Hurricane Oscar: Catholic sisters overcome flooded and destroyed roads to help victims

In Cuba, two Catholic sisters are making a difference after the impact of Hurricane Oscar in the municipality of Imías, in the eastern province of Guantánamo, by taking the initiative to bring food to their affected neighbors who lost everything.

Facing flooded roads hindered by fallen trees, Dainelis and Mailié, young people from the Santa Rosa de Lima parish in Mías, in the Diocese of Guantánamo-Baracoa, got food after climbing a crane that crossed the highway that connects the municipalities of San Antonio del Sur with Imías. The food was mainly intended for the elderly with care needs, the disabled and children.

“It is a feeling of affinity with other people who are in that situation, knowing that you can put yourself in the shoes of those people and understand that practically the same thing happened to us, and that it could even have been worse,” Dainelis shared in a shared interview by Cáritas Cuba to ACI Prensa on October 30.

Flooding and 120 km/h winds caused severe damage, including house collapses. In addition, state media has reported that eight people lost their lives due to the natural disaster.

“There were several floods; There were houses that were completely collapsed, not only in the town of Mías, but also in Yacabo Abajo, Macambo, and the beach area, which was badly damaged and destroyed. We were cut off from the municipality of San Antonio,” explained Dainelis.

Both reported that the priest who serves the parish in Mías and San Antonio had to cross a bridge under repair to bring donations to the most affected areas. They, for their part, had to get on a crane to be able to cross to the other side of the bridge and receive the donations. “We took them to the most affected community at that time, which was Yacabo Abajo,” says Mailié.

Finally, both thanked the people who helped them identify the damaged houses and thus reach the majority of those affected. In addition, they are still working to organize help, such as preparing lunches, and maintaining communication with the father to continue supporting the affected community.

Cáritas Guantánamo-Baracoa, through a publication on your social networksexpressed “immense gratitude for every prayer, thought, word and generous deed: we know of collections, collection of resources, timely purchases according to needs and more merciful steps that accompany brothers in fragility.”

“The course of your service encourages us and reminds us of the Father’s Word: ‘You will be enriched in every way so that you can be generous on every occasion, and so that through us your generosity may result in thanksgiving to God. ‘ (2 Corinthians 9:11)”, he concluded.