A good ole fashioned strike

As I was getting ready to start school for the girls this morning I heard a huge cheer go up from the Haitian school next door. I walked out the door and saw a steady stream of kids running from the school house and head towards the gate to leave campus. Within minutes the school was cleared and kids headed home. I had no idea what was going on.... which isn't something new for me here. Many times things happen and I have no idea why. Just one of the exciting things about living in a foreign culture.

About a half an hour later, I heard there was a public transport strike. The price of fuel went up over the weekend to about $4.65 US dollars per gallon. To put that in perspective, the average monthly wage for a Haitian is $30 US. And there is over 80% unemployment. So $4.65 a gallon is ALOT for the Haitian population. So the transport providers organized a strike supposed to last from 6AM today until 6AM tomorrow. That explains why the school closed. Most of the teachers come from outside this area, and like nearly all Haitians, they rely on public transport to get around.

No transport, no teachers, no school! The good news is that without the tap taps and motos on the road today our 13 mile drive to the airport (that normally takes 1 to 1&1/2 hours) should be quicker than usual! That is unless the public transport workers start protesting and throwing rocks at the cars on the road...