We have water in Canaan! One of the readers of last month’s letter sent the one thousand dollars needed to buy and keep water in this area of Haiti and we have had several truck loads delivered. Naturally this has made hundreds of people very happy. As we said last month, there are over five thousand people  living in this camp, so the water is being used only as needed and for nothing else but drinking water.

Although very little has changed in the landscape of Haiti as far as earthquake recovery goes, there are other things happening in the country. The long contested presidential election was held the 20th of March and final numbers will be announced the 16th of this month. The two people running are of different generations. One, Mirlande Manigat, is 70 years old and is a former first lady of Haiti. The other is Michel Martelly who is best know as a musician. Manigat is very educated and known internationally; Martelly is unknown but has the youth of the country behind him. The one thing we need to pray for, is that whoever is elected can bring the country together and start the long task of rebuilding Haiti.

Another event is the sudden return of François Duvalier, better known as “Baby Doc,” who was overthrown in a 1986 revolt. Since his return he has been under house arrest and is facing at least 16 charges of crimes against humanity. His “regime” is said to have tortured or killed thousands, while he maintained a lavish lifestyle. Thousands more fled the country to escape punishment from him. And still another political event is the return of  Jean-Bertrand Aristide who was thrown from power in 1991. The return of these men have done nothing but complicate the process in Haiti. Duvalier returned unannounced; Aristide returned against the wishes of the U.S., France, Canada and several other countries.

If all of this is not enough, the government, which controls the price of gas and diesel, decided to raise the price of gas from $4.10 a gallon to $4.65. The price of diesel went from $2.77 a gallon to $3.77. To say the least, this is not what the people there need.

All of our programs, schools and churches are operating as usual. We have and will be receiving funds for the feeding programs so we can keep feeding all the extra people who have been showing up since the earthquake. We are very grateful we won’t have to turn anyone away. As always, thank you for what you do to help us, help them.

Serving HIM together,

Steve and Terry