On the ground reporting on food distribution efforts in Ayiti (Haiti)

"Food for Life is the ONLY food relief organization in Haiti, that buys locally grown produce. Even United Sikhs sends a truck to the Dominican Republic every day, to buy Dominican AND imported food at half-price from markets in Haiti."

The Mountain of Food - Rice, Vegetables, Konbits and NGO’s

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• What you can do.

As an independent volunteer in Ayiti, I am on the lookout for good organizations to work with, and I found a great one on March 1. It’s called “Food for Life”, and it’s one of only two small foreign NGO’s in Haiti (the other is United Sikhs), that cooks and serves hot food to people living in the “Abrits” camps.
Yes people! With hundreds of millions raised for Haiti, the World Food Program (WFP, called “PAM” in French and Creole) and every other Food distribution organization, gives out DRY food to people without homes or jobs! Many camps receive no food at all. Rice prices, in particular, have gone through the roof, as the WFP bought so much of it from wholesalers, then distributed it to organizations that hoard it and/or leak it to resellers, choking the market and profiteering from the disaster like crazy.

In the meantime, the Haitian government has sent the Prime Minister to talk to Obama, asking for financial resources to create jobs, instead of (or at the same time as) sending “Food Aid”. That is a great idea, except that money is even more prone to corruption in distribution than food. The “Work for Food-Cash” program is highly touted by the United Nations, to compensate people for clearing buildings and other post-disaster labor jobs. Ayiti needs permanent jobs, not BS for NGO’s to make themselves look good and then leave when the Shock Value of the earthquake wears off.

Read more @ The Mountain of Food - Rice, Vegetables, Konbits and NGO’s

tags: haiti, relief effort, agriculture, NGO,