08/23/2002
Prague (Tzech Republic)
The Community helps the victims of the floods

Vanuit Praag, het verhaal van de hulp van de gemeenschap aan de slachtoffers van de overstroming die de stad getroffen heeft, in het bijzonder de bejaarden in de armste wijken.

Prague, August 21st, 2002

While the floods struck the city of Prague, the Community felt challenged by the suffering of many people who have lost everything they had. The rivers are now calm and as the water goes down the whole extent of the damage is revealed and it is truly huge.

Karlin and Hole�ovice are the districts most heavily struck by the floods, they are inhabited mostly by elderly and gipsies. They are both very poor areas.

Nearly all the inhabitants have been evacuated and for a week they have been living in schools, student houses, barracks or other places made available to the displaced.

The first answer to these people�s suffering was to visit them and pray with them while the water was still high. They were worried and afraid, we all were. To pray with them and the elderly of the institute where the Community goes during the year in such a particular moment has given back serenity and confidence.

As soon as the water started withdrawing we went to help the people � especially the elderly � to recover what was left of their homes. Many are completely covered with mud and unfortunately most of what they had cannot be recovered, which is very sad especially for the elderly. Most of them have spent their whole lives building their homos, slowly, buying the books, the paintings, the crystal tabletops or the pottery� and they have lost everything in just a few hours.

It is important for them to feel supported in such difficult moments � as they see their home for the first time after the catastrophe, when they have to leave their things behind�

We are also visiting one of the schools which has become a shelter for the displaced.

We went there to talk, bring our support, to be close to them. It was not a small help. Some told us: �With you we feel that there is somebody close to us. And your help is more precious to us than the food and the rest we receive here�.

The words of an elderly woman moved us deeply as she said, her voice broken: �In this time of sorrow angels have come to visit us!�.

Kristina Koldinska