Message on the situation of children in Venezuela

A message on the situation of the children from Fr Alfredo of the schools in Fe y Alegria in Venezuela where the community is teaching meditation: 

Dearest Fr. Laurence:

In this hour in which the ambition of the power of this world is compulsively destroying our planet searching for minerals and new energy sources, I do wish that your mission to communicate Jesus Gospel be fruitful and that each person discovers the strength of the love shed over the internal universe of the human heart. As you, I am convinced that when humankind discovers that the true source of energy is the Spirit overflowed into our hearts, humankind will be more human and the light of Christ will shine. Thanks for undertaking such a beautiful mission.

This year I have witnessed how the internal disorder of the human heart generates injustice and kills the innocent. Most of our children in Venezuela are submitted to hunger and malnutrition, a curable disease whose remedy is the conversion of the hearts of those who have perverted the exercise of politics and, of all of us in the society who have the responsibility over others. Malnutrition and hunger are the consequences of the structural sin and the eradication of this evil have to pass through the liberation of the heart. This is our task, to free the heart to eradicate the hunger; meanwhile we offer the bread on God´s behalf.

Last May our children started to pass out during classes. One of them passed out in the school yard and when we attended him we discovered he was living only of water the last two days, he didn´t have any food because he was the eldest child in his family of 5 children and he gave his bread to the youngers so they could resist hunger. In June, when I greeted a group of kids, I realized they had their hands cold. It brought to my mind my times in Angola, those who died of hunger, died of cold. I started to ask them whether they had some food, and I wasn´t wrong, the kids were cold because of hunger. 

Since then we started to ask for support and we have been able to give at least one daily lunch to around 750 children and to some elderlies. The solidarity of many people has been the mean to sustain this work of God.In this time of Christmas when we are in the advent of Baby Jesus, I wish to deeply thank you in the name of the children of La Vega, where we have three Fe y Alegría schools, for your collaboration of five hundred dollars, which has been a great blessing of God.

Merry Christmas and fruitful New Year.

Fraternally
Alfredo Infante s.j.
Parish of San Alberto Hurtado de La Vega – Caracas.