20982: (Hermantin)Miami-Herald-Feeding poor in Haiti 'depressing' -- but rewarding (fwd)

[Bob Corbett <corbetre@webster.edu>]

From: leonie hermantin <lhermantin@hotmail.com>

  Posted on Sun, Mar. 28, 2004


Feeding poor in Haiti 'depressing' -- but rewarding

A Deerfield Beach charity tries to find Haiti's poor and make sure that they
are fed.

BY RICHARD T. HALVORSON

rhalvorson@herald.com


PORT-AU-PRINCE -- For more than 20 years, Raymonde Pun has combed the
trash-lined alleys of Port-au-Prince searching for the poorest of the poor.

Pun, the executive director of Food for the Poor, Haiti, has spent her life
providing housing, food and medical aid to families in one of the world's
neediest nations.

On a recent morning, a group of children playing in the dirt sighted her as
she entered the Mais Gaté slum. ``Manmi Pun, Manmi Pun!'' they squealed in
Creole.

''She's a mixture of Mother Teresa and Bill Gates,'' said Pun's colleague,
Cliff Feldman, the regional director for Food for the Poor, a sister
organization based in Deerfield Beach, Fla.

In a country where aid workers play a critical role in assuring that
millions of Haitians receive medical care and adequate nourishment, Pun has
become a friend and lifeline to thousands of the country's most needy.

BEGGING IN STREETS

''Many parents won't send kids to school unless there is food -- otherwise
they make the kids beg in the streets,'' said Pun, who spends hours each
week traveling throughout the country to listen to families' needs.

As the country's largest private charity, Food for the Poor distributed
almost $40 million in aid last year.

The amount of aid is expected to increase to $60 million this year. Some of
that aid will be a new $5 million initiative with the World Food Program to
feed 100,000 people in Cité Soleil, one of the country's worst slums.

''Gangs can now think about laying down their arms so that they don't have
to steal to get food and services,'' Feldman said.

WORK MORE URGENT

Pun and other aid workers said Haiti's political turmoil makes their work
more urgent. Former President Jean-Bertrand Aristide left Haiti Feb. 29
after a monthlong rebellion. Warehouses were looted, and the fighting
prevented workers from distributing food.

The crisis increased donor support to Food for the Poor's South Florida
offices, making it possible to send more than $35 million in aid to Haiti in
the first three months of this year, officials said.

Each morning in Port-au-Prince, long lines form outside a warehouse where
Pun orchestrates a feeding center. Staff workers fill a bucket of rice and
stew for each of 2,500 needy families.

A recently released World Food Program assessment said at least 140,000 more
people are at high risk for malnutrition or starvation.

`MOST VULNERABLE'

''These are the most vulnerable -- children, HIV orphans, the elderly and
pregnant women,'' World Food Program spokesperson Alejandro Chicheri said.
``This has been a silent emergency for years.''

Even before the political crisis, the United Nations listed Haiti as one of
the hungriest nations in the world, with 50 percent of the population
chronically undernourished. That far exceeds rates in hunger-prone African
countries.

Haiti also suffers a growing AIDS crisis, with 15 percent of the urban
population testing positive for HIV/AIDS and more than 200,000 AIDS orphans,
according to the U.N.

Pondering Food for the Poor's extensive efforts and the need that remains,
Pun shakes her head.

''Some days I come to work so depressed. No matter how much we do, they
still line up by the thousands every day,'' she said.

But Pun said all of the effort makes a valuable impact.

''I am deeply moved by their need. When I see the gratefulness of the
individuals and families, I know exactly why we do it,'' she said.

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