Haitian Hunger

In a recent article that we read about the restavek system in Haiti, the problems of hunger and malnutrition were key factors that influenced parents' decisions to send their children to other families. As parents decide to send their children into slavery, shipping containers full of food in Haitian ports go rotten because of bureaucratic red tape. "So many times, by the time the food gets out of customs it's expired and we're forced to burn it," said Susie Scott Krabacher, whose Colorado-based Mercy and Sharing Foundation has worked in Haiti for 14 years. "The food is there. It is available. It just can't get to the people." When I read this quote in the article, I found it unbelievable that literally hundreds of thousands of pounds of food such as beans, rice, etc. are left to rot mere miles away from the people who are in desperate need of such amenities. There is much talk to reform the slow nature of Haitian customs policies, which ironically were enacted to protect the country and its people from the illegal drug trade from countries such as Columbia. I just thought it was very interesting and unfortunate that the solution to many people's problems is a few miles away, sitting untouched in a shipping container.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080306/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/haiti_rotting_cargo;_ylt=AuFH4sHbjcifUg10gxOCPlS3IxIF