A PARTILHA
By
Claire Novecosky, OSU
Aftermath
of the floods in Alagoas
In the late afternoon of June 18th, after a number of days of torrential rain, a dam in a neighbouring state of Alagoas could resist no longer and broke and the overpowering avalanche of water dashed furiously down the rivers wreaking total havoc with whatever was in its path.
People, houses, public buildings
knew no mercy. The rushing volume of 12 metres of water twirled railway
tracks around its fingers, uprooted streets together with the sewage
systems and numberless telephone poles. Twenty-two municipalities and
28 cities were affected leaving more than 60,000 people homeless, many
still unaccounted for and at present 40 dead that were found days after
the onslaught.
Ninety per cent of one of
the cities was totally destroyed and another, 80 per cent. In all, 43
health posts disappeared, libraries, and personal and public documents.
Power and water was only restored after 12 days and this not even in
all of the cities.
When news of the tragedy
became known the following morning, a network of solidarity was formed
by church and government organizations, business people, professionals
and common folk. Other states and even countries have sent help to try
and minimize the catastrophe, but the effects will mark victims for
many years to come. One person said 15 days later, “I still hear
the maddening rush of the waters in my head and find it difficult to
sleep.”
In Santana do Mundaú
where the Saskatoon priests worked for many years, the present pastor
is considered a hero. He opened the church and his parish house to receive
the many homeless people. In his total abnegation and generous heart,
he gave of his own clothes. In desperation some of the families took
for themselves items from the house, but the pastor forgave them and
said he still loved them. Even though his family lives in Maceió,
he remained with his people. “He was the Good Shepherd in the
midst of his flock, totally giving of himself to his brothers and sisters
who were in a situation of extreme pain and suffering,” noted
a reporter. “He suffered with the people; he stayed with the people
whom God had confided to him. This heroic example encourages me in my
faith,” the reporter concluded.
“It seemed like a tsunami
or a scene from a war,” a visitor commented on seeing the debris
of destruction in União dos Palmares. People on all sides walked
without knowing where to go, as though they had lost the thread of history.
In fact, they did lose the principal point of reference of the human
person — their homes.
“Graças a Deus (thanks be to God) for our life,” is a phrase repeatedly heard. That is the most important.
Articles from the Saskatoon Diocesan Brazil Mission Team appear
under the heading A Partilha, the Brazilian word for sharing.
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