Correspondence with Haiti Spring 2004

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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. Here’s 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

Margaret Trost, President
What If? Foundation
March 29, 2004