Haiti: Six Months Later

Our Farewell Dinner
The night before we departed on this greatly anticipated trip, I invited the group traveling to Haiti to my home for dinner. Included were Don Moen, the well-known Christian music composer and performer whose inspirational songs have graced our prayer-room at Food For The Poor (FFP) for many years, his son Michael , whom I would meet for the first time that night, and Jesse Sproul, Don’s general manager. Alice Marino, FFP’s director of marketing, Sydney Henry, our radio manager, and Leann Chong, our missions’ director. Toby Brooks, a friend and past student of mine who was invited on the trip as photographer, brought his lovely girlfriend Liann. Ian Wood, our new videographer, was at work late and was not able to make it.

Believing that a good meal can elevate the spirit and encourage good fellowship, I cooked all day to prepare a delicious meal fit for a king, followed by five desserts. I was pleased that many enjoyed second helpings (and some thirds) and that the desserts were welcomed with unabashed enthusiasm. The mood was celebratory and, although the ages in the group varied widely from 24 to 60, everyone got along very well, which is a good thing as we were about to embark on an experience that would truly bond our hearts and souls in a very special way.

Guatemala -- After the floods

In early June 2010, after severe flooding occurred in Guatemala, a small team from Food For The Poor (FFP) – including Alice Marino, Director of Marketing, and Mark Khouri, Director of Goods In Kind - traveled with me there to meet with our partners, Caritas Arquediocesana. The purpose of our trip was to visit some of our joint programs in the country. Traveling at the same time was a team from a very large and reputable (not to mention generous and charitable) corporate leader in the food industry, which included their president. This giant U.S. corporation with a heart of gold has been developing a vitamin and iron enriched, turkey based, protein product to help combat the frightening incidence of malnutrition, which often results in death or stunted growth.  FFP and Caritas have partnered with this corporation in order to help with testing and distribution of the nutritional product in Guatemala City and its environs. This is successfully accomplished through nearly 30 Mother and Child (M & C) programs administered by Caritas and supported by FFP through its USDA McGovern-Dole Food For Education Program.

This canned turkey product, together with our rice, beans and oil received from the USDA, has been distributed over recent months to all eligible mothers in the program. In addition to the food, the Caritas staff has trained community leaders in each of these centers to educate women in the program about proper nutrition and care of their children, including teaching them about aspects of their growth and development. We witnessed some of these educational sessions and the Caritas staff  is to be congratulated for a job well done.

During our visit to the centers, the weight and height of each child was recorded, and the level of hemoglobin in the blood was measured in order to compare current information with data that had been captured when the program began. While the research and development (R & D) people were busy taking measurements, some of us visited homes, which proved to be very educational and moving experiences.