Feeding Starving People

Today is our last day in Haiti and we have a long travel day ahead of us.  However, there is one last serving opportunity before heading to the airport  – the distribution of Feed My Starving Children Manna Packs to a nearby tent city.  We assembled 4 manna packs into plastic bags.  Each pack contains 6 meals.  We filled 30 boxes with 36 packs and loaded the boxes  onto the Top Top.  Riding to our destination, we were instructed to each take 3-6 plastic bags to the farthest tents first, return to the Top Top for more bags, deliver those and gradually work our way out.  The Haitians soon realized we were there and gathered around us.  Some of the older children tried to pull the bags from my arms and picked at the plastic to pull manna packs out through the hole.  We were taught to say “alean tattoo” which means “go to your house” so that the people would know we would only deliver to their tent and not to individuals.  I was grateful when a couple of residents took charge of the children  and the grabbing stopped.  Within 30 minutes we delivered 6,480 meals!   Thank you to many of you who have volunteered your time at the Feed My Starving Children facilities packaging manna packs  – it was a privilege to deliver them to hungry people on the receiving end.      - Linda

It was the morning of the last day of our trip.  30 boxes of FMSC manna packs were brought to our Guest House to prepare for distribution in a nearby tent city. There were two teams, 24 people, that worked in assembly style to put 4 manna packs into a black plastic bag - approximately 24 meals - and then back into boxes to facilitate the distribution process. We opened the FMSC boxes wondering if maybe some of them were ones we had touched in Minnesota during the Slumberland FMSC events. We were all excited to be involved in the full circle of making the manna packs and now getting ready to distribute them to the poorest of the poor, to hungry Haitian families. We could tell some of the packs were not fully air tight. Some of the boxes had loose rice in the bottom. One pack unfortunately had many bugs crawling in it and it troubled me greatly to have to discard this pack, fully realizing the importance, the need, the hunger. I will pack FMSC manna packs with much higher attention to detail in the future.

As we drove to the tent city, we were instructed to stay in groups of three. To hold the bags of food high in the air and to select a walkway -  a narrow path into the maze of 'homes' - to walk in as far as we were comfortable, to hand one bag to each house, working our way out back to the top-top (vehicle) to restock and go back in. We were not there to play with the children - the Haitians knew we were there for one distinct purpose. For the first time all week, I felt the Haitian's utter desperation for survival.

The 'tent' homes were approximately 10 feet by 10 feet, made of pieced metals and tarps. Dirt floors, no furniture as we know it. I don't know how many people lived in each structure, there were so many people. We walked over and through their 'bathroom' areas and through passages that were so narrow I had to turn sideways.  There was urgency and tugging on us to bring food to their home. Obviously we did not have enough for everyone. We tried to be fair and to make sure each home only got one bag. At one point, I once got separated from my small group and felt panic and called out loudly to reunite for safety. I saw and felt the desperation of the hungry.  An older Haitian man tried to help put some order to this chaos, but desperation prevailed. Once our bags were gone, we were no longer searched out or tugged. 

6,474  of the 6,480 meals were distributed in about 30 minutes. That discarded pack meant 6 meals were wasted, 6 people missed receiving that precious food.  As we quickly drove away, I felt exhausted, somewhat discouraged and saddened by how massive this problem of hunger really is, by how impossible it was to meet all the needs, by the contrast of Haitian reality with how blessed I am to live in the USA. The images and memories of our time in Haiti will forever be etched in my heart. I know this mission has just started for me.   -sue