Haiti in "dire situation" three years after devastating quake

(Vatican Radio) The Secretary General of Caritas Internationalis, the Church’s confederation of 164 Caritas agencies around the world, says Haitians are still struggling under the weight of severe poverty three years after a devastating earthquake struck the island nation in January 2010. Haiti remains one of the world’s poorest nations.

Michel Roy told Tracey McClure the situation is “not very good indeed because the earthquake took place at a moment in the life of Haiti, of the people of Haiti, which was already not very good. This country has been torn down by poverty for so many years. The earthquake gave a very bad stroke to already very poor people and they are still living a lot in poverty.”

Roy says the devastation wrought by Hurricane Sandy late last year “has increased even the vulnerability of the people” and that 360,000 people are “still living in camps three years after having been put in huts. It’s a really dire situation.”

The Caritas Secretary General urges the international community to take greater responsibility in helping the Haitian government and administration to tackle the problems facing their country. “The Haitian government,” he says, “has not been up to the job to be able to bring life to normal for so many people who were victims of the earthquake.” Financial aid, he suggests, needs to be more efficiently channelled to the people and places that need it most.

In the interview, Roy describes some of the work Caritas organizations are doing on the ground to assist the people of Haiti. Besides training for farmers and providing seeds and equipment, Caritas also offers income-generating programs targeting women.

“When women take care and take responsibility (for things), things change. Women’s groups are very active…at the service of the whole family.”

Despite the challenges facing his team, Roy says Caritas will remain in Haiti for the long term, “with a focus on development though many people are still in a survival situation so they have to be helped in a humanitarian way.”

Listen to Tracey McClure’s extended interview with Michel Roy: