Perhaps you remember Chavannes, founder of the EcoVillages in rural Haiti, as the grandfatherly gentleman who visited Atlanta last year. He thanked us for building the EcoVillage School and asked us to help finish the project.
Today, he is more Jeremiah than grandpa, prophetically calling on the President and his wealthy supporters to mend their ways. He is helping lead the nationwide, peaceful rebellion against corruption in government and oppression of Haiti’s poor.
Haiti is in crisis. What began months ago as occasional demonstrations has escalated into a full-fledged effort to shut down the country until the government falls. Schools, government functions, ports and banks are closed. President Moise refuses to resign, with the support of the U.S. government. (To learn more about the backstory of the people’s revolt read “ ’There Is No Hope’: Crisis Pushes Haiti to Brink of Collapse,” New York Times, October 21 https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/20/world/americas/Haiti-crisis-violence.html )
The unrest, which in the first months was concentrated in the capitol Port-au-Prince, has now reached our friends in the Central Plateau.
Pressure and threats to join the nationwide shutdown led to the closing of the EcoVillage School in October. A few days ago, Director Ramain and the parents courageously reopened the school, watching to see if it will be safe. Almost all of the other schools in the country are closed.
Our friends in the EcoVillages are fortunate to have their own food. They can subsist, but many others are in trouble. 60% of Haiti’s food comes from imports. NGOs report that as many as 3.5 million people need emergency food assistance now. (To learn more about the current food crisis read, NGOs warn about deterioration of food security in Haiti,” ReliefWeb, November 21 https://reliefweb.int/report/haiti/ngos-warn-about-deterioration-food-security-haiti-more-35-million-people-need-emergency )
The Atlanta EcoVillage School Partnership will keep you informed about events. Haiti was in the news on January 12, the 10th anniversary of the greatest natural disaster in the history of the Western Hemisphere, in which as many as 250,000 people died. Please keep the Haitian people in your prayers.