2/24/2004
and 2/26/2004
Another update from our colleagues in Haiti
2/24/2004
Greetings once again from Gros Morne where there is considerable
sadness on the part of many because the Opposition party has rejected
the international community's peace proposal. It is not that we
are overly surprised at the fact, but we had hoped and prayed so
hard that there might have been some face-saving breakthrough where
some side could have backed down, but both Aristide and his opponents
seem to have dug in their heels. The showdown surely will be at
the cost of many lives as the militants propose to move on St. Mark
and then the capital.
We heard news
that last night the city of Port-de-Paix fell into the hands of
the rebel forces. Again they have destroyed many government buildings
and the homes of known Lavalas supporters. Some of the men paid
a visit to the Montfortain High School there, but we have no details
other than this. We do not believe that they harmed anyone or anything
at the college. It was just a bit upsetting to the folks there,
you can imagine.
Life here for
the most part continues as normal, except for the increasing hunger
of the poor and increased anxiety on the part of many now that the
peace proposal has failed and Port-de-Paix has been taken by the
rebels. There were some who had a demonstration in town yesterday
and rumor has it that they were celebrating because they had been
misinformed that Aristide has stepped down. Some will surely rejoice
over such news as others will just be saddened.
Many have asked
what they can do. Today's NY Times had an article on "Little
Haiti" in Miami that discussed the plight of Haitians in detention
who are awaiting asylum hearings. There are concrete proposals for
reform of the policies of detaining Haitian refugees in this article.
These would be some things that people might want to address with
their elected officials.
2/26/2004
Greetings from Gros Morne where once again our hopes have been dashed.
Every time some international group attempts to broker a peaceful
resolution to the terrible conflict here we are always so hopeful.
Today our hopes were in the UN Security Council's meeting which ended
with no apparent decision for immediate action to help put an end
to this very volatile situation.
Meanwhile in
our more immediate area, the city of Port-de Paix (which while only
a few miles away is a grueling 2 ½-3 hours away) has become
prey to thieves, many of whom are prisoners who were freed by some
of the opposition militants. The minor seminary which is administered
by the Montfortain order has been pillaged and the fathers and brothers
are concerned about their high school. Several government buildings
such as the customs house and police station have been burned. Here
in Gros Morne vagabonds have destroyed some of the "little
merchants" wooden stalls in the market place and spent part
of the night roaming the streets. Once again it is the poor who
are suffering the effects of this crisis both in such destructive
actions as well as in the ever increasing cost of food and other
supplies which are becoming more scarce as the routes to the south
stay blocked.
Yesterday we
also had another cause for concern. After the Ash Wednesday a.m.
Liturgy we heard that our town's hospital's vehicle had been stolen
along with all of the medical supplies that they had gone to purchase
in Port-au Prince. Later, however, we rejoiced to hear that the
vehicle and supplies had actually only been detained in the city
of St. Mark which is currently in the control of armed pro Aristide
militants. Since vehicles coming to Gros Morne have to pass through
Gonaives which is in the hands of anti government militants, the
folks in St.Mark wanted to check all of the boxes of supplies to
see that neither arms nor other supplies were being brought to the
militants in Gonaives. Once they had opened each box to ascertain
this they let the driver, vehicle and all of its contents continue
on the way.
After our recent
hopeful news that schools had planned on reopening we are sad to
say that the parents of students in the town have decided that there
is still too much unrest for the schools to be safely opened on
March 1st. Within days or even hours the atmosphere here can change
so drastically. All news of more conflicts around us and every failure
at brokering a peace accord bring increased anxiety to everyone.
Peace and love-
Jackie and Pat
Pat is an
educator, and Jackie is a nurse working in Gros Morne, a town one
hour north of Gonaives, a center of the political unrest in Haiti
at the present time. Both are Roman Catholic nuns. Please refer
to the Haiti section of our website for a description of Gros Morne.
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