I really love this picture. It's not a happy feel-good picture, but it is a powerful picture and it does, indeed, speak a thousand words. I found this picture on the blog of a missionary to Haiti. I don't know the specific circumstances of this photo and I think that adds to it's impact. I look at it and I imagine. Why is this mother crying? Is it because she cannot feed her children? Is she dying of AIDS? Are her children sick because they cannot get enough nutrients? Is she forced with a decision as horrendous as whether to give her children up for adoption in hopes that they will have a better life because the life that she can offer them has very little hope for the future? I cannot begin to fathom the depth of pain and helplessness a mother must feel when she cannot provide for her children the basic things that they need to live.

If you haven't heard yet, rioters have taken to the streets of Port au Prince to protest the drastic rise in the cost of food and living in Haiti. Prices for basic necessities such as rice, beans, and gasoline have doubled in the last few months. I read this on a friend's blog that is living in Haiti.

"The prices have risen drastically in the last few weeks. Rice, beans, cornmeal all have doubled in price. It is affecting items brought into the stores as well. A few weeks ago one could buy a carton of yogurt for around $0.50US, that now costs $2.00!! Gas went from $4.80US a gallon to $5.90."

There is a rise in the cost of living in here in the US but its different. How you would feel about such a huge spike in the cost of living if you lived in a country where the average person lives on less than $2 a day and 80% of them are unemployed?!?!

Haiti is by far the most destitute of third world countries. How can a country that is already so poverty-stricken endure such a hike in the price of living? They are starving, they are mad, and they are desperate!

President Preval spoke to the people today. That is what the rioters had been waiting for, but they were sorely disappointed to hear him talk about long term solutions to help the situation in Haiti in the future. What they really want to know is how they can fill their bellies right now, how they can feed their children tonight, how they can stay alive long enough to be around for the day when the "long term projects" begin to bear fruit and ease the suffering. So they are still rioting.


I can't say that I blame them. If I was that mother in the picture above, if I had to watch as my children waste away because they cannot get enough nutrients, if there was nothing I could do to make the situation any better for my family... well, I might just be rioting too!

Where is the hope? What is the solution?

The only hope, the only solution is for us to cry out in prayer to our Father on behalf of the Haitian people. Pray for them. Pray that God will rain manna from heaven, if He so sees fit, to ease the suffering of these people. And let us look into our own hearts, our own lives, our own resources, our churches' resources and see how we can sacrifice some of our luxuries so that others, even those in our own communities can simply live!

My trip to Haiti that is scheduled for June 19th. Alot can happen in 8 weeks. Please pray for Haiti, the people and it's leaders and for our team.