“Yahweh, the God of the poor and the suffering.
Friar Zeca
He has gathered us here to sing his praise.
To give us hope and to count on his hand.
in building the Kingdom…”
Dear family, we want to share with you how our life and mission for Fonds Parisien-Haiti is going. Thank you for always accompanying us with prayers, messages and gestures of solidarity. We feel your close and attentive presence to the situation of this country and our suffering Haitian people, hopeful and trusting in God.
As many of you already know, all borders (land, sea and air) between the Dominican Republic and Haiti are still closed, which means that we are still in the Dominican Republic and from here we continue to coordinate the mission in virtual mode. On several occasions, from March to the present, we have approached the border to send food, medicines and other supplies. The situation was already difficult and worsened in July when the gang in the neighboring villages threatens to enter Fonds Parisien, causing people, according to the possibilities, to start moving towards the mountains, some where relatives, others at the mercy, just fleeing for their lives.
Before leaving Haiti in March, our community, together with the Provincial and General Teams, had been considering the possibility of continuing to accompany Haiti from Jimaní, the Dominican border town closest to our place of life in mission in Fonds Parisien.
For us, the Haitian community is seen as a great opportunity to continue accompanying our people from a closer distance, to meet them on market days and above all to make them feel that we have not abandoned them or left them to their fate.
The usual procedures were initiated: talk with the bishop, pastor of Jimaní (the parish is in the hands of the Claretians), and after dialogue, visits and meetings, the community was given the go-ahead to stay temporarily in Jimaní.
We see our presence there as coming from God, because the Jesuits have a house that used to be the offices of the SJRM (Jesuit Service for Refugees and Migrants) and at this moment it is not functioning due to lack of human resources, and upon learning of our search they have made it available and have also offered us to coordinate with them and other congregations a pastoral-social network, a work that does not impede the mission we have in Haiti.
On October 10, we were present at this border mission site in Jimaní. As with everything new, we have mixed feelings of joy and fear, but we are open, we want to let ourselves be guided by the Spirit of Jesus in this historic moment of our life. We continue to count on your prayers and love, we want to tell you to sign up, the harvest is plentiful!
Mª Lusitania De Sousa, CCV
Fonds Parisien-Jimani Community
