Saturday, April 19, 2008

haiti update - april 18, 2008

“Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.” Romans 5:1-5

Hi! This week was a quiet week. The streets have been cleaned up and you wouldn’t have known that there were protests last week except for all the businesses that have smashed windows and some burnt tire marks on the roads. The senate voted to remove Jacques-Edouard Alexis as Prime Minister with a majority of 16 of the 27 senators participating in this process. Last Friday the 16 senators stayed at a hotel in order to be together. They were worried that kidnapping attempts might be made so that a quorum couldn’t be established and that is why they all stayed at a hotel. Looking back at the riots there were 2 main things that were said by President Preval that made the people angry. One comment was “If Haitians can afford cell phones, which many do carry, they should be able to feed their families.” The second comment made a lot of people here that I talked to in the Delmas 31 community angry. He had said “If there is a protest against the rising prices, come and get me at the palace and I will demonstrate with you.” Well, the people did come to the palace and they broke the gate down to try and get to him. Now the president will meet with other political parties to select another prime minister and submit this name to parliament for approval. Continue to pray for Haiti. There is a calm right now but things can change. 6 of the senators visited Cayes (where the protests first began) to see the damage there. One of the senators mentioned that the government must also address the issue of high food prices on other primary necessity products other than rice. I don’t think that he should have said this, as this will only get the people going again. The president has met with business leaders about the rice prices and they are reducing prices by $3US per sac of rice. International governments are also providing $5US per sac so that the price of rice is reduced by 15%. This week rice prices haven’t changed on the streets yet and people are starting to grumble. They are also starting to grumble about the fact of other prices being too high. I am not sure if they will decide to take to the streets again though. People are satisfied for the moment that there will be another prime minister.
A Haitian police spokesperson announced that 6 people were killed and 119 people were injured by gunshots or rocks during these riots. The injured included 12 Haitian police and 22 UN personnel. A UN policeman from Nigeria was removed from his vehicle downtown and killed last Saturday. 22 gas stations were damaged and over 237 businesses were damaged. One of these damaged businesses is Monsieur Henry. This is the photo studio, which we go to for passport and visa photos for the children that we are helping for medical care. The windows were smashed out and there is nothing left inside the studio. Medecin Sans Frontieres (Doctors Beyond Borders) announced that they treated 190 injured people due to the protests. 20 of these were gunshot victims.
During the protests there were also journalists on the street. One reported on a discussion that happened amongst a group of protesters. 2 young men were carrying an electric water pump that they had removed from a business. They were confronted by other protesters and were told that they were there only to protest against food prices and not to steal. These 2 young men replied that they had been protesting for a couple of days with nothing to show for it. They considered this water pump as the reward of their efforts. Another protester came forward and he replied that that water pump comes from the business he works at and therefore belongs to him. He ended up with the pump. I wonder if the pump got returned!
A member of the Haitian CNSA (Commission Nationale de Securite Alimentaire – National Commission of Food Security) spoke and said that the food situation in Haiti is twice the problem in the countryside than in the city. In Haiti 61% of children under the age of 5 are anemic. 46% of pregnant women are anemic. 59% of children between the ages of 6 and 12 have an iodine deficiency. Pray for organizations that assist with feeding programs. They too have problems providing food due to the increase in prices on the international market. The World Food Program is pleading for more assistance to cope with the need. According to the World Food Program, Haiti is one of 3 countries in the world that share the largest daily caloric deficit. The daily requirement is 2,100 calories per day and Haiti averages 1,640 calories per day which results in a caloric deficit of 460 calories per day.
Last Saturday 3 children traveled to the United States for medical care. A returning medical team accompanied the children to their destinations. Dieunette Lormintus (encephalocele), and 2 other children from Angel Missions, Guerdsley Pierre (cleft lip/palette) and Aluckson Charles (clubbed feet) all traveled without Haitian Social Service authorization papers because we weren’t able to get to their offices to complete this process. We took a chance anyway and Haitian Immigration at the airport didn’t say anything. Pray for these children and those looking after and treating them.
Daniel Joseph received braces from Healing Hands on Friday. Hopefully this will help to correct and stop the bowing of his legs. Venese Azor also got a cat scan done on Friday of her arm. She will show the results to Dr. Nau at Healing Hands next Friday. Pray for her as she most probably has a recurrence of her bone tumor. I helped Carole this week with a boy who has a heart problem. They live out at Fond Parisien and work at Love a Child. Mario has a valve problem in his heart. He was ill and his heart was beating strongly and rapidly. He probably has endocarditis. Love a Child is arranging medical care for him to go the United States for heart surgery. Pray for Mario as he recuperates in hospital and that he can be strong enough to travel. Pray for the medical visa process. Mario is in the Nos Petits Frere et Soeur Hospital. This is a children’s mission hospital, which is well run and provides good medical care. This hospital had a food distribution program this week and hundreds of people were outside their gate on Wednesday. Coming out of the hospital I saw “Mack” (name changed) standing in line. He is one of the guys involved in the thefts at Coram Deo. He was waiting in line with the others for food. He wouldn’t look at me but I noticed him. I didn’t say anything to him. Pray for him and that his heart would be touched.
Kevin Guerrier is a boy with one clubbed foot. We have started our medical search for him. He is a cute little boy. Next week Wednesday a doctor that is visiting Sherri’s mission (where Manu and Jacob go to school) is going to do a clinic at Coram Deo for up to 70 children in the community. Pray for a good clinic day this upcoming Wednesday. This doctor’s husband is an anesthesiologist and they both have a heart for missions. Pray that God would touch their hearts to consider Haiti as their mission field.
With the donation from USAID of soup we are able to help people in the community. This week a mother came to the gate and asked for food. She hadn’t been able to provide a meal for her family in 3 days. These soup mixes just need water added to them and then heated. They are very nutritious containing rice, soy protein, carrots, onions and B vitamins. We were able to give her some soup. Today we are picking up a donation of Feed My Starving Children rice meals as part of the ODEO organization. It is perfect timing too because the last of our rice was finished yesterday. It just goes to show how God provides.
That’s all the news for today. Have a good weekend!

Karen Bultje, Coram Deo

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