What time is it?

Last year Haiti did not participate in daylight savings time.  The year before last we did participate.   When I was here after the earthquake Haiti did not change the hour.  This year we are participating in daylight saving's time.  This seems to create confusion for people.  To make it more complicated, the press release communicating that Haiti would be changing the hour this year came out on Thursday, March 9th, stating that the time change would take place on Sunday.  I had recalled that the first year I was in Cap-Haitian when Haiti did change clocks that there had been some confusion about what time to change them.  Two years ago, I recall that a full week after the time change a priest started the Sunday liturgy late and attributed his tardiness to the time change the week before.  Last year when we did not change someone I live with claimed the local television news had indicated that we would change.  I had read on Facebook last year that we were not changing, so I was not so sure.  I was only certain last year that we were not changing the time when on Sunday morning, I turned my phone off and back on and the time still matched the time on my watch.   I saw the announcement this year on a facebook page for "ex-pats" living in Haiti on Thursday and a text from my cell phone carrier convinced me that it was true on Saturday. 

When I arrived at the school where 6:30 am mass is held (our new local parish does not have a church) the school gate was closed but someone was opening it with a key.  The parish priest was just pulling up in his truck and through the window told me I was early.  I told him, we changed the hour. He said he knows but that most people won't know that.  I was not the only one arriving a good hour before mass would actually begin, but the vast majority of people, if they knew that the time had actually changed correctly assumed that we would start as though we were still on the old time.  There was no possibility of the church announcing the time change a week in advance because it seems the government had not announced the time change until a few days before. The orphanage decided to change their clocks on Sunday night, so according to my watch, I worked until a little after 6:00 that evening so that I could do my 4:00 group with older children.    

Why does Haiti participate in daylight savings time some years and not others?  I don't know.  It might be that the president decides and each person who is president does what he prefers, or hopefully what he believes is in the best interest of the people.  Personally, I am not convinced of the benefits especially when traveling to mass for 6:00 am during the week and seeing many young people on their way to school already and now it is dark that time of the morning.  

  So, I am still on the same time as My family, friends and community members who live in eastern time zone.  I am still an hour ahead of all of my community members and friends living in New Orleans.  

I hope that you are well no matter what time zone you are in.  Thanks for taking the time to read this.  Take care.  Many blessings!