Haiti (MNN) – Famine and gang violence continue to plague Haiti. The UN reported a surge in violence from February 27 to March 9 with gangs in Port-au-Prince claiming at least 187 lives and injuring more than 150 Haitians in those two weeks alone.
This violence not only jeopardizes Haitians through direct force, but also endangers food security. Gang members take whatever they can find at makeshift checkpoints or pillaging through villages. All of this continues in the face of a severe drought.
Photo courtesy of For Haiti with Love.
Roseline DeHart with For Haiti with Love says, “There are children dying of hunger. Malnutrition is very high in in Haiti right now. And there hasn’t been rain in the country for three or four months now, and you need rain to plant for the food to grow.”
In the face of this crisis, DeHart reports that Feed My Starving Children has given the organization a container of food. This shipment consists of rice packets specially formulated to help with malnutrition – a Godsend to those in need. However, the container is currently stuck in Pennsylvania.
“From Feed My Starving Children to occupation headquarters and our warehousing will cost $12,000 to get it there from the United States to Haiti. That’s how it will how much it will cost. It’s a lot of money, but we try to help as many people as we can in Haiti with it.”
DeHart says they are hopeful that the container will reach their headquarters safely once funds are in place. Despite ongoing safety concerns throughout the country in general, For Haiti with Love has not had problems with gangs interfering with their work.
The container is ready, but they still need the capital to ship it. If you want to support the effort to ship the container to feed Haitians in need, click here.
While they wait for God to provide, For Haiti with Love continues to reach out to those they come into contact with. They share the Gospel as they meet very real needs. DeHart says, “We show them God’s love by feeding the hunger. Jesus told us to feed the hungry and that’s what we’re doing. We are God’s hands and feet in Haiti.”
Header photo courtesy of Zach Vessels via Unsplash.
