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April 2 Haiti Update
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From: Barbara Wolf <bjwolf@globalmeditations.com>
Date: Fri, 02 Apr 2004 08:54:13 -0500
Subject: April 2 Haiti Update
Hello, everyone, this is Barbara Wolf.
Global Meditations Network.
http://www.globalmeditations.com
Here is an update on Haiti e-mailed to the What If? Foundation
e-mail list by its founder, Margaret Trost, margarettrost@yahoo.com,
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Dear Friends,
I spoke with Father Jean-Juste in Port-au-Prince a few days ago. He
told me the number of children who come to our food program continues to
increase as the situation in Haiti deteriorates. Here¹s a summary of
what he shared with me:
"It's been four weeks since the coup d'etat. It is so sad what's going
on. People are hungry and frustrated. A bag of rice is so much money
now. It looks like a terrible hurricane has gone through
Port-au-Prince. The brand new school buses are burned and destroyed.
Now many children cannot attend school because they have no
transportation and it is too far to walk. It is also very dangerous,
especially at night. There are death squads going around killing
Aristide supporters. I am trying to keep hope alive here. I used to
see people smiling, even with all the challenges they faced before, but
now they are down, discouraged, sad, frustrated. They used to laugh,
but now they are worried about their lives. Their dreams are gone. The
children are asking for Aristide. They say 'he cared about us. He must
come back.' We are still in need of your prayers. I am on a very
slippery road here. I have received death threats, but I am not
scared. I will not leave. When you're working for God, you cannot run
and hide."
In the midst of this devastating situation, dozens of people spent
yesterday and all day today - since the crack of dawn - preparing and
serving today's meal. At least five hundred children have been served
and are now on their way home.
At last Sunday's meal, Father Jean-Juste told me a little boy, not more
than two-years-old, called out to him. "Father, I ate! My tummy is
full!"
"He had a huge smile on his face. He was so happy to have received a
big plate of food. This meal is a great gift to the community," Father
Jean-Juste said. In a time where dreams are dying as hope fades, the
food we provide through the What If? Foundation (two meals feeding 1000
children every week and daily rice and beans to the neighborhood's
hungriest families) offers not only critical nutrition and calories, but
also a sign of hope - that the children and their tears have not been
forgotten.
Let us continue to pray for peace and a world that places food, clean
water, shelter, education and health care for all people as its top
priority.
Love,
Margaret
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April 2 Haiti Upda
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