November 2015
FOODfor THOUGHT R E P O RT S F R O M T H E F I E LD
Page 2
T
he heat of the broiling sun felt like an oven as we climbed out of the vehicle and headed toward the crumbling mud and stick shack. We were in an area of northern Haiti known as Phaeton. Founded in 1929 as a plantation where workers twisted long cords of hemp to fashion into rope, the community had thrived long ago. At that time, workers were given small mud and stick homes to live in. The plantation eventually closed, though the community remained. Over the years poverty overwhelmed the community, snaking through the houses as people struggled to find new jobs and new livelihoods. Such is the case of Rose, a 51-year-old mother who sells charcoal by the side of the road. Rose lives in her house with her husband, a fisherman, and four children. Rose was born in her little shack, and she is trying to hold it together through faith and determination. I was in Phaeton to assess the community's housing situation. In more than two decades of working as a writer for Food For The Poor, I have been inside the homes of many poor families. Many are welcoming and eager to see you. Mothers will often offer a piece of fruit they just picked or something to drink and a place to sit while you chat with them. No matter how humble the house, it is their home and they take pride in greeting guests, as if you are a friend coming over for dinner.
Rose’s house had nothing. Inside the house, crumbling mud walls showed clear signs of erosion. The roof was blackened from cooking fires. There was a blue checked tablecloth on one wall, pinned there to help keep out the rain and try to block the many holes.
The table itself was bare. Rose seemed apologetic when she showed us her home. She glanced at the empty table, at the barren house, and her thin shoulders sagged.
Rose was upset by this, and for a moment, I saw myself in my house, opening my door to greet a visitor and offering them a cool drink or something to eat. In my case, if I had nothing in the house, I’d dash out to the grocery store to buy provisions.
But Rose is poor, and she has nothing. Except faith. My own faith has withered lately. Perhaps it stems from seeing so much poverty and suffering in my travels over the years. I ask God, “Why? Why must these people suffer so? Especially in Haiti, a country that has seen one catastrophe after another?”
But Rose has a deep faith, a cup of hope and trust in God that holds her together as surely as the tablecloth pinned to the wall holds her house together. “God has kept me here on this earth. If not for my faith in God, I would not be here,” she told me. As I asked Rose about God, she forgot her embarrassment about having nothing to offer me. She began to open up, like a flower turning its head to the warm sun, as she talked about our Lord and how He has been her shelter, her provider, her rock. She had nothing inside her home, yet she was grateful to God for all she had. “If there was one thing I could say to God, it would be ‘Thank You.’ I don’t have to ask God for anything. I know God will not leave me in this situation, and I’ve been in this situation my whole life. I know God will someday send someone to help me because I have faith. I know whatever problems I have, God will help me,” she said. Such trust. She had no earthly reason to trust in God, for her children often go hungry and her house is falling apart around her. She has lived like this for 51 years. Yet she clings to her faith. It is like a glowing kerosene lamp shining in the darkness of her poverty. It is poor mothers like Rose who make me feel welcome at an empty table overflowing with Christ’s love and mercy. As we left Rose’s house, and I thanked her for her time, I realized Rose was not poor. She was rich in the Spirit.
Rose said she had nothing to give me. She was wrong. She gave me everything. She renewed my faith. Page 3
Page 4
F
ive-year-old Halene says her prayers each night before huddling at the foot of the precariously leaning wooden wall of her house. The wind cuts through the countless holes in the rotting planks, and Halene dreams of a better home. Halene lives with her parents, Samantha and Kevin, and her four siblings on the outskirts of Georgetown, Guyana. Their tiny home is in such bad shape that Samantha relies on wooden beams bracing the corners just to keep the entire structure from collapsing. Halene’s family can’t afford to improve their home, since most of their money goes to put a little food on the table. “When the rain starts to fall and the thunder rolls, Halene gets frightened and comes running to me,” Samantha says. “I try my best to protect my little ones when the water runs in. I tell them, ‘don’t be afraid, everything will be all right.’” When it storms — which happens frequently in tropical Guyana — Halene has little protection from the elements. During the rainy season the yard floods with water that reaches Halene’s waist, and saturates the already rotting wood foundation of their home. Samantha constantly worries about the children, especially her 2-year-old son, Justin. “My little baby there, he gets the most cold and it frightens me. The last time he got sick he had to really fight it. He couldn’t breathe proper at all,” Samantha said. Samantha’s fears are tragically justified. In 2009 she lost her 3-year-old son to bronchitis. She blames the constant dampness and cold of their ragged shack.
“It would have been different if I’d lived in a better house,” Samantha says quietly. “My son might be alive today.”
Halene and her siblings’ lives are at risk, simply because they don’t have the basic necessity of a secure home. Each night Halene says her bedtime prayers under the looming shadow of that wall, patiently waiting for an answer. Your gift to Food For The Poor can help provide a new home and other basics that Halene and her family desperately need. ◆
“They are drenched with the rain of the mountains, and for want of shelter they cling to the rock.” (Job 24:8)
B
rittany, 4, and her three young siblings are growing up in a cramped, bare shack in Jamaica with their mother Vinitia. The walls and the roof are rotted away and riddled with gaps. Even on the inside of the shack, it feels like you’re outside, unprotected from the rain and wind, exposed to anyone and anything. Big black frogs, toads and scorpions scurry across the dirt floor and scare the children. Vinitia wants a better life for her children, but she struggles to earn an income. She used to wash clothes for a local woman who paid Vinitia about $4 a day. But the woman moved, and now Vinitia has no other work to sustain her and the children.
“We just have to hope and pray for the best and don’t give up,” Vinitia said. The children have never been to school, because as a single mother, Vinitia can’t afford to send them. “Right now, I don’t have anything to give them,” Vinitia said. “If they keep growing in these conditions, they’re going to have a bad future.” Brittany constantly clings to her mother and sucks on her fingers, which is a sign of the little girl’s hunger. All of the children are thin. When they are hungry, Vinitia tries to beg for food for them from neighbors. “Sometimes, they ignore me,” Vinitia said of the neighbors. When Vinitia has nothing to give her little ones, she fills their cups with water to drink, hoping this will take the edge off their hunger. But the children cry because it’s not enough.
Vinitia knows that no child should have to live this way. “I feel bad because I try my best, but it’s not working,” Vinitia said. “They’re suffering… I’m hoping and praying for the best, to have a better life for them. I put God in trust and God in front.”
You can help to answer Vinitia’s prayers for a better life for her children. When you give to Food For The Poor, you can give children like Brittany
food, a safe place to call home, and a brighter future. ◆
Page 5
Page 6
L
auni,7, had moved so many times in her young life that she pleaded with her mom to find a permanent home. For Launi's mother, Juana — who was born without a left arm and has struggled to raise three kids on her own — finding safe housing has always been a major issue.
Juana and her children prayed daily for a better place to live, and a permanent home.
strength “The Lord is my whom and my shield, in and my heart trusted 28:7a) found help.” (Psalm
Over the years, whenever the family’s rent would increase, Launi would have to pack up her meager belongings and set off with her mother and her siblings in search of a new place. After doing this for years, Juana was given a tiny plot of land by the mayor of her municipality in Honduras. “Thank God the blessings came,” said Juana. Juana and her children built a shack of bamboo twigs, scraps of zinc and plastic sheets on the donated land. They rejoiced over this blessing, even though they had no water, no electricity, and no bathroom or shower. Unfortunately, even though they weren’t paying rent, the living conditions were miserable. During rainstorms, Launi would line up with her mother and siblings next to the driest wall in the shack and wait for the rain to pass. It was terrifying for Launi. Wind howled across the roof, sounding like empty metal trash cans clashing together. Launi and her siblings were always getting fungus on their feet from the muddy floors and the lack of sanitation. The children were constantly tired at school and were often sickly. Juana rarely slept; she stayed awake swatting mosquitoes from her children’s skin.
Thankfully, blessings came again for this faithful family. This time, from YOU. Through your loving generosity, they are now blessed to live in a beautiful new home! Launi is so happy that her prayers for a permanent home came true. When asked what she liked best, Launi said: “Everything! Nothing bothers me now.” Their first night in their new home yielded yet another blessing: the family got the soundest sleep they’ve ever had. “We didn’t even notice it was morning after we slept all night,” Juana said. “We did not wake up at all.” Launi and her brother are now doing better in school, and their health has greatly improved. “We are very happy,” said Juana. “My children are happy. Before, they got sick a lot, now they are able to keep themselves cleaner, and they are so happy.”
“Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!” (2 Corinthians 9:15) Food For The Poor works in Honduras and throughout the Caribbean and Latin America to provide our poorest brothers and sisters in need with secure homes, food, water and other critical aid. But we could not continue to help families like Launi’s without the love and generosity of people like you. Please help Food For The Poor give families and vulnerable children the help they urgently need by sending a gift today. ◆
Give thanks!
Prayer of Thanksgiving from Juana’s Family to Yours “I give thanks to the donors, and I ask that God will give them more strength, brightness and health so they can keep helping those who need a home. I thank the donors for all they are doing. I pray for them to continue to go forth and not quit. And don’t get discouraged, because you are helping! We give thanks to God for all that the donors are doing for people like me who need a home.”
This year, why not write down one (or more!) ways that God has blessed you this year? Tip: save the papers and reread them every Thanksgiving.
Page 7
“In all circumstances give thanks, for this is the will of God for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thessalonians 5:18)
You can support Food For The Poor by participating in our upcoming events! 6401 Lyons Road, Coconut Creek, FL 33073 800-487-1158 • www.FoodForThePoor.org Food For Thought is a publication of Food For The Poor, Inc. © 2015 Food For The Poor, Inc. All rights reserved.
Make plans to join us at the 21st annual Building Hope Gala.
Enter for a chance to win a 2016 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport!
Saturday, February 6, 2016
National Car Raffle
Boca Raton Resort & Club, Boca Raton, Florida www.FoodForThePoor.org/boca
Drawing to be held December 14, 2015. www.FoodForThePoor.org/raffle