We recently asked students what problems or difficulties they face in Haiti. Here is what they said. . .

Wedeline: We are not well. Our Haiti is not bad, but our life is insecure. Our country doesn’t have a president. I am praying for you. Thank you!

Esther: Today I want to explain the difficulties. We don’t have security in the country for students to go to school. Some places gangs prevent us from living, with kidnappings, killing people, students, merchants who are selling on the streets to help advance a little. But we in the north, God gives us grace, he keeps us under his compassion, he doesn’t let us perish.

Thaicha: In our country in the North things are not all right because things are uncertain, there’s lots of corruption. But in the West, which is Port-au-Prince, life is very difficult for the people. They are killing them, burning them still alive, splitting open their bodies so they can take their organs. In the North the kidnapping movement is starting too. There are many students who experience that when they are leaving school or going to school. When it gets dark people are not in the streets because they take people’s organs so they can sell them…

Shessie: In my country of Haiti we are not really living. The country is falling down. Don’t have electricity, instability, insecurity, there are even traffic jams, we can’t move, the big people always trample the poor people under their feet.
With school, I am struggling slowly, but it’s life that keeps knocking me to the ground. My sickness makes my momma have to do commerce in the hospital market for me. She found a place for her to sell in the market, she borrowed money from the bank so she could buy merchandise. The market burned and my momma didn’t have a chance to save anything. She crashed.
Since then, the tears don’t stop in my momma’s eyes. I am a child who is very sentimental, everything affects me. When I see my momma crying, I can’t keep the tears out of my own eyes. I’m obliged to stay hungry. I can’t tell my momma I’m hungry because I know she doesn’t have anything. So, I’m obliged to not eat and sleep like that.
And that’s why I work hard in school so I can become a person in society and so I can help others who are in need just like us. It’s my greatest dream, and I am fighting hard to realize it. If I can hold my pen today to write all these things, it’s thanks to you. I never stop giving you thanks. “Thank you” is much too small for me to tell you. You are an example for me and this work you are beginning, in the future I want to continue it and share it from generation to generation.

Twessie: A problem I have is the meanness of mankind. People are dying every day. Traffic jams in my area and bandits everywhere. It stresses me a lot. I would like when I finish school for me to study in another country because this country is not good at all. But in Haiti, each day it is bad news that we hear, and that I see. There is a man they killed near my house. That made me feel very stressed. They took the man’s heart, the man’s kidneys. I tell God thank you because I am here.

Christina: The problems I am enduring in my country make me sad and I cannot live easily. My mother is always sick. That makes me suffer a lot and we can be hungry a lot too. I tell you thank you very much because you are helping me in the circumstances. May God bless you and multiply you. Thank you!

Richardson: In the country of Haiti, we face many bad situations. We don’t have security. Even to eat is a big problem for the Haitian people. We cannot move around everywhere. I am living in a country that is totally not livable.

Weekenley: Here in Haiti we have many problems, we don’t have a president, bandits are spreading trouble, they’re burning homes of people, the population are afraid, don’t have work, don’t have good roads to go to school, dust dirties our uniforms. It’s those difficulties that we students in Haiti encounter.

Ruth Malaika: For me, there are many problems before my family, like unemployment, my parents can’t find work; in order to sleep we’re asking people for a house; I keep going to school without eating. Our country is very difficult.

Lussiandro: In my country where I live, this year things are becoming worse. The insecurity has become worse, life is expensive, we don’t have a leader, everyone does their own thing, they’re making money off the poor, there’s no good way to a hospital now, it’s private ones that are functioning, don’t have good roads, nor electricity, don’t have a little light, it’s the solar panels and batteries that have it.

Nerette: The difficulties we have in our country are a bad life, malnourishment, misery, we cannot live in peace with the problem of insecurity, bandits want to take the cities, don’t have places to sleep.

Hantz: The problem that is hardest for us is insecurity, the wickedness of men who take children or adults, kill them and take their organs so they can sell them to make money while they destroy lots of lives. We are asking you to help us pray for God to give our country a good president so we can have peace and security.

Yvensky: We are living with a great political crisis; gangs control lots of areas and make the lives of people difficult. The economy is weak; the price of life is very high. People in power stop schools and hospitals don’t work well, lacking security, resources. Heightened insecurity makes us not find enough food to eat.

Facing these problems and difficulties, students like Rose-Tana share their heartfelt gratitude with their sponsors.

Rose-Tana: Today it is a pleasure for me, I am truly happy to write you this letter so I can tell you how important you are for me, and thank you very, very much for your help. I am truly appreciative of you and I never stop giving you thanks. I ask the Lord in his love to continue protecting you, to keep an eye on you, to give you courage, and health so you will live for a very long time. I continue praying for you that God in his love will do everything for you. Once more, thank you!