Cell phones

Cell phones-what a difference they can make in life. You may be surprised to learn that many people in Haiti have cell phones. The land-line phones were very unreliable so cell phones make life easier.

This is the tower near our home. We had cell coverage for two days last week. Cory and John Pierre had purchased a phone for me weeks ago but it just sat here as there wasn't a signal on the compound.

Now for the last couple of days we haven't had a signal again. It is interesting to see ladies riding to market on a donkey talking on a phone. Many people do not have electricity in their homes so to charge the phones they need to find a convenient outlet [church, hospital or friend] or pay a small fee to have it charged.

Many people can only receive calls as they don't have the money to pay to make any calls. But after your phone has been inactive for a while you would lose your coverage-so need to buy a card and put some minutes on the phone now and then.

Kris's dad tells the story of being in a mountain church and waiting for the pastor to finish a call. Someone had called him in the middle of a sermon so he stopped preaching to chat a bit. After the call he picked up where he had left off. I have been in the operating room more than once on LaGonave when the doctor's or nurses phones have gone off.

The verity of ring tones can be interesting as well. The movie themes or decidedly American songs can seem very out of place here.