I'm Back, and Food for Thought, or Hungry Stomaches

Sorry for the delay. I came back from the trip and was thrown right back into a lot of school work. The next couple of posts will probably all deal with the Dominican unless other topics arise.

What have you eaten today? How many times have you eaten today. I know that I have not yet eaten, but will probably have 2 large meals today, and maybe a snack of some sort. Why is this relavent? While in the Dominican we worked in Haitian refugee villages. In these villages there were people who lived a life of (relative) luxery such as the vodoo priest, and there were others who didnt even have enough money to rent a shack made from old oil cans. Part of what we did over the week was feeding the hungry. Unfortunately we did not have enough food to feed everyone. This is even more unfortunate when you consider how much excess countries such as the United States have. But we did what we could, and fed the children first. The children were amazing: They had stomaches that were bloated due to starvation, diseases due to malnutrition, and we come in bringing food, but they did not rush for the food. They would rather play with us (they kicked our butt in musical chairs), sing songs with us (they all have rythm and can keep a beat even on a plate), and just share in our company.

We also took some food to the garbage dump. There are people who both live and work in the dump. Their daily job is to sort through garbage, find anything of value, then go sell it. These people live a lifestyle that most "civilized" countries couldn't even fathom. They are walking around with two different shoes that they have found, neither one fitting correctly, sorting through piles of food waste and grotesque garbage, surrounded by flys and other insects as well as a stench that could make you gag from the entrance to the dump. But they too showed an innocence like the children of the village. A few friends and I got to play with the junkyard band. Others played baseball with the kids using a bamboo stick and a plastic bottle cap. Then we shared a meal and had to be on our way, but they asked us to visit their homes (for the ones that lived in villages) and offered us anything and everything they had.

So, when you sit down to eat today, I don't ask you to starve yourself, as that will be no help to the cause. Instead, say a prayer for those who will not get to eat today, and maybe find a way to help those who you can, such as taking left over food from restaurants and cafeterias to local homeless shelters.

Oh, you can see pictures from the trip at http://www.box.net/public/3dlbs44jqd
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