GLOBAL SISTERS REPORT ON HAITI
On January 24th, Global Sisters Report published an article on the situation in Haiti written by Chris Herlinger, which was submitted to us by Sr. Janice Farnham, RJM. The entire article is attached to the email accompanying Bridges or can be read online. The article is being used with permission and below is an excerpt.
Haiti enters 2022 facing a multitude of dangerous, daunting challenges
Two telling anecdotes illustrate the grim reality of life in Haiti as the country enters 2022.
On a recent Saturday in the capital city of Port-au-Prince, a group of people desperate for food opted not to come to a church-run food distribution site because they knew they risked being kidnapped or murdered on the way.
“Imagine choosing, ‘Should I eat or should I risk my life for food?’ Clearly we would all choose the same thing, but that’s astounding,” said Dawn Colapietro, a lay missionary for the Sisters of Charity of St. Elizabeth in New Jersey who has long experience working in Haiti and heard the anecdote from a woman working at the center.
Colapietro recounts a related story from a trusted colleague about a Haitian priest who never much liked breakfast but now eats “a hearty breakfast every day because he knows that if he gets kidnapped that day, that it will be the last meal he will eat for several days,” she said. “It’s that change of mindset which shows how things have changed fundamentally in Haiti.”
