Unrest and road blockages are nothing new to Haiti but they seem to have gathered impetus since the beginning of February.  The videos will explain why.  It is hard to understand the patience of the people.  Up here in the Northwest there were no protests though the schools did close for a few days and all roads ( dirt and rocky) were blocked.  The people are totally abandoned by the Government and the rest of the world it would seem to me.  The corruption is wide spread at all levels of government. Life is really hard here, there is little or no plumbing, water for all the daily necessities has to be taken from the river.  Electricity is practically non existent.  The mule, women, men and children carry everything from water to market merchandise etc.  The principle mode of transport apart from walking is the motor bike.  One can see as many as 6 on one of these taxis as they carry children to school.  People have told me they have one meal a day – rice and beans usually!  There are no jobs, families live on subsistence farming.  Most young people head for Port-au-Prince when they can get the fare together, hence the uprising leaves people very nervous as they worry for their young people who in the most part are unemployed with little hope of things getting any better.

Hopefully the dissatisfaction will grow and one day soon the Haitian people will have a Government that works for the good of all and not just for the elite.

The Youtube videos can be accessed by clicking these links:

https://youtu.be/yAJAURz1QB0 – Haiti anti-government corruption protests Q&A – Haiti has seen angry protesters burning tires and demanding the president’s resignation, part of a campaign against government corruption. CBC’s Paul Hunter was live in Port-au-Prince. (approx 32 minutes after short advert)

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VNZHnjfQf-g  – The photo that sparked Haiti’s PetroCaribe Challenge – CBC’s Paul Hunter talks to Haitian-Canadian activist Gilbert Mirambeau Jr. about the photo that helped spark anti-corruption demonstrations in Haiti. (approx 7 minutes after the short advert)

Sr. Bridget OP

Haiti