Lynn University Students: Installment One

Monday

We were greeted by Madame Pun at the airport in Port Au Prince and were immediately taken by bus to our Food For The Poor warehouse and office. Upon arrival, we went to participate in the feeding program, which was quite a spectacular production. The women and men were working very hard preparing huge pots of rice and huge pots of stew that is served on top of the rice. This feeding program feeds 15,000 people per day. More than 2,000 people go there every day to get the food. Each person has a card that tells us the size of his or her family. We have investigated this thoroughly already, so we are prepared to serve them according to the number of people in their family. The people who come to the program actually take home nourishment for their families of 6, 7 or 8. Just to give an idea of the size of this program, they cook 2400 lbs of rice every day! We always make a stew that has a protein base, using an affordable type of protein to which beans and vegetables are added for additional nourishment. Local spices add the finishing touch to this meal.

The students, faculty and staff very enthusiastically helped our employees to serve the food. It’s a very hard task and the temperature there is extremely hot and uncomfortable. The scoops of rice are quite large and heavy. It is difficult for us to imagine how the women do this work for 2 to 3 hours every day, because it certainly became tiring for us after only a few minutes.

We also walked around outside where the people were all huddled very tightly together while waiting in line to be served. There was a haunting and unforgettable look of extreme anxiety and desperation on their faces, worrying that the food might be finished when they finally got their turn at the front of the line. The people try to avoid the very hot mid-day sun, so they huddle in places where there is shade. I asked them in Creole “Ki Jan Ou Ye”, which means “How are you all doing?” All of a sudden, there were cries from the crowd and one word repeatedly stood out — “mizé, mizé”, which means poverty.

I spoke with some women individually and heard many heartbreaking stories. One woman had 6 children — none going to school, and her husband was without work. There were other women without husbands and with an equal or higher number of children. It was a relief to them that on a daily basis, no matter what their conditions were financially, they could depend on Food For The Poor’s feeding program to at least have some nourishment for themselves and their families.

Madame Pun then led us to the warehouse and we were very impressed with the efficiency. Bags and bags of rice are being received in Haiti from the people of Taiwan through their government and it was amazing to see the mountains of rice bags at the warehouse. Yet, in a few days, it would all disappear out of the warehouse because, besides the 2,400 lbs we use every day in our program, we support numerous other feeding programs throughout the island. Missionaries from different churches come continuously to the warehouse to pick up bags from Food For The Poor for their feeding programs as well. Rice and beans are the staples for most feeding programs.

We were then led inside the office where we enjoyed a typical Haitian lunch of rice and beans and some very delicious chicken. We all felt a little guilt coming into the office for a nice meal after seeing these poor people waiting for their meal in line in the heat of the mid-day sun.

Our next visit was a very strong emotional one to the Little Children of Jesus Handicapped Home. It was truly an impacting visit for everyone. It is difficult to go to this facility without being emotionally impacted. The kids there were very joyous to see people come and visit, because they would touch them, play with them, and hug them. It was truly heartwarming and I felt very proud to see our American youth from Lynn University relating so beautiful to the children there. These children are not always found in conditions that we are normally accustomed to seeing, because they are sometimes drooling or they have colds with coughs and runny noses and worse. We have a very large staff to take care of these children of God. They demand a tremendous amount of care. In one minute, they can roll on the ground and get dirty. It’s hard sometimes for visitors who are not accustomed to dealing with the handicapped on a regular basis. The students responded beautifully and no matter what the condition was of the children, they played with them, tickled them, joined in their games, held their hands, walked arm-in-arm with them and hugged them. It was truly a joyous site for me.

I had a moving experience with a little child who had an enlarged head due to the condition of liquid in the brain (hydrocephalus). I went into the dormitories with a few of the students. There are many beds and cribs there. Conditions are tight, but the area was very clean and there were actually no unpleasant odors detected. There was only one little boy in the room with the condition mentioned above. I tried to tickle him and somehow relate to him. His head was turned to the side and there was no response whatsoever. I gently passed my hand over his chest, his arms and his head. After a while, I gave up and turned around to move on. Suddenly, as if calling me back, a sound like a peel of laughter came out of him. Every time I touched him after that, he made this joyful sound. He was hardly able to move due to the weight of his head, but he still responded beautifully to human touch and affection. I felt a little embarrassed that I was going to give up on him so quickly, but, it was wonderful that he was finally able to respond to me before I left the room.

There are 98 children living here, and the home has over 60 employees, since the handicapped require care 24/7. Because most of the children are sleeping through the night, the night staff is smaller than the day staff. Although the home was very crowded with bunk beds and cribs, the cleanliness and fresh smell of the place was really impressive to everyone.