World News
Salesian ministries in Haiti recovering, but much remains to be done
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NEW YORK (CNS) -- Describing the devastation in Haiti after last January's earthquake, Salesian Father Mark Hyde compared the scene to what he had witnessed a year earlier. Visiting Salesian schools in February 2009 as director of Salesian Missions, based in New Rochelle, Father Hyde saw "thousands of children all over the place, having fun, going to classes." Older students were enrolled in teacher training and other professional programs. Having seen campuses bursting with life last year, he said that when he returned shortly after the quake, it was all the more difficult to look upon "all that rubble, no children around, the desolation." Salesian Missions has been given responsibility for coordinating all Salesian mission efforts for Haiti worldwide. Father Hyde went back to Haiti in April and again in July, and he's about to return for another visit. There is still an enormous amount of work to do, but the scene is more hopeful. Several Salesians are living in a temporary residence that was under construction in April but is now finished. Temporary classrooms have been completed and painted, and "they're looking very spiffy," Father Hyde said in an interview with Catholic New York, archdiocesan newspaper. They have been equipped with chalkboards, desks, stools and wooden benches, and 3,000 children are attending classes, he said.
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