Later Friday

Even as the rains continued today, relief aid in the form of bulgar, soy, peas, and cooking oil were being unloaded here at the Center. No, this is not new aid because of the hurricane. This is aid we have been receiving since after the earth quake in January.

As I have written earlier, many families opened their homes to immigrants from Port Au Prince after the earth quake. Since most who stayed in Port Au Prince still live in makeshift tent camps, those who came here have no place to which they can return. So, many families continue to house and feed anywhere from 4-8 or 10 extra people. This food is meant to help supplement what they have. Food is given based on the number of children under 18 in the house.

Last Saturday we almost emptied out our storage when we distributed to almost 400 people. This is done once a month. We have also been feeding almost 700 school children daily from Monday to Friday, since school began in October.

So the 5 truckloads of food that were unloaded last night and this morning will not remain in the depots for very long! And would you believe - EVERY coffee sized can full of this food (that amount is called a "marmet"), is documented as to who gets it and when they got it! At least as far as the Haitian Health Foundation is involved, aid IS going to those in need!

Late this afternoon we have heard that some of the HHF villages along the Grand Anse River and its tributaries, were hit very hard, especially with flooding and mudslides. We won't know for sure until our health workers living in the area communicate back to us and people from here go to assess the damage.

We, here at the Center were lucky, others were not. Do keep all the needy of this world in your prayers. Take care. Mary Ann