Haitian Revolt

Today a strike was announced: "All of the workers that have lost their assets, those living from under the tents, must be given decent housing, their children must go to school and they must be offered financing to get back on their feet." It is completely understandable that people feel like that. Living in tents in torrential rain for the last few days would wear anyone down. Haitians have been living like that for months. To do so with thousands of other people, each tent containing an extended family, and not having enough to eat, cannot even be imagined by those of us who have not had to go through it. Two demonstrations were organised last week that came to nothing. This one seems to be gaining momentum, but again may come to nothing. They are demanding that President Preval act within 3 days to change the electoral system in order to have "non-fraudulent elections". The Haitians have a history of strikes, revolutions and overthrowing the government. Whether they have the energy to do so now is very difficult to predict. They have been very patient up to now, but it has to give sometime. Tearfund, like many other agencies, is working hard to give people transitional hurricane-proof shelters, but we are already into hurricane season, and it is an impossible task to provide them for everyone soon enough. We must hope that whatever we do makes a difference, and pray that no big hurricanes hit an already devastated country this year.