When it rains, it pours

It's rainy season here in Haiti, and it is raining hard almost every night. Thousands of people are still in tents, and many of them suffer when it rains.

But we all know that "When it rains, it pours" doesn't always pertain to rain. Normally we have three sources of electricity which combine to give us power when we need it: Commercial power (EDH), a generator and a combination inverter / battery system. When we got home Sunday, the generator was broken and the inverter batteries where dead, so that left us dependent on commercial power which at best gives electricity only about 8 hours a day (usually at night). We have actually been working on replacing the batteries for a while.

So for the past three days I have been waiting for a repairman to come fix the generator and also trying to find the right kind of batteries to buy. I was told the kind I want are stuck in customs and that they raised the duty on batteries from 5% to 20% after the earthquake. Yet most business in Haiti need batteries to ensure a steady source of electricity to function.

Then there was our water supply which was "borrowed" by our neighbors who are building a house down the street so they could have water to mix cement. So, since I was injured, we have not been receiving water from the water company. Fortunately we had some in our cistern. And today I was able to clean out the pipes that bring rain water into the cistern.

In addition, my cell phone was stolen when I was shot, and Carol's phone was stolen while a friend of ours was borrowing it. So I had to go out and buy two new cell phones this week. At least the phone companies here give you back your phone number if your phone is stolen (with receipt of course).

This is all part of living and working in Haiti! We were definitely spoiled this summer in the US, but now we're back in the "majority world" where most people live without electricity, clean water and telephone service.

Rich