Haiti (MNN) — Rising gas prices from the Middle East are shocking the economy of one of the most fragile countries in the world.
Food insecurity in Haiti, already a crisis, has only worsened with the US-Iran war. Because of rising oil costs, the Haitian government was forced to raise domestic gasoline prices 29 percent and diesel prices 37 percent. This drove up transportation and distribution costs more than 50 percent on some routes.
Roseline DeHart from the ministry For Haiti with Love says, “With the fuel prices going up and the trucking companies not getting fuel, the food prices have gone up and people can’t afford it.”
Image courtesy of For Haiti With Love
Nearly six million Haitians are facing acute food insecurity, with 1.8 million of them in emergency status, requiring urgent food assistance. Making the need worse is the fact that 1.4 million people have been displaced from their homes, mainly due to gang violence.
Desperate Haitians have had to resort to eating patties of dirt and water, called “dirt cookies” or “mud cookies.”
“They’re eating rats, any birds, anything they can get their hands on to eat for meat, and eating the dirt cookies again. Yes, it’s very bad,” DeHart says.
Rising energy costs have also affected For Haiti with Love’s ability to bring in supplies to their burn clinic in city Cap-Haïtien.
Image courtesy of For Haiti With Love
“Haiti, especially Cap-Haïtien, is having a big fuel problem because the little fuel that Haiti can buy is coming from Port-au-Prince, and trucking it to Cap-Haïtien, sometimes it doesn’t go through. The gangs stop it on the way,” she says.
Still, they are doing everything they can to help Haitians in need.
“We house them, we feed them, we clothe them, we heal them, we’re showing God’s love by action,” DeHart says. “And when we show it, then they will listen to the Gospel when we tell them about Jesus.”
Pray for Haiti
Pray that For Haiti with Love will find enough contributors to allow them to distribute food packets. Consider being one of those contributors. Pray that they can help more people in Haiti and get the supplies they need to keep their burn clinic stocked.
“Pray for a change,” DeHart says, “because God can change Haiti.”
Header image courtesy of For Haiti with Love
