Lavichè

Things are pretty good right now in Haiti. The elected president has remained in power. Kidnappings are down from a couple of years ago. (Some) people are actually being brought to trial for their crimes. However, Haiti is facing a problem that could very well change all of that: lavichè (la vie chère in French, or high cost of living in English).

Globally speaking, prices are up: oil (isn't oil always up?), rice, corn, wheat. I'm sure most of you have noticed and are rather annoyed. But again, consequences seem to have greater meaning here. People are modifying their diets (though Haiti is not in the crisis forcing people to eat dirt that was reported by the world press). Protests against lavichè are becoming increasingly violent. The post-holiday drop in crime that typically occurs has not.

MCC is in a process of dialogging about, among other things, the pay its workers receive, and asked a few of us "out in the field" for our opinions. Given the general high cost of living in Haiti (it's not that different from the COL in the US), compounded by the current increase, I was tempted to write and say, "please! give your workers more money!" But then I remembered that most of the people I spend my time with live on a fraction of what I receive every month. If I were to have more money, how would that affect those relationships? How would my understanding of what it means to live in Haiti be different if I received a bigger "paycheck?"

When I get annoyed at the 5-gourde (0.13 USD) increase in a can of milk, I try to remember how fortunate I am that I can choose to buy entirely unnecessary items simply because I enjoy their taste.

-L

(note: For those of you interested in international trade policies, look up the Economic Partnership Agreement [EPA].)