What Life in Haiti Is Like on Day 23
- Zenit

SÃO PAULO, Brazil, FEB. 4, 2010 (Zenit.org).- The Dominicans working in Haiti are still sleeping outside; since the Jan. 12 earthquake and series of aftershocks, buildings are still not safe.

There are not enough tents for all the homeless, however, and the elementary needs of food and medicine continue to be the priority.

These are the observations made to ZENIT by Dominican Father Manuel Rivero, provincial vicar of the order in Haiti, who was in Brazil at a meeting of Dominicans serving Latin America to consider the Haiti medium- and long-term response.

"The aid is not only economic," Father Rivero assured, "but also human and spiritual. The Church, mystery of communion, is a source of hope for the Haitian people."

The Dominican friar recounted how Haitians, as "believers, don't stop praying." He said the majority have not fallen into blaming God, but rather, "Jesus Christ continues to protect his Church. During the aftershocks of the quake, the prayer raised to heaven [was] 'Jesus! Jesus!'"

Father Rivero also affirmed that there is a reason for Haitians to look to the future: "Solidarity and friendship between peoples are sources of hope. The worst thing would be to feel abandoned. But this isn't the case!"