Posted on 01/30/2008 5:22:41 AM PST by Red in Blue PA
PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - It was lunchtime in one of Haiti's worst slums, and Charlene Dumas was eating mud. With food prices rising, Haiti's poorest can't afford even a daily plate of rice, and some take desperate measures to fill their bellies. Charlene, 16 with a 1-month-old son, has come to rely on a traditional Haitian remedy for hunger pangs: cookies made of dried yellow dirt from the country's central plateau.
The mud has long been prized by pregnant women and children here as an antacid and source of calcium. But in places like Cite Soleil, the oceanside slum where Charlene shares a two-room house with her baby, five siblings and two unemployed parents, cookies made of dirt, salt and vegetable shortening have become a regular meal.
"When my mother does not cook anything, I have to eat them three times a day," Charlene said. Her baby, named Woodson, lay still across her lap, looking even thinner than the slim 6 pounds 3 ounces he weighed at birth.
(Excerpt) Read more at mcall.com ...
Exactly. Sending them food will not alleviate the hunger. It will just rot in warehouses while the people starve
What does that cold comment have to do with Mitt Romney?
Thank God someone sees how wrong this is.
Again, that depends on what the solution is. You are essentially trying to guilt me into caring by suggesting I must be a horrible person if I don’t. That kind of tactic will always backfire on people like me.
They eat dirt because they are ignorant. That also explains why they are poor, why 16 year olds and younger have children when the family is already starving, and why AIDS is a big problem down there.
Actually in the US, they do. Clay Eating
amen to that.
I mean as you "care for your fellow man", and all that.
Or do you expect the thieves in government to play Robin Hood by stealing from the haves & giving it to the havenots?
If you read this article and maintain that bc Haiti is corrupt (as it is) and therefore the people must starve, then yes, I am making a judgement about you.
The USA sends BILLIONS every years to countries which overtly support terrorism, and yet truly innocent people are eating dirt. At the very LEAST, I would advocate moving every dollar of aid from the PA to Haiti.
What do you suggest we do about it?
Whenever I travel to third-world countries on trips, I always take a third suitcase of medicines which cannot be gotten there. I am not saying this to brag, but since you called into question my motives, this must be shared.
Just bc the situation looks beyond hope does not mean we should not try to help.
If I recall, a segment of black pregnant women seem to have a thing about eating corn starch. I read this years ago, don’t remember the reasoning behind it, but it always stuck with me.
I’ve worked with a few of the educated rich ruling class from Haiti and they were very good folk.
Touche', okay it was out of line...but the "why should I care about poor people eating dirt" seems to mesh in with a lot of the posted philosophy of his supporters here on FR lately.
Did you post this just so you could criticise people’s responses?
Ask John Donne, and if you don't understand that, read a book.
I thought Bill Clinton solved this by removing the military junta. What happened?
This quote is not always applicable, but it certainly is in the case of Haiti IMO:
“Behind every great fortune lies a great crime” -Balzac
Actually no. I thought people would have a much different response.
One cannot profess to be Christian and then say “should I care?” when confronted with fellow men being forced to eat dirt. Period.
I guess I just don’t see that, except when it has to do with illegals in our country. Then, things get emotional!
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