Augusnel's Reflection on a disturbing incident this week.

15.3.2020 – Augusnel Osme, a key member of the St. Luke Leadership Team,  was witness to a disturbing incident this week. He was compelled to share the reflection below.

For the past year Haiti has been facing a serious crisis of insecurity. Everyday something new happens. I often ask, when will this situation end? When will the security situation improve?

The incident occurred close to my home. It was something that I would never have expected to witness, not to mention in a place so close by. I live beside two camps where families sought refuge after the devastating earthquake of 2010. Unfortunately, 10 years later, families are still living as refugees. It is truly heart-breaking.

On Tuesday night,  a young man named Jean Eddy, who lived in one of the camps, was shot three times. His body was burned. Why? You may rightly ask yourself.  He was a known thief and he had been involved in the kidnapping of people for ransom in a neighboring camp.

When a country has a failing justice system and not enough police to protect an ever-growing population, the people can feel that the only way to protect their families is to take the law into their own hands. Unfortunately, where and when does it all end? Who will be the ones to say no more retaliations? Who will have the courage to stop the cycle?

Two days later, members of the Jean Eddy’s camp went to the other camp to seek revenge. They started shooting, and burning shacks. As a result, 20 homes were burned to the ground. From my own home, I could hear yelling, screaming and gunshots. I was so scared, I could not leave my home, I was in a panic...it was like a war zone outside. Eventually, the police arrived, but even they didn’t have enough men, enough fire power to beat back the gang. Eventually more responded to the call for help, and they gained control of the situation. Thankfully, there were no casualties this time. Yet, 20 families are now homeless".

One lost home, burnt to ashes, affects the lives of so many in a country that is always on its knees. They have already spent 10 years living in an inhumane situation - imagine how much worse their situation is now...How can their children be safe? How can they continue to live in such conditions?

Even though our programs are already stretched to the limit, as a leader, as a man, I had no choice but to share this story of human misery with Fr Rick and Nebez, the Director of the St. Luke programs. We are all brothers and sisters, all humans, and we are in a position to help, even if we can not solve every problem, we can help to solve some.

Thanks to Fr Rick and Nebez, and thanks to the generosity of our donors, we will be able to help 20 families get their shelter back. It will be simple, but it will be dignified. We wish we could do so much more, but we have to remember that just because we can not fix everything, helping twenty families in this way matters a great deal.

I share this just so that you know what we are working in. This is one of the thousands of serious incidents happening across the country every day. We hope and pray that some day soon the situation will change for the best and we thank you for continuing to stand with us.

 We are keeping all of you in our prayers that you will stay healthy and strong in these days of Corona Virus.