Update on the Unrest in Haiti

The political demonstrations here in Haiti which have closed everything down for the last 12 days, and only in the last two days do things seem to be settling, at least for a short time.  After things were relatively calm on Monday (18th) people have come into the offices today (19th) many for the first time since 6th February, and they are trying to catch up with tasks and cope with changes to activities due to the period of closure.  Some children came into school for 4 hours today so we will probably have more tomorrow.

During the period of disruption we have only been able to make short forays to the shops on some mornings and otherwise have been restricted to the campus.  We are thankful we live on a campus and not in a small flat, or we would have felt very much imprisoned.  There has been little food and water on the supermarket shelves, and until yesterday (Monday) there have been virtually none of the hundreds of street-side traders we are used to seeing.  The numbers of traders are gradually increasing each day since the weekend. which is a good sign, and we hear there were no major manifestations on Monday, and wait to hear what happens today (Tuesday).  On Monday morning we followed a truck with drinking water, which passed us, to see which supermarket it went to, and followed it in so as to buy our drinking water.

Again we have felt grateful that we had a car that meant we could go shopping briefly,and take other people to do theirs, and that we had a supply of cash and access to credit cards so we could purchase what food there was. The banks have been closed for 2 weeks and people have had no ready cash. We took the opportunity to buy extra so that we could distribute to others. However as time went on the shelves were bare - no bread, no veg or fruit, no meat except I saw a pack of chicken feet and another of pigs ears. I did not feel creative enough to make soup from said items and left them for others.

Some VIM teams have had to shorten or cancel their visits, and the team which went out to Yvon on 9th February had to be flown back to Port-au-Prince by helicopter as the roads were blocked.  Their equipment and the vehicles are still in Miragoane, but we hope will be able to be returned later this week.

We do not know what has been shown on TV for you to see. We have negotiated our way round stone barricades, the black marks on the roads from burning tyres and looked sadly at burnt out vehicles. The opposition party that has instigated this mayhem and been calling for the resignation of the President, came at least fourth in the elections - there is no way anyone would vote them in and changing leadership at this point would not help anything.

Please keep the people of Haiti in prayer at this very difficult time, when those who normally live by each day trading a little, or finding some casual work, so that they are able to by food for that one day, have been unable to get out and trade or find food to buy even if they have a little money available. 

Thank you for your concern and prayers.

Yours in Christ's service,

Sharon and John.