Day 6 of Protests: The Trickle Down Effect

Hopefully if you are reading this you have been keeping up with what is going on in Haiti right now.  To catch up, read Matt’s 2 most recent blogs by clicking the links (Blog 1  Blog 2)

A lot of people have been asking me if I’m scared or worried with everything going on and the truth is as we sit here safely closed up in our house all I can think about is the trickle down effect that is currently going on in this country.

All of the roads are blocked by various things such as rocks, burning tires, gasoline, and people protesting.  This means vehicles cannot get through at all.  Imagine if all of the roads that gave you access to the grocery store, hospitals, work, school, and anywhere else had been blocked since last Thursday.  This has created a huge trickle down effect in a lot of different ways.

• People who are sick cannot get to the doctor or get medication they need
• The markets that sell food are closed and even if they were open nobody can get to them. People will very soon run out of food to eat.
• The people who who have been selling food in the market, meals to our kids at school, and bread that we buy every week have lost out on days of making money for their families.
• Women have been and will continue to go into labor and not be able to get to doctors or hospitals. Babies will be born in homes and delivered by friends and neighbors.  The infant mortality rate will rise.  Our very own cook, Marjorie, is due February 24 and we are praying she does not go into labor early.
• Schools have not been open since last Wednesday. Parents who have worked an entire year to pay to send their children to school are forced to keep their kids at home.  The kids are missing out on days of learning and these days won’t be made up.

The list could go on and on.  Every person in this country is being affected in some way.  The things that hit a little closer to home are a couple of stories our employees have shared.  Two of our employees who have a home somewhat close to the main road shared that over the weekend the police in an effort to calm a riot sprayed tear gas all over the crowd.  It entered homes and the children of our employees were sprayed.

Noucheka is our day time House Mom who takes care of our younger girls.  Her husband has been sick for months and on Thursday spiked a high fever with chills and had a high white blood cell count.  She took him to Haiti Health Ministries where they called for a helicopter.  This was the day the big protests began so instead of sending him to a hospital in Port au Prince he was sent to Mirebalais which is about 6 hours from where we are by car.  Because of the road blocks Noucheka has not been able to get to him.  She has spoken to him only through the telephone of another patient.

Haiti and its people are suffering.  Today is day 6 of this and we can’t see an end in sight.  If you are reading this, pray for Haiti.  Pray for the people who will soon not be able to find food.  Pray for the women who will go into labor today and not be able to get to a doctor.  Pray for the innocent kids being tear gassed in their own home.  Pray for Haiti’s leaders and also the opposition rising up against them.