change language
you are in: home - press review newslettercontact uslink

Support the Community

  
February 4 2010

Haiti must build a new society based on justice, says Haitian bishop

 
printable version

ROME (CNS) -- The tragic destruction of Port-au-Prince and surrounding areas is an opportunity for Haiti and the world to rebuild a nation free from poverty and prejudice and based on justice and compassion, said the president of Caritas Haiti.

Bishop Pierre Andre Dumas of Anse-a-Veau et Miragoane also appealed to the international community to make aid be "more humane" in a way that respects human dignity and is free from self-interest, speculation, and politics.

The bishop spoke in Rome Feb. 3 at an event organized by the Sant'Egidio Community, which supports peace and development projects around the world, including in Haiti.

"If one world has crumbled, there is a new world to be built" that is based on compassion and solidarity, he said.

"The best needs to come out of this and not a return to how things were before," he said. He said reconstruction cannot follow the old ways of doing things in which the country is abandoned, people live in slums, and "we pretend that they are not our concern."

With the earthquake leveling almost 90 percent of housing in Port-au-Prince, Bishop Dumas said, "nature has allowed all of us to find ourselves in the same situation," with blacks, whites, and mulattos, rich and poor all living on the street or in tents.

"Therefore, why don't we all start from this with a new vision, a fresh start, and a new way of seeing things and of living together," he asked.

Right now the Haitian people need charity that is "intelligent, efficient, rapid, and consistent," he said.

Foreign assistance also needs to help Haitians be the leaders and builders who put their own nation back on its feet, he said.

"Help doesn't mean to take the place of Haitians" and try to solve all the problems unilaterally, Bishop Dumas said. Outside assistance needs to be guided by dialogue with credible local organizations, people on the ground, and the church, he said.

He said Haitians need cash-for-work projects, which give local people desperately needed funds to slowly rebuild lost savings and become self-sufficient instead of being dependent on slowly or insufficiently delivered aid.

Also, "cash-for-work encourages people to give the best of themselves," making them feel self-confident and good about their country, he said.

"We don't want the militarization or bureaucratization of aid," he said alluding to the military presence of the United States.

He said because of its geographic proximity, the United States could do much more by making aid more effective and getting it out to more people. However, Bishop Dumas asked that the United States avoid "an excessive militarization of aid -- the humane, humanitarian side is needed."

"The subject is Haiti and it's not a good thing when Haiti becomes the object" of someone else's agenda, he said.

"I'm launching an appeal that the human being be at the center" of people's attention and that human dignity be respected, especially that of children, he said.

The idea that people would take advantage of the tragedy in Haiti with illicit adoptions and human trafficking would be "madness," he said. And he urged people to support families in Haiti so that children who have lost one or both parents can still live with close relatives and family members.

Bishop Dumas met with Pope Benedict XVI briefly Feb. 3 at the end of the pope's weekly general audience.

He told Catholic News Service that the pope said "he is praying for us, he understands our suffering, he is together with us and the church, too, is together with us."


 ALSO READ
• NEWS
September 20 2017
MYANMAR (BURMA)

Let us help Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh

IT | EN | ES | DE | FR | PT | CA
October 31 2016
BAGHDAD, IRAQ

Sant'Egidio in Iraq: humanitarian aid and national and interreligious dialogue to overcome the crisis

IT | EN | ES | DE | FR | PT | RU
July 8 2016
MALAWI

The aid of Sant'Egidio Malawi arrives at the refugee camp of Luwani, where thousands of Mozambicans live

IT | EN | ES | DE | FR | PT | CA | RU
July 4 2016
LIBYA

Humanitarian aid in Libya after the agreement signed at Sant'Egidio: the first container of medicines has been delivered

IT | EN | ES | DE | FR | PT | CA | HU
February 11 2016

Emergency Burundi: departure of another container of aid for the victims of the food crisis

IT | EN | ES | DE | FR | PT | CA
January 15 2016
EL SALVADOR

Sant'Egidio sends humanitarian aid to El Salvador, hit by an epidemic of chikungunya

IT | EN | ES | DE | FR | PT | CA | RU
all the news
• PRESS
November 25 2017
La Vanguardia

La Comunidad de San Egidio se vuelca con los rohinyá mientras se espera al Papa

November 14 2017
Radio Vaticana

Viaggio tra i profughi Rohingya, fuggiti dal Myanmar

August 23 2017
Domradio.de

"Franziskus kann für Umdenken sorgen"

May 21 2017
Corriere della Sera

Ivanka vedrà il Pontefice e poi andrà a Sant'Egidio

November 16 2016
Münstersche Zeitung

"Grazie mille, Papa Francesco"

November 2 2016
Il Sole 24 ore - Sanità

Connessi al Centrafrica

the entire press review
• DOCUMENTS

Libya: The humanitarian agreement for the region of Fezzan, signed at Sant'Egidio on June 16th 2016 (Arabic text)

all documents

PHOTO

573 visits

503 visits

186 visits

662 visits

654 visits
all the related media