Hope, Encouragement & Strength
As a missionary living in Haiti full time people always ask me how I do it. How do I live here? Isn't it difficult or uncomfortable? How do I survive? When I hear questions like this, sometimes I am taken aback by how little people understand the reality of Haiti. In the past these questions have bothered me. I am choosing now to not let them bother me but to rather educate people instead. People like to celebrate people for the way that they choose to live or choose to sacrifice for others. Yes, living here is hard for me at times but the thing that we should be focusing on is how hard it is for HAITIANS.
It can be hard for me to live in Haiti at times because the culture is different than my own, I am functioning my second language and there is a lot that I may not understand or be used to. However, all of that would happen to me if I lived in almost any country that is not my own. The part that we should be focusing on is not how I manage, as I sit in my apartment drinking my coffee while I write this blog post- but rather how on earth do Haitians survive in Haiti?? Because honestly, I have been living in Haiti for four years now and I have no clue. By the grace of God is the only answer that I can provide for you.
When I moved to Haiti the gourde (the currency here) was around 50-ish gourdes to the US dollar. Now it is at around 90 (and rising, I am sure by the time you read this it will have gone up). Let me break this down for those of you who are not skilled in international finance (haha, a.k.a the average person). If things are being imported from the US (which many many things are here since we are on a literal island) to buy things for $1 American you used to need 50-ish gourdes, now you need 90-ish gourdes. That sounds tough right? It gets tougher because it has a ripple effect. Whatever had to be bought at double the price now has to be sold at double the price so that the seller can be able to continue to buy it.
Now, people who are paid in gourdes are still making the same salary they had always made, but everything is more expensive. The 250 gourdes that you make a day used to be around $5 a day to buy everything you needed. Now it is closer to around $3 a day to buy everything and things have become more expensive. How are these people making ends meet to be able to feed their families, afford school, and live? No idea, honestly. Things have been getting increasingly difficult here in Haiti due to this situation and they are not getting any better.
Political issues here have caused shortages to become more frequent, protesting to become a normal occurrence and for people to be living on edge never knowing what tomorrow will bring. People do not have money tucked away to buy extra food when there is rioting and they cannot go out. People do not have extra money to buy water for a few days incase of protesting. People are struggling to live. I have no solution to these issues. I only can provide you with the facts. Supporting missions that God has put in place like Kids Alive is a step in the right direction as we support families who are struggling to stay afloat. Praying for Haiti and for the people as they struggle to survive and make a life for themselves amidst the chaos and struggle that is the country of Haiti.
Keep Haiti in your thoughts and prayers. Ask questions, educate yourself and be informed about what is going on here. I am realizing that God called me to live here in Haiti not only to serve the Haitian people but also to be a voice for them, to show the rest of the world about their struggles and their challenges. There is an extreme amount of corruption and injustice in Haiti and people don't know where to turn or how to keep their families functioning. God's heart breaks for these people, mine does too. Honestly I hope yours does as well- because these people are trying their best but are not set up to win. Haitian people are put in every situation to fail, to stay in poverty and to struggle. People who are without work cannot make a living, people with full time jobs cannot make a living. People with ten kids cannot survive people with no children cannot make ends meet. People who own their own homes and cars cannot afford them, people who are homeless are struggling. The way that Haiti is, affects all Haitian people. This is not an issue of laziness or poor budgeting. This is an issue of a country that provides no opportunities to succeed, and kicks you while you're down even if you are making every effort.
It can be hard for me to live in Haiti at times because the culture is different than my own, I am functioning my second language and there is a lot that I may not understand or be used to. However, all of that would happen to me if I lived in almost any country that is not my own. The part that we should be focusing on is not how I manage, as I sit in my apartment drinking my coffee while I write this blog post- but rather how on earth do Haitians survive in Haiti?? Because honestly, I have been living in Haiti for four years now and I have no clue. By the grace of God is the only answer that I can provide for you.
When I moved to Haiti the gourde (the currency here) was around 50-ish gourdes to the US dollar. Now it is at around 90 (and rising, I am sure by the time you read this it will have gone up). Let me break this down for those of you who are not skilled in international finance (haha, a.k.a the average person). If things are being imported from the US (which many many things are here since we are on a literal island) to buy things for $1 American you used to need 50-ish gourdes, now you need 90-ish gourdes. That sounds tough right? It gets tougher because it has a ripple effect. Whatever had to be bought at double the price now has to be sold at double the price so that the seller can be able to continue to buy it.
Now, people who are paid in gourdes are still making the same salary they had always made, but everything is more expensive. The 250 gourdes that you make a day used to be around $5 a day to buy everything you needed. Now it is closer to around $3 a day to buy everything and things have become more expensive. How are these people making ends meet to be able to feed their families, afford school, and live? No idea, honestly. Things have been getting increasingly difficult here in Haiti due to this situation and they are not getting any better.
Political issues here have caused shortages to become more frequent, protesting to become a normal occurrence and for people to be living on edge never knowing what tomorrow will bring. People do not have money tucked away to buy extra food when there is rioting and they cannot go out. People do not have extra money to buy water for a few days incase of protesting. People are struggling to live. I have no solution to these issues. I only can provide you with the facts. Supporting missions that God has put in place like Kids Alive is a step in the right direction as we support families who are struggling to stay afloat. Praying for Haiti and for the people as they struggle to survive and make a life for themselves amidst the chaos and struggle that is the country of Haiti.
Keep Haiti in your thoughts and prayers. Ask questions, educate yourself and be informed about what is going on here. I am realizing that God called me to live here in Haiti not only to serve the Haitian people but also to be a voice for them, to show the rest of the world about their struggles and their challenges. There is an extreme amount of corruption and injustice in Haiti and people don't know where to turn or how to keep their families functioning. God's heart breaks for these people, mine does too. Honestly I hope yours does as well- because these people are trying their best but are not set up to win. Haitian people are put in every situation to fail, to stay in poverty and to struggle. People who are without work cannot make a living, people with full time jobs cannot make a living. People with ten kids cannot survive people with no children cannot make ends meet. People who own their own homes and cars cannot afford them, people who are homeless are struggling. The way that Haiti is, affects all Haitian people. This is not an issue of laziness or poor budgeting. This is an issue of a country that provides no opportunities to succeed, and kicks you while you're down even if you are making every effort.
Pray for hope. Pray for encouragement. Pray for strength. Pray for Haiti.
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