Election Unrest in Haiti

The Presidential election in Haiti has been postponed several times since December due to political protests in Port-au-Prince that threaten to spread to the rest of the country.

Opposition groups denounce President Michel Martelly (whose term ends on Feb 7th) and accuse his party of corruption and vote-rigging. Demonstrators burn tires, overturn vehicles, block traffic and face down the riot police.

To date, the programs of Mercy Beyond Borders have not been directly affected,primarily because we operate in rural regions only.

Photo from ibtimes.com

Precious Water

Here in Calif a 4-yr drought is making us more aware of how precious water is. We're cutting usage by 25% or more throughout the State.  But still, whenever I turn on the tap, water flows. And whenever I want to take a shower, I do it.

In Haiti, as in most developing countries, in-home plumbing remains a distant dream,  Families spend hours every day hiking down (and back up) steep hills to bring water from streams at the bottom of the ravines. Here, MBB Scholar Venande collects rain water outside her mountain house. Precious indeed: collected with effort, stored with care, used sparingly, and never taken for granted.

Just Hangin' Around After the Holidays

Uninvited guests can be awkward, esp at holiday time.  There aren't many belfries in South Sudan; perhaps that's why this bat decided to hang out inside one of the tukuls (mud and thatch huts) where staff at St Bakhita Girls School live. No windows for him to fly out, and the white curtain that covers the doorway provided netting in which to get entangled. Eventually it found the way out.  Just another day in South Sudan!