Thought I'd give you a quick lesson in Haitian currency. One thing that you must realize is that Haiti is unique and so is its currency. For you picture lovers - that's me - I have an image of a bank note below - I think we can call it a bank note here in Haiti.
Its easy to get into the habit of thinking that the gourde isn't worth that much - and it isn't - however it does still add up! For me at least - its a little bit hard to know when it's starting to add up. Take 1,000 gourdes for example - whats that worth - I can't tell you off the top of my head, I have to do the math to figure out that its about $25.00 - so that's starting to add up. When you buy something at the grocery store and its say 349 gourdes - is that expensive or not? I know, it depends on what the item is, but its not always all that easy to convert it. To make matters a little worse for us Canadians - we actually need to do yet another conversion to a fluctuating dollar to figure out how that purchase impacts our budget. Since I have been here I have seen the conversion rate for the Canadian dollar go anywhere from par with the USD to about 1.25. That's a 25% impact on your budget right there.
Now in Haiti there is another currency that is commonly used. Its called the Haitian Dollar. It's conversion rate is fixed at 5 gourdes per Haitian Dollar. This is not a legal currency - there is no Haitian Dollar bank note - its just commonly used. I never new why. I was recently told that when the UN first came to Haiti - the American dollar was worth about 5 gourdes - so the people started using the Haitian Dollar as an equivalent to the USD. The common currency of the common people is the Haitian Dollar. But's its illegal. However many stores and especially small businesses and street vendors still operate and price using Haitian Dollars.
Depending on the store, the currency may be in USD, Haitian Dollars or Gourdes. Most markets and street vendors work in Haitian Dollars. Kinda confusing - I know.
One thing that I noticed is how easy it was for vendors to operated in Haitian Dollars (HD) - I was really impressed with their math - because they could convert from gourdes to HD so quickly. Much much faster than I. What actually happens, is that they have worked in Haitian Dollars for so long - they do not see the number on the bill. The above bank note for example is worth $50 HD. When they look at the bank note - they do not see 250 they actually "see" 50. Ask them to count in Gourdes and they cannot. They will count HD, then get out their calculator and do the math (x*5 gives you gourdes). I was amazed when I first saw this.
A grocery market near us recently - perhaps in Dec - converted their pricing in the store from HD to gourdes. After the conversion - the tellers started using their calculators - they did not know how to make change in gourdes. They would total the purchase - then go to the calculator - convert the total amount from gourdes to HD, then substract that from the amount (in HD) that you gave them to calculate the change, then count out the change in HD and give you your change.
They now have my problem in reverse. When I look at the above bank note, I see 250 - I find it difficult to count it as 50 - I am getting used to that though - since I need to work in HD often - including my payroll for the site. When they look at it - they "see" 50 and find it difficult to count it as 250.
Just thought that I'd give you that little lesson.
Now a truck of sand (7 m^2) is 3850 that's in gourdes. I also pay the driver $400 HD for trucking. Is that expensive or reasonable. I now have experience with these numbers and know that's a good price and to know the difference between gourdes and HD.
Apply it to everyday life and its not all that easy.
No comments:
Post a Comment