As you may have seen on TV and on the internet. there’s been a bit of unrest in Haiti over the last week. It started when a significant fuel price increase was announced. Depending on the type of fuel, the increases ranged from 38-51%. The price increase was put in place due to pressure from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). 
Can you imagine the chaos that would cause in your community? That would be a bit of a hardship on some people. Here in Haiti, the degree of hardship is intensified even more because the starting price of gas is significant compared to the average income.
We live about a 45 mile drive from the capital, Port au Prince, which takes about 3 hours of driving to get there on a good day. Most of the major protests and rioting were concentrated in the capital region and areas within an hour of Port au Prince. There were some roadblocks in our area from Friday evening through Monday morning that prevented local travel. At one point we could see 4 roadblocks from the road in front of our Hands and Feet Project campus property. After the protests last weekend, the fuel price increases were put on hold, and now the protests are more of a political nature. There are people calling for the Prime Minister to step down for different reasons.
Other than the roadblocks we saw last weekend, the community where we live has been largely unaffected by the protests. We are constantly checking with our staff and security to stay abreast of what’s going on. We’ve been off our campus several times and are encouraged to see the usual hustle and bustle of activity on the streets.
Many of the news reports we see and hear about are inaccurate and / or exaggerated. We continue to gather news, determine it’s truthfulness, proceed with caution, and stock up on critical supplies. At this point in time, we feel safe where we are and will be staying in Haiti for the foreseeable future.
As a result of the U.S. State Department issuing an advisory for Haiti, some of our teams trips have been postponed or canceled such as the Vacation Bible School trip and a soccer team. We’re disappointed about that and so are the kids. We’re working on adding some fun, entertaining and educational activities to the calendar so the kids have a memorable summer.
We appreciate your ongoing prayer and encouragement as Haiti goes through this challenging time. Please pray for peace for the country, for Haiti’s leaders to do the right thing, and for God’s people to rise up and show love to those around them.