Carrefour Clinic to cease distributing food


I received an email last night from Carolyn Lang who has stepped in as On-Ground Coordinator. In it, she explained that she, Jean-Elie & Mona Millien and Luc Louisgene & his daughter, Gaelle, had come to the difficult decision that it is too dangerous to continue serving as a food distribution center.


Hungry people form long lines for limited food. Carolyn writes, "We have found that the medical clinic is being used as a means to get food and clothing therefore some who need medical attention can not be seen as the lines are too long and we must close. The crowds are increasingly becoming more desperate for food and sadly we are not equipped to handle that type of security."


Of course, I've written back expressing our support and understanding. These intrepid volunteers are taking some time off this weekend to discuss among themselves how best to serve the community with the Clinic setting alone in the weeks ahead. 


Likewise, the Coordinators are meeting on Sunday to talk about the evolving mission in Carrefour. What can we do best and how? When and how do we shift from running a clinic to rebuilding the School. Can we sustain a long-term medical clinic and how, even while we rebuild? There are other questions, too. Now that we have this internet connection, I've encouraged those in Haiti to send an email with their own thoughts before our meeting. We very much need the input and ideas of everybody.


I hasten to add, this shift away from food distribution does not change our commitment to École le Bon Samaritain and the people of the Waney neighborhood. What we have learned is that feeding people is better done by larger organizations who have access to more supplies and who are equipped to manage the process of feeding the desperately hungry.