When Auxiliary Bishop Ignatius C Wang of San Francisco first planned a trip to Grenada over the Christmas holidays, he envisioned it as a homecoming of sorts.

The China-born bishop served the small Caribbean island of 100,000 people for 12 years as a pastor, head of Catholic schools and chancellor of the Diocese of St George's.

Although he left 30 years ago, Bishop Wang still has many friends in Grenada and this was his first trip back as a bishop. But the devastation caused by the direct hit to Grenada of Hurricane Ivan last September meant that his homecoming would not be a pleasant island holiday.

Ninety percent of the buildings on the island were severely damaged. Most, including the Catholic cathedral and Parliament building, are now without roofs. Two weeks after Ivan hit Grenada , Tropical Storm Jeanne hit Haiti .

Although Ivan was a much stronger storm, the damage was worse in Haiti because they were not as well-prepared, Bishop Wang said. Thousands were killed and hundreds of thousands were left homeless.

Before heading to Grenada , Bishop Wang went to Haiti to visit Father Tom Hagan, an Oblate of St Francis de Sales from New Jersey who has been working in that country for nine years. On his arrival, Bishop Wang found the priest's residence protected by shotgun-wielding guards. They are there 24 hours a day.

“Unfortunately, we have new guards,” the priest told the bishop, referring to the need for protection against violence and theft.

“'Unfortunately' is a word Father Tom used a lot,” Bishop Wang said in an interview published in the Feb 18 issue of Catholic San Francisco , the archdiocesan newspaper. “Unfortunately,” he said, they were not be able to visit the hurricane-devastated area of the island because the route was too difficult to traverse.

Instead, Father Hagan showed Bishop Wang around the area where he ministers, warning him that, “if you're shot, don't be surprised.” It was not an empty warning. The chapel of Hands Together, a charitable organisation founded by the priest, has a wall listing the names of 12 US volunteers murdered while working with the poor in Haiti 's worst slum, Cité Soleil.

Hands Together operates an ambulatory hospital and primary schools, and helps distribute food and medicine in Cité Soleil. The operation is run primarily with funds from US donors and with the help of US volunteers.

Father Hagan works closely with 60 Missionaries of Charity in Cité Soleil; he is their chaplain. The religious order runs a home for elderly street people as well as two orphanages -- one for children available for adoption and one for children who suffer from HIV/AIDS.

Cité Soleil has no proper sewage or garbage system. Human and other waste runs through open rivers. The area is run by three main gang leaders, Bishop Wang said.

“They've burned the police station and they burn police cars,” he said. Unlike others, Father Hagan can move about the area freely because he has made friends with the gang leaders, the bishop said. “He can bring food and medicine -- no politics, nothing else.”

Father Hagan believes illiteracy is the most pressing problem in Cité Soleil, so his organisation concentrates on educating the young.

“The people have to become literate,” Bishop Wang said. “The people live in fear,” he added. Because they are not educated, they “must rely on and trust, or not trust, the gang leaders.”

Another major problem in Haiti is corruption, Bishop Wang said. “If all the money that was supposed to get to Haiti got there, it would not be poor.”

Some aid organisations there have an 85 percent overhead, he said. Then, politicians take their share, he said, and gang leaders fight over the rest. “The people get nothing,” he said, adding that US contributions should go only to organisations donors know are reputable.

When Bishop Wang reached Grenada in early January, he found that the devastation left by the hurricane was tremendous. As in Haiti , about 90 percent of the buildings, including homes, schools, churches and government buildings, were severely damaged.

In addition, nutmeg trees were severely damaged. Along with bananas and a small amount of tourism, the trees support the island's economy. It takes 10 years for nutmeg trees to mature, Bishop Wang said.

Some aid reaches Grenada , but not much, Bishop Wang said. “First there was Ivan, then there was the hurricane in Haiti ” and then tsunamis in Asia , he said. “People forget about Grenada .”

Nevertheless, reconstruction is proceeding, in large part because there is a more stable government in Grenada , less corruption and higher literacy than in Haiti .

Haiti has fertile land and the island can be developed, Bishop Wang said, but he added that in some places humans, not disasters, “cause misery.”

(CNS)