Sky-rocketing rice prices and scarcity deepens food crisis.
Haiti (MNN) ― Haiti's food crisis is threatening the country's stability and progress. Following a food riot in April, the country's Prime Minister was sacked.
The leader of
Haiti's parliament says President Rene Preval has named a new candidate, Michele
Pierre-Louis, after his two previous choices were rejected.
Pierre-Louis is an economist and educator who has championed
youth education programs, women's networks and libraries. But will she be able to address the
catastrophe she'd inherit in the new post?
Even while Parliament debates
accepting her as the replacement, food prices continue to rage out of control.
For Haiti With Love's Eva Dehart says that if it's possible, the situation is even worse now. "One of the wholesalers agreed to sell us his very last 75 bags of rice ($48 for 110# bag). Since then, we've been looking for more because nobody has any. The importers went to Port au Prince, but they came back empty-handed."
The Dominican Republic has once again closed their borders to keep their food in the D.R. and is prohibiting Haitians from crossing. This makes the situation desperate and could have a major impact on the progress made in getting order and tranquility re-established in Haiti.
With no answers to when more food will be available, the ministry has to be very careful about how they distribute the food. When people are starving, sharing the Gospel falls on deaf ears.
DeHart says they went to their knees with their plight. God's answer to the ministry team's prayer buys them more time to address the food crisis. "Right now, He's providing mangoes."
Haiti's mango season ends in September. That's both good news and bad news. The good news: "They're getting their own answers (to prayer), because their best answers are coming from God right now. They can fill their tummies with mangoes, and though it's not a balanced diet, it's filling, and it is nutritious."
The bad news: at present, there are no other suppliers for rice, and there is no more rice to sell in the area. Once mango season is over, the ministry hopes a solution for this problem will be in place. Keep praying for For Haiti With Love. Their team often acts as the hands and feet of Christ to the people they help in Cap Haitien. Click here if you can help.
