#4184: Re Exchange Rate and other reflections upon return from Haiti

[Robert Corbett <bcorbett@netcom.com>]

From: Sara Pilling <spilling@erols.com>

I returned from Haiti last evening - from Port-au-Prince. All seemed
rather calm, but it might better be described as 'holding one's breath'.

As to the current exchange rate. I did not go to a bank - small amount
to change but also aware of the uncertainty and possibility of being
held up. So, at the One Stop at Delmas 29, the exchange rate last week
was 380.

That means that for every $100 US one gets $380 dollars Haitian. At 5
goudes per Haitian dollar, the rate was 19 goudes per US Dollar. That's
high and it had been higher!!

When in Port I volunteer regularly at Delmas 31, the nursing facility
for malnourished children, run by the Missionary Sisters of Charity.
Their facility was simply overflowing with terribly malnourished babies.
So much so that they are adding a second floor to meet the need! These
are babies of the poorest of the poor.

Sara Pilling
Scholarship soley
spilling@erols.com