As you have likely seen in the news, this past month brought escalated violence and turmoil in Haiti’s capital city, Port-au-Prince (PAP). Thank you to the many who have reached out expressing concern for our staff and partners. They are currently safe and well, and are asking for continued prayers for themselves and their country.

Thankfully, the communities where we partner in Southwestern Haiti are not dealing with the same lawlessness as the capital. However, there are concerns that the violence could spread to Les Cayes, which is close to our partners, if order is not restored soon. For the past few years, our partners have been enduring the fallout from the gang violence in the capital with shortages of food and fuel, skyrocketing inflation, and large influxes of people fleeing the violence in Port-au-Prince. Hunger and malnutrition have reached alarming levels.

However, our staff and partners persevere during this crisis! At the beginning of the month, our Mobile Medical Clinic team was able to visit Plain Matin to care for 94 patients.  They were also able to visit another village partner the week after. 

There have been months of blockades on the road out of PAP preventing our Logistics Director, Jules, from getting to the remote villages where we partner. Thankfully, Jules was able to make it through and brought requested equipment to Plain Matin for a bakery start-up business. He was also able to deliver and install solar power for the church and school in Bassin Caiman, giving them an alternative to diesel/gas in the wake of fuel shortages.

It’s not clear what the results of the increased violence and potential revolution will be. Haiti H2O is committed to supporting our partners as they continue to care for their neighbors. We have learned from our Haitian friends that hope is a powerful force, and the people of Haiti are strong in it.

If you are looking for ways to help, please consider supporting our partners by registering for the Run for Hope or Bike4Haiti, or making a donation. Haiti H2O uses these funds to invest in solutions that local leaders in each village identify as the priority for their community’s particular needs.

If you would like to learn more about the situation in Haiti, these linked articles are helpful:

• Haitian Times—Guy Philippe moves to grab Haitian presidency while PM Ariel Henry struggles to return.

• CNN—US pushes Haiti’s prime minister on transition

• NPR—3 things to know about the current crisis in Haiti.

 Thank you for standing with our brothers and sisters in Haiti. Please reach out if you have any questions.

Rhonda Smith
Executive Director

Please join us in praying for Haiti as a country and for the safety of our staff and partners. Jules requested, “Pray that we will stay safe, despite all that’s going on.  May the Lord protect us in the midst of everything.”

 Pray on your own and also join us on April 20th to Pray with Haiti. We will have a corporate time of prayer along with updates from Haiti.