The cause and effect of each of these extreme moments lie in the absence of a government authority capable of organizing relief, as well as ensuring normal administration. When the old invaders were replaced by U.S. governments, dependence on distant powers and corrupt locals rose to the highest level, from which no further descent seems possible.
"It would take a miracle to come out of this web of poverty, violence, crime, and external conditioning," confides Father Stra. And to say that he knows about miracles: during the magnitude 7 earthquake of January 12, 2010 - which also severely affected Salesian structures, causing more than 300 victims among children, youth, and educators - he survived the collapse of the National School of Arts and Crafts (ENAM - École Nationale des Arts et Métiers), the first Salesian house in Haiti, founded in 1935; even at that time in an email sent to ANS - Salesian iNfo Agency he wrote: "I am alive by a miracle."
Despite that terrible experience and all the difficulties that still plague the country today, Fr. Stra never thought of leaving what has become his second homeland. Instead, together with his confreres and their collaborators, he strives to replicate in the 13 Salesian works in Haiti small daily "miracles."
The efforts made by the religious in the 2010 emergency were renewed two years ago following a new seismic disaster; sandwiched in between was Hurricane Mathew in 2016, bringing further death and destruction.
And a true miracle is that 70 Salesians are still in Haiti today. The houses with the Don Bosco insignia are a refuge for thousands of teenagers who, on the streets or in bars, come into contact with drug recruiters and extortionists. Despite this, or perhaps because of this, the Salesians themselves are not exempt from the attention of thugs: criminal gangs infest the streets, no government is able to counter them, and political power, under constant threat from crime lords, fails to evolve in a positive direction and ensure either order, security or peaceful coexistence.
All analyses lead to the view that there is no way out except for a "miracle," precisely. Yet, among small daily "miracles," the resilience of Father Stra and other missionaries is the only certain fact.
For more information, visit: www.missionidonbosco.org
