We are so thankful that God continues to lead us and provide for us, for the children we help care for, and for Hands and Feet Project, even when the times are tough! Here’s an update on what’s going on across the country of Haiti as many people here struggle to survive. We continue to share the message of hope in Christ to the kids in our care, our staff, our church and those we encounter in the community. Thank you all for your prayers.
Have You Ever Experienced A Fuel Shortage?
Most of us have either experienced a fuel shortage or have seen vehicles lined up at gas stations for fuel in the midst of a fuel shortage. What sort of impact has a fuel shortage had on you? Has it impacted your driving habits so you don’t go out as often? Have you used the smaller car that’s more fuel efficient rather than the truck or SUV? Have you ever been concerned about a fuel shortage affecting the electricity at your home or work?
Fuel shortages happen frequently in Haiti. The challenge here in Haiti is that the country basically runs on 3 types of fuel: diesel, gasoline and propane. The vast majority of city power is provided via diesel generators. A lack of fuel over a long period of time in Haiti can virtually shut the country down, from communications to businesses and transportation. Reserves are very low, even for the places that plan ahead and ration fuel usage!
City & Solar Power
City power is very rare these days. Let that sink in a second. Yes, that means the electric company has not provided any power in many weeks. What would life be like if your utility company didn’t provide power 24/7? We enjoy tent camping and getting off the grid for a short period of time, but imagine that you’re on your own to provide your own power for a week or a month?
We often hear stories from the past where city power was available 24/7 in some areas of Haiti, including Jacmel where we live. When we moved to Haiti in 2017, city power was generally provided every other night, so somewhere around 8 hours of power out of every 48 hours. We were excited to have fairly consistent power, especially overnight so we could run air conditioners and get decent sleep! Over the first few years we would have periods of city power for up to 12 hours at a time overnight, and sometimes even have power during the day! Those days are behind us and we face a more bleak future. Now it’s very rare that any city power is provided. That’s not entirely due to the current fuel situation, but rather because the city power company doesn’t collect enough money to pay for previous fuel purchases.
Many stores, hospitals and medium to large organizations use diesel generators for power. Diesel generators are also used to run the cell phone towers, power the equipment to provide internet, run the panini press at our favorite cafe, and provide us with power (and much-needed air onditioning) overnight! Remember that the temperatures in Haiti year round are similar to south / central Florida summers.
As solar power has become more affordable, many places use a mixture of solar power, batteries and generators to provide power as needed. It’s a rare thing to find batteries that last very long into the evenings, let alone overnight! So the generators provides overnight power in many cases.
Public Transportation
Many people walk or take public transportation to get where they need to go. Most Haitians don’t own a car. It’s not common for people to even own a motorcycle. The public transportation system consists of colorfully decorated large trucks (camions), small pickup trucks (tap taps), passenger vans (papadops), and thousands of small motorcycles operated by individuals (motos). Bicycles have grown in popularity slightly over the last 5 year, but they are still very rare. A substantial amount of diesel and gasoline is needed to meet the needs of getting people here and there. Most of our staff use public transportation or walk to get to and from work.
How does a Fuel Shortage affect us?
Thankfully, it’s summertime and there is not a huge need for us or our kids to go many places. We don’t drive very far on a regular basis, just in to campus and back with the occasional trip into town to pick up food and supplies. The place where a fuel shortage hits us the hardest is for overnight power. The power from batteries only lasts a few hours, so there are certain times we run a generator to keep the lights on for our campus. The generator (or on rare occasions, city power) also is the only way air conditioners can be run overnight to help us all get decent sleep! Limited fuel means limited sleep! It’s hot here all the time, and there’s not much reprieve from the heat overnight, especially through the summer months.
A fuel shortage limits how much we can run the generator on a cloudy day. Our solar power is limited on cloudy days, so we sometimes need to run the generator to get internet and computers working. Thankfully, a recent solar upgrade provides us with decent power even through some clouds!
Fuel shortages affect us even more when there are protests about the lack of fuel! Roads were blocked 4 days this week to protest that fuel isn’t being distributed, record inflation, decreasing value of the local currency, insecurity due to gang violence, and government inaction to improve things. Here’s a recent article that talks about the protests and the concerns of the people. The protestors are taking a break over the weekend but are expected to pick back up again on Monday. They say they will continue until the Prime Minister resigns! Sadly, the start of the school year has already been pushed back a month because of planned protests.
Please keep Haiti in your prayers as they continue searching for a path to peace, prosperity and security.
CBS News: Protesters call for resignation of Haiti’s prime pinister