On January 12, 2010 we felt the ground reverberate in the Dominican Republic. We were perplexed, frightened and we could not even imagine the total destruction that our Haitian brothers and sisters experienced.   When finally we learned of the terrible earthquake, and the collapse of buildings throughout the capital city, we contacted our friends there immediately. We heard their pain, but we were astounded to hear of the thousands of dead--children, the elderly, housewives, laborers, professionals, students, farmers, as well as Dominicans who worked in Haiti. In this moment of tragedy we created a solidarity committee of CONFENACA, Jesuits and Dominican governmental leaders. We collected food, clothes, medicine and water and at least 100 trucks began taking these items to Haiti, continuing throughout subsequent days. We haven’t stopped yet.

 

One of the members of our Board had gone to Haiti five days before the earthquake. Thank God he is still with us. This earthquake has affected millions of people, and the reality is that in the Dominican Republic, we can expect thousands of Haitians to come to us, because they have nowhere else to turn but our country.

 

We are helping these brothers and sisters as best we can by providing a base of orientation, information and protection to the Haitians who seek our aid. We are planning to construct a center for their protection, so that each time an undocumented worker enters our country, they will have a secure place to stay, receive the information they need to avoid persecution by the immigration authorities, teach them that they need work no more than eight hours a day under our laws.

 

The worst for us is to see the inability and lack of resolve of Haitian politicians to provide solutions for the crisis that has affected their country. We see huge difficulties for Haiti stretching far into the future.

 

These same politicians have spirited away millions of dollars to Switzerland and Canada, causing even greater suffering to the Haitian population in their hour of need. People are arriving to the Dominican Republic with missing limbs and suffering the loss of family members. But they also tell us of their hunger and the lack of basic services. Haiti will not have a future, if the sins of the past regimes continue—receiving aid which never reaches the poorest of this country. Impoverished Haitians have no defense, and the Haitian political leaders have neglected to provide any kind of fundamental program for human development. So it remains with us to help them go forward at all levels. Haiti is a country of dust and ashes, profoundly poor and desperate, but in this moment CONFENACA will follow our mission, doing what we can and lending a hand to our Haitian friends. 

 

Luis Urea

President of CONFENACA