Riots updated

In case you were wondering, everything has been perfectly calm around here since the rioting 3 weeks ago. When I arrived last week, I would never have known that anything had happened. The streets were full of people buying, selling, sitting, sleeping, and talking, as usual. Businesses were open, Digicel was laying cables down one of the main roads, and people yelled "Blan!" at me, just as they always do. Up in Bolosse, it's the same thing. Everything is normal and I feel just as safe as when I was last here.

I did see a few UN patrols in areas that I don't normally see them, but none near the orphanage. We are taking more precautions than last month - for example, I am not allowed to take the boys to play soccer by myself. I have to take another adult (usually one of the janitors) with me. We have always had rules about the kids walking in the street in pairs, but when things are really calm, we can get a little lax about those rules. Right now, we are more conscientious about them. But still, things do not feel scary and all the anxiety surrounding the rioting seems like a distant memory.

Last week on the evening news, we saw food packets being distrubuted downtown. Something is being done to address the hunger and the rising food costs, but many people are still suffering. My friend Enoch came to me 2 days ago. He had a high fever, a cough, sores in his mouth and lips, and he had visibly lost weight. His mother told me that he had been ill for over a week but they could not afford to send him to a doctor or to buy medication for him. I gave them money and sent them to the hospital on Friday morning. Please continue to pray for people like Enoch who cannot afford the basic necessities of life.