AT THE CROSSROADS 33, 34, 35

AT THE CROSSROADS 33
Haiti Invictus (4)

Our Haitian friends have been confronting the question: what are the prospects for rebuilding Port-au-Prince and the church there. These are their thoughts.

1. Rebuilding Haiti, and Port-au-Prince and its surrounding, in particular, must be rooted in a profound understanding of Haiti and the spirit of the Haitian people. The culture of voodoo which defines an essential part of the Haitian identity must be considered.

2. Direct aid in terms of food and clothing, shelter and medicine, tools and implements for survival must continue in the next few months, maybe lasting through the year. But for these to be received directly by the people, the CRS, the UN agencies and other non-government organizations must trust the Haitian people and the organized groups of the people. To partner with the people, for example, with the Haitian church, means having a base and a familiar structure that links the agencies and the people.

3. Encouraging the people to go to the provinces to decongest the city centers indicates the need for an effective decentralization of governance and economic activity. This entails building a system of social and physical infrastructure to link the cities and the countryside. Roads and transportation facilities and means of communications must be developed from the countryside to the cities.

4. Literacy and education must underpin this long-term socio-political-economic-cultural and religious journey of the Haitian people and church. Because many children and young people died in the earthquake and after, and the present survivors are victims of this traumatic experience, therefore especial attention must be given to the care of these surviving children and youth who will define the future of Haitian society and church.

6. In light of the history of Haiti and of the church of Haiti, the presence of the UN and of the US troops in Haiti must be looked into very deeply. Already now, despite the knowledge that their presence there might be needed to put order and security to the people and nation at this moment of their history, the question persists in the minds of the people: is there an invasion going on, to occupy Haiti in order to contain Cuba and Venezuela?

7. There is also the dignity and pride of the Haitian Church. Offers of help from outside churches have been made and are welcome. But the Haitian church says the seminarians must not be uprooted from the people they will serve. Parishes and schools must use both their local resources and foreign scientific aid. And the thrust of the reconstruction: Self-reliance, within the framework of international solidarity. – Fr. Ben Alforque, MSC

AT THE CROOSROADS 34
Haiti Invictus (5): Concluding Proposals

Phase I: Relief and Immediate Intervention Efforts:

1. In general, the Diocese of San Bernardino, or our parish, can explore the possibility of an on-going Sister-Church Solidarity Campaign by raising money, food, clothing, shelter, medicine, tools and implements for economic agricultural and/or industrial production. Private planes and the March Air Force Base planes can be partner to this campaign. Aid to mountain parishes can be facilitated by choppers. Riverside individuals helping Haiti now can pool resources together.

2. Special program for children and youth alongside the above relief efforts: Develop Literacy and Psycho-Social Programs for the Children and Youth. This must be accompanied by corresponding community organizing efforts, organizing parents and families together to provide a wholesome environment for their ongoing struggle for survival as well as for the care and education of the children and youth.

3. Network with US agencies that have the capacity to deliver pre-fab technology to Port-au-Prince for the immediate building of infrastructure and structures that can brave the rains and hurricanes that are coming in the next months. Set up mobile clinics and field hospitals.

4. Generate volunteers from the Diocese/parish to come and possibly help in the immediate work in Haiti, especially the programs for children and youth, while partnering with other bishops’ conferences for long term rehabilitation plans.
Phase II. Rehabilitation and Construction/Re-construction Efforts:

1. Partner with the Diocese of Port-au-Prince and Jacmel and their parishes in further developing community/parish organization and leadership training/formation.

2. Help build Sanctuaries/Sustainable Communities outside of Port-au-Prince and Jacmel, in the countryside through landbanking or identifying communities in the countryside who are willing to accept xx number of families. Look into the native natural and human resources of these communities, and help them be trained in scientific agriculture, manufacturing and delivery of services, setting up alternative health care programs, schools and churches, etc.

3. Set up sectoral programs for people’s empowerment: Children and literacy, Youth and development, women’s programs, economic programs for the youth and the adults, developing Haiti’s ecological resources: sea, air and land life. –Fr. Ben Alforque, MSC

AT THE CROSSROADS 35:

Between the Agony of the Cross and the Joy of Easter: HOPE!

The last couple of weeks prior to Easter were difficult times of the cross for our believing people. We were facing a political-economic-moral issue that cut to the heart of the cherished identity as patriots and Catholics: the Health Care Reform Law.

Many practical questions are being raised on the law itself, written on some 2700 pages, benefiting some 32 million uninsured Americans, estimated to cost some $938 billion and which will be gradually implemented for years. Disagreements seem to focus on the following: (a) the insurance system - banks and private insurance companies are stripped of their profits from student loans, in favor of direct government lending; (b) the impact of the costs on the poor, the middle class and the rich, the sick and the elderly - families with annual incomes of up to $88,000 will be assisted to pay for insurance; small businesses will also be subsidized as incentive to cover their employees, and insurance company practices denying coverage for sick people will be banned; and (c) federal funding for abortion – an accompanying executive order has been signed disallowing the use of federal funds for abortions, except in the cases of rape, incest or danger to the life of the mother.

Behind these disagreements are ideological issues like the role of government in a free enterprise system, and the definition of the relationship between individual freedoms and government regulation. Some have raised the issue on a more fundamental level as a choice between Democracy and Republicanism, Capitalism and Socialism, and between the Spirit of the Founding Fathers of America and the European Welfare State or Social Democratic models.

The situation has been agonizing for US Catholics, because the US Catholic Church has joined the public arena. With its Social Doctrine, and inspired by the Second Vatican Council, she enters into the US modern and post-modern society to preach the Good News and to offer an ethical and moral alternative based on the values of the Gospel. The next social arena where the Church will be involved in is on the issue of Comprehensive Immigration Reform. This has led outstanding and sincere Catholics to a troubled conscience and a divided loyalty: loyalty to the State or to the Church, to Society or Religion, to Ideology or Faith in Jesus the Christ and Kingdom of God! Yet we know that our journey towards newness is an experience of the Cross and Easter! And we live as a Confident People of Joyful Hope in the Resurrection. Happy Easter to all! – Fr. Ben Alforque, MSC