As many of you may have heard through news reports such as this one or through your own personal connections to people in Haiti, civil unrest, and frustration have been escalating in reaction to the ever-increasing costs of food and fuel in Haiti. We cannot predict where this will lead, but we certainly understand the frustrations of people that fuel tumult. There has been double-digit inflation every year for the past three years, and the value and buying capacity of the local currency, the Haitian gourde, has plummeted in value against the US dollar. The national budget deficit has reached record highs.
On a human level, this all means that poor people have increasingly struggled just to feed their families. Political opposition groups have capitalized on this discontent to mobilize large countrywide demonstrations against the current government, which they blame for mismanagement of funds that were supposed to be used to alleviate this suffering. One of the slogans of the protesters is “Nou Bouke” (“We’re Tired”), and indeed people are.
Konbit Sante staff in Cap-Haitien report that the markets are closed and that things are very tense on the streets. The scale of the protests is bigger than anything we’ve seen there in the past 15 years. It is clearly difficult for work to continue normally for staff or for any of the people who are charged with providing health care and other vital services. Once again, our staff and friends in Haiti are asking us to pray for people in Haiti; that a positive path forward can be found out of this crisis.
And so, we share their message with you as we commit to continue to support them through this unpredictable time. It takes courage and fortitude to continue to work for positive change when so much seems to mitigate against it, but that is exactly what they do every day.
Thank you for being part of their network of support. We will share updates about the situation as we learn them.
Sincerely,
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