Hope for children of Haiti: God is in the center of everything we do

The situation in Haiti has become unsustainable. Criminal bands have been controlled, plunging the Caribbean country in an increasingly deep crisis. The main victims of this serious situation?: Children.

Millions of them live in areas controlled by these bands and the kidnappings, abuses and rapes are greater. A recent study indicates that sexual abuse of minors and adolescents by members of these dangerous bands has increased by 1,000% in the last two years, and recruiting 70%.

Criminals are not only taking away the future from these little ones, but also, in many cases, their own lives. But among all chaos and violence, small flashes of light arise, the “guardian angels” of these innocents who dedicate their lives to save the most vulnerable. While they continue working, there will be hope for Haiti.

Emmline Toussaint, of the BND (Bureau de Nutrition Et développement, Office of Nutrition and Development) and coordinator in Haiti of Mary’s Mealsthe organization that provides school meals to needy children is undoubtedly one of them. In Haiti, they feed 175,000 children in 500 schools.

Chaos reigns in Haiti

Last January 15 years of the terrible earthquake that hit the country in 2010, sweeping the life of 300,000 people. On that tragedy, Emmline says that many believed “that there was going to be a new beginning in the country.”

“With all the lost lives that day, with all the infrastructure that were lost, it could have been a way to rebuild Haiti differently. Unfortunately, that was not what happened, ”he laments in conversation with ACI Press.

He remarks that the life of many people, especially in the capital’s area, port prince, worsened dramatically. “People began to feel comfortable living under tents without responding to their basic needs. And to this situation, the phenomenon of armed bands was added six years later, ”he details.

“The Haitian police could eliminate the leader of the bands, but when you remove the leader and do not help other people, more leaders arise. So that was what we had. ” In addition, it emphasizes that several of the candidates for the presidential elections in 2011 and 2016 “used people in the marginal neighborhoods, giving them money and weapons just to have people by their side.”

He regrets that “today the gangs are uncontrollable” and that they currently control 90% of the metropolitan area. Today, in the Caribbean country there are up to 200 gangs, 20 of them in port prince. Its members control the main roads, access to the airport and the control of the port, plunging the country in an absolute chaos with violence as a flag.

“They control all roads that give access to other important areas of Haiti, preventing food from reaching. They also control the north and want to reach the most accommodated areas, making a kind of circumference. If they succeed, we can say that 100% of the Prince port area will be under its control. ”

“Children are the future, and without food are more vulnerable”

On the main victims, children, says that “they are the future, and without food they are more vulnerable.” He points out that many of them, even with 9 or 10 years, are recruited by the bands and become their own “army”, since they offer them food and the basics to live, something that their parents cannot offer them. However, it emphasizes that minors that bind to these gangs are the most vulnerable “and victims of our society.”

And how to convince a child not to join these, these bands? The answer is also clear: food.

“When you are hungry, then you attack. Simply, you would do anything just to eat. They take a little boy who does not have the ability to distinguish what is good from what it is not, and they give him a gun, promising that if they take the gun they will eat. And then he will take her. But if you give him the food, then you will stop accepting that gun. And that is where the meal program intervenes, ”he explains below.

From Mary’s Meals they carry out a school feeding program, reaching the children of numerous schools in the country. It emphasizes that we must have “good planning” in terms of logistics, and also anticipate, so that food can reach its warehouse on time, which it refers as “a strength.”

In addition, he points out that they work with local carriers, which help them take food from the warehouse to schools. He states that they take their job very seriously. “To handle the situation, we have to always be alert. For example, every day we have 9 or 10 trucks on the road, I am not going to sleep until I confirm that the conflicting places have passed. ” They also use small ships, to avoid gangs that are blocking the road.

“Education is the key”

Many families are forced to move when the bands take the areas where they live. Emmline explains that there is a greater tendency to move to other areas outside the area of ​​violence, where “the number of children is increasing.”

It emphasizes that they help these children through schools since they believe that “education is the key.” “We drive children by giving them food every day, but at the same time they learn something, and this is the main thing. This is the main reason why we can believe that there is hope for Haiti, ”he emphasizes.

“We need leaders who have faith”

Emmline was born in Haiti, where he has lived “always.” BND, the organization for which he has been working since 1986, and are now more focused on school feeding. He works in this organization since 2003, and began collaborating with Mary’s Meals in 2019 ..

“We really see things in the same way. We see that education is the key. This is the main thing for us, we help them but we also show them that they can help themselves, ”he says.

The situation is complicated. She has seen many of her classmates lose their homes, and she herself found a lost bullet in her daughter’s room. “Although we have all these problems, we have hope, and our staff is very motivated, they will work every day even though the situation gets worse. Children and schools need us. ”

Although a lasting peace is still not glimpsed on the horizon, the Haitian affirms that it is necessary to help people in need, including gang members. “We need leaders who believe it is time to change the situation. It is not acceptable that children cannot go to school, it is also not acceptable that they have weapons. If they are stopped by ammunition, it would be a great step. ”

“We need leaders who have faith, because if you don’t have faith, you can’t change the situation,” he remarks.

He emphasizes that “the new generation that comes”, the children of four, five, six, or ten years old, “are the ones who really need our help.” “I think that helping them first, helping them to get the minimum, the basics, get somewhere to sleep, eat, water and then education, we could change the situation,” he says.

“God is in the center of everything we do”

Emmline explains how your faith helps you overcome difficulties. “I have many Catholic priests and we support ourselves. We work closely with priests, we have many schools that are supported by the Church and that are in our program. ”

He points out that the country’s presbyters help them to know the reality of the situation, because “they work in the marginal neighborhoods, they work in those affected areas, so they help us know exactly what is happening at this time.”

“If it weren’t for God, I think we would not have a country at this time. I always say that it is because Haitians pray a lot. That’s why we still have that little hope. But at the same time, I always say that God is telling us: ‘I am helping you’, but it is time for us to get involved, because we cannot have only his hand, we have to work on it, ”says Aci Press.

“I think God is always with us and that he is very present. We are lucky that all our employees are alive, were not kidnapped, although they have lost things. But they have not scared and can work every day, and go to the road every day. So faith is everywhere we are working on. The main thing is faith, God is in the center of everything we do. ”

Emmline shares how he witnessed the purest generosity even in the midst of extreme poverty. Remember especially one day in a school, at lunchtime. Next to a child who ate fast, there was one who without eating was putting food on his plate.

“To the friend who was sharing his food, I asked him if he had eaten. He told me no, but he didn’t care. His mother is a street vendor and knew he was going to have food when he got home. However, his friend had six brothers, he had no father and his mother did not work. With that hope he decided to help his friend, who had no hope at all. ”