Food insecurity on the rise in Borgne Haiti
Tax deductible
The last two years have been acceptionally difficult in Haiti. First political unrest and a strike closed schools and limited transport all fall in 2019. Then the global COVID pandemic came, which servely restricted movement and economic activity. Drought pressed in on Norhtern farmers this spring limiting harvests. Currency manipulation in Summer 2020 doubled the price of imported food, and now, just as things started to open up, there is more political upheaval . Recenlty my friends have been writing to me with dire reports of what is happenign on the ground: "Our country is passing a terrible moment."
One friend writes that he has not been able to feed his family for three days. Another was held up at gunpoint for his phone, but fortunately not killed. Another who lives in Cap Haitien writes me on WhatsApp: “I am asking you to send help because we are suffering very much. I can’t go out in the streets because every day people are dying by gunfire, the police are killing people, bandits are killing people. That’s why we don’t go out because we do not know who to trust. The country has become hell, we feel we cannot go on, hunger is killing us, we suffer for food. I have a child with me and I can’t do anything for him. I don’t have work and the country is too unsafe to go out. Please send me a little gift to feed this child.”
It is the hungry season: The season after the fall harvest has mostly been eaten. The season before the tree fruits come in quantity. The season when Haitians use their energy to plant new gardens without really having enough to eat. But COVID restrictions and political unrest have kept many normal activities--like selling last year's harvests, buying new seeds, and working other kinds of odd jobs to bring in cash--from happening.
Friends of Borgne provides food to the 50 children in our scholarship program. We would like to increase the amount we send each month for food so that me might support their families, their brothers and sisters, as well as others who find themsevles in deperate emergencies this spring. Before COVID started, the United Nations was already sounding the alarm about food insecurity in Haiti (https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/12/1054441) I have not yet seen a post-COVID report, but the news from the ground is not encouraging.
If you have a little to spare this spring, please consider a donation to Friends of Borgne to help us provide additional food during this difficult time.
One friend writes that he has not been able to feed his family for three days. Another was held up at gunpoint for his phone, but fortunately not killed. Another who lives in Cap Haitien writes me on WhatsApp: “I am asking you to send help because we are suffering very much. I can’t go out in the streets because every day people are dying by gunfire, the police are killing people, bandits are killing people. That’s why we don’t go out because we do not know who to trust. The country has become hell, we feel we cannot go on, hunger is killing us, we suffer for food. I have a child with me and I can’t do anything for him. I don’t have work and the country is too unsafe to go out. Please send me a little gift to feed this child.”
It is the hungry season: The season after the fall harvest has mostly been eaten. The season before the tree fruits come in quantity. The season when Haitians use their energy to plant new gardens without really having enough to eat. But COVID restrictions and political unrest have kept many normal activities--like selling last year's harvests, buying new seeds, and working other kinds of odd jobs to bring in cash--from happening.
Friends of Borgne provides food to the 50 children in our scholarship program. We would like to increase the amount we send each month for food so that me might support their families, their brothers and sisters, as well as others who find themsevles in deperate emergencies this spring. Before COVID started, the United Nations was already sounding the alarm about food insecurity in Haiti (https://news.un.org/en/story/2019/12/1054441) I have not yet seen a post-COVID report, but the news from the ground is not encouraging.
If you have a little to spare this spring, please consider a donation to Friends of Borgne to help us provide additional food during this difficult time.
Organizer
Sarah Brownell
Organizer
Rochester, NY
Friends of Borgne Inc
Registered nonprofit
Donations are typically 100% tax deductible in the US.
