Ten American Gourdes

The other day a child was engaged in imaginative play and showed me a piece of paper which she was pretending was money. She announced in Creole that it was "10 American gourdes."  I smiled to myself and thought, "well, if there are Haitian dollars then, why not have  goud Ameriken?"

Haitian dollars are not an actual paper currency.  One Haitian dollar refers to five Haitian gourdes.  Prices are sometimes given in Haitian dollars; the sisters of Holy Cross keep track of their finances in Haitian dollars.  If someone tells me the prices in Haitian dollars, I usually ask "how many goud?"  There was a time in the history of Haiti when five gourdes was the equivalent to one American dollar.  When I was in PortauPrince in 2010 after the earthquake, and for a long time after that it was the rate was just under 50 gourde to an Amercian dollar.  Today the current exchange rate according to a currency website is  $69.0971 gourdes for one American dollar.  Escalating prices is a challenge for many people here whose wages have not kept up with inflation.

Recently I was speaking to someone just a little older than me, who is employed full-time at an organization where she cares for children and has worked for a number of years. She told me what she makes a month in Haitian gourdes.  Later I put the numbers into the computer to see what that would be in American dollars and how much that would be a day.  The number surprised me.  I tried to put it into perspective.  Nearly 30  years ago, as a teenager, when I first started babysitting for neighbors' children on weekend evenings I was paid per hour more than what she lives on each day and my job was a lot easier than hers and a couple of dollars were worth more then than they are now.

Sometimes I feel helpless when constantly encountering such injustice and inequality, which exists everywhere.  I am not sure how to best respond, and sometimes even small attempts at suggesting simple changes on a very small scale seem unwelcome.  Writing about it helps a bit and maybe raises awareness at least a little, among the few people who actually read this; although most of you who read this probably already have a pretty good awareness of the extreme inequality that exists in our world.  


On a lighter note, I took some pictures today and want to share with you a glimpse of the great beauty that can be found even in just one yard in Haiti even on an overcast, damp day.

Most of the time when I have my camera, the peacock's feathers are down; I felt lucky today.  

Just in case "raindrops on roses" are among your "favorite things."   

I am very grateful that the internet is working well enough to allow me to upload several pictures!  (Haiti helps me to learn to appreciate the little things.)

Hope you are doing well.  Have a great week.  Many blessings!