Monday, May 4, 2009

Money, honey?

And Haiti moves on and up... yet does not change in some of its ways.

Two days ago we sent our monthly contributions to the orphanage in Deschapelles, and to Gladys and her 4 boys. Several hours after Gladys picked up the money from Western Union, she called me, sobbing hysterically: after WU she had gone to the market, and all her money was stolen. Considering the theft there, I was not really surprised. However: I was deeply annoyed that a street-wise young woman would have let this happened. We all discussed it here, and tried to figure out what to do. Then doubt started setting in. Given the mentality in Haiti, was this a true story, or an attempt at collecting more from the rich 'blan'?

We decided to send her a segment, because we all felt that they could not go hungry even if they had to give up school/tuition for the month. We discussed the amount.
Then I decided, just to be sure, to email our Canadian friend in Haiti, who has lived there many years. She wrote back immediately, saying NOT to send more money, in part because Gladys needed to know that she was expected to take better care ($150 is a great deal of money there) AND that she would not receive a replacement. And our friend quoted a story.

I set up the transfer, but before hitting "submit" I called Gladys. The money, miraculously (more than in one way) had been found again at the market. She was very grumpy and short about it. We were delighted that all these problems had come to a good ending. We also felt that all parties concerned had learned a lesson!