NEW ROCHELLE: 17th January 2010 -- Now that Salesians and
Salesian relief workers have been inside Haiti and returned to the
Dominican Republic, a clearer picture of the devastation and loss of
life is emerging. In Rome, the names of three (not four)
Salesians have been entered into the Necrology: Bro Hubert Sanon, 85,
and clerical students Wilfried Atismé, 28 and Valsaint Vilbrun,
26. There are other injuries - Fr Attilio Stra from the LAKAY
street children centre has been airlifted to a hospital in Santo
Domingo with a back injury but his injury is not life-threatening and
he is in good spirits. The degree of assistance and direct
intervention from ANT Province is outstanding and this province has
become an essential staging post for relief activity.
The situation at ENAM (École Nationale des
Arte et Métiers) remains disastrous. With no heavy lifting
equipment available, no international teams are able to gain access to
either the living or the dead under the rubble. The area has also been
subject to looting. The 'normal' time frame for rescue with hope of
finding survivors has now expired. The number of students may be as
many as 500, despite the earlier quoted figure of 200.
Huge support is coming in from around the Salesian
world. Even some of the tiniest Salesian presences in mission areas
have wanted to do their bit with what little they have.
In our own region, Fr Albeiro Rodas in Cambodia, a
journalist by profession, has been active in providing information to
the Cambodian people via communications media in the country. He
has also placed videos on YouTube in direct support of Salesian
Missions, the result of the Comms Dept which he runs. You might like to take a look at
this link.
Meanwhile in Haiti the provincial council has been
able to meet and establish priorities both for this emergency phase and
to look at steps for longer-term operations.
Unless there are dramatic developments or particular
items of interest coming out of our own region in this regard, this
will most likely be the final report from austraLasia on the situation
for the time being. You can follow ANS, which has established a
number of direct contacts with key people and its information will be
up-to-date and as accurate as can be hoped for. _________________ AustraLasia is an
email
service
for the Salesian Family of Asia Pacific. It also functions
as an
agency for ANS based in
Rome.
For queries please contact admin@bosconet.aust.com
.
Use Bosconet-wiki
to be interactive. RSS feeds - just go to Bosconet, click on
austraLasia
2009 in the sidebar. You will see the RSS orange icon in your browser
address bar - add it from there. Or be interactive with the EAO blog Cetera Tolle. Avail
yourself of the Salesian
Digital
Library
at http://sdl.sdb.org
