Involve People As Much As You Can Even In The Smallest Process
Mario Serrano SJ, coordinator of Jesuit activities for Haiti in the Dominican Republic
I have many stories to share. Among them I choose the following one.
We left Santo Domingo for Haiti and on the way we decided to ask the donation trucks, which that day were going to Barahona, to drop us off in a boat from the industry to accompany us. We arrived in Jimani, a border village with Haiti, left an organised team with staff from Bono and the Poveda Centre and crossed the border with two large aid trucks. We made sure we were accompanied by military security. It was almost dark when we arrived at the Jesuit novitiate and we did not unload our trucks for fear of the reaction of the population. We no longer had military security at that time... But we arranged for two policemen to be on guard during the night.
The next day, very early in the morning, we unloaded and then we got together to organise ourselves. While we were meeting, a large number of people started knocking on the door asking for food to be distributed. We stopped our meeting and thought the worst. We had to call the police. The police arrived... but the people did not disperse.
The commander asked us to give them a bottle of
water and to send them away with the promise that they too would share in the
aid received. They agreed and I promised them that I would go and talk to them
later.
That evening I approached them. Our novitiate is at the entrance of their neighbourhood, a very poor area where many earthquake victims live. That evening we had an excellent meeting with the inhabitants. They understood that we needed time to organise the distribution, and we also understood that they should be the beneficiaries of our help. I told them about our fears and our feeling of insecurity, and they told us that in the area they would provide security themselves, they organised themselves to receive the aid and they committed themselves to helping us unload the trucks.
You can't imagine how much joy this process has given me. A joy of a new understanding of the situation, of a very concrete relationship with people, of a form of aid management. You have to involve people as much as you can even in the smallest process... When they knocked on our door I still remember the voice and face of Soucet, a very brave woman who demanded food with strength and anger. I remember my fear of so many people. Now I see friendly figures, people with whom I could share and work together for the same cause... We now have more security and protection than the military can provide, we have the accompaniment of those we claimed to accompany and help!
Mario Serrano SJ
Dominican Republic
