportunity to receive an education.

However, despite all that they have done, there are still more than 170,000 people living in tents in the camps for displaced people and another million people who live in unsafe buildings. In addition, thousands of children and young people are not in school.

After six years, the Salesians are working with 30,000 young people in their ten communities. More than 20,000 children in the Little Schools of Father Bohnen receive an education and a plate of food every day. The school at Timkatec has about 800 pupils. The agricultural school in Cap-Haiten is training 350 young people. More than 1,000 children study at the large educational centre in Gressier. About 170 children receive elementary education in Fort-Liberté and 160 young people there are studying nursing. We must not forget the young people from the streets that are cared for by the Salesians in a special centre called Lakay.

The Salesian Congregation and the Salesian Mission Office in Madrid express their gratitude to all the benefactors and to the Salesians who have worked for Haiti over the past six years.

Published 12/01/2016