Today we traveled through the rubble strewn, traffic clogged streets of Port-au- Prince, hoping to find out what had happened since the earthquake to the Lakay center for children, that we profiled in a previous visit to Haiti. Even before the earthquake there were thousands of homeless kids living on the streets in Port-au-Prince. Luckily for them they had Father Atilio Stra, a Catholic priest from Italy, who runs Lakay, an inviting place where boys are taught carpentry and electrical skills, and girls learn cosmetology, so that one day they will live better lives.
As we approached the site where the Lakay center had stood, already we were seeing nothing but destroyed buildings Where once was a protective wall that surrounded Lakay, separating the children from the mean streets from where they came there was now just another pile of rubble. We feared the worst. The courtyard of Lakay was empty, and the school building that was so active during our last visit, had collapsed. The hundred plus kids from Lakay were now sitting idly watching television, while Father Pierre, one of the priests that works with Father Atilio, sat in a daze next to them. “I don’t know what to do.” Father Pierre told us. “The school collapsed, ten children are missing, and Father Atilio broke his back when his house fell down during the earthquake. Looters have taken all the school’s equipment and desks, and I have no money to feed my own family, let alone the hundred and thirty kids here. No aid comes to this area, it only goes where the TV cameras are. I just have the kids watch TV all day to distract them from the horrible reality that surrounds us.”
As Father Pierre told us what happened, sounds of a shotgun blast echoed around us. He shook his head. “I don’t know how long I can protect these kids. The looters keep coming back.” Father Pierre took us around the backside of the collapsed school to show us the damage, and our footsteps startled a group of teenage looters. Father Pierre picked up a handful of rocks, hurling them at the kids as they ran off. “Our country is gone,” is all he could say as he watched them disappear down the street.
