Haiti (MNN) — Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti, has descended into war. Gangs control the port, along with several neighborhoods. Police cautiously travel the streets in armored vehicles. In one neighborhood, ten days of violence left 470 people dead, injured, or missing.
Worsening conditions
Many Haitians have desperately fled to the Florida Keys. The U.S. Coast Guard picked up over 330 Haitian migrants in the last week alone.
Greg Yoder with Christian World Outreach says, “It’s kind of starting to spread outside of Port-au-Prince, to some of the larger cities. For us, it’s caused some issues just with not being able to have classes for the Feminine Training Center, or ladies even not being able to travel to the center.”
People stay inside to avoid the bullets flying through their neighborhoods. Kids can’t be in school. Haiti has not had a functioning government since the assassination of the President last year.
How did things in Haiti get so bad?
The secretary general of the Organization of American States recently released a statement blaming the international community for ignoring Haiti’s problems and failing the country with “20 years of erratic political strategy.”
Get involved
God continues to work, despite the tragedy unfolding. Yoder says, “We just had graduation at our Feminine Training Center in Port-au-Prince, and 70 ladies graduated. They graduated in Perfected Sewing, which is a three-year program, Simple Sewing, which is just a one-year program, cosmetology, or the cooking or baking classes.”
These courses allow women to provide for themselves and their families. CWO can provide full scholarships for some women as well. Want to support this work? You can here.
Pray for the safety of CWO staff in the Port-au-Prince area, and ask God to interrupt the gang wars.
(Header photo courtesy Love A Child, Inc/FB)
