Thursday, March 4, 2010

The heart and soul of The Hunger Site's mission


The heart and soul of The Hunger Site's mission, to help eradicate world hunger, is rooted in the struggle against poverty and hopelessness. Haiti, the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere, is a part of that battleground. Eighty percent of the population lives under the poverty line, vulnerable to the country's all-too-frequent natural and socio-economic disasters.

In the past decade, the news from Haiti has been heart-wrenching. Entire communities and the crops they depend upon were repeatedly devastated by tremendous storms. Deforestation, exacerbated by charcoal production to cook or buy food, led to topsoil loss in a region where two-thirds of the population relies on sustenance farming. And word reached the world of people so desperate for food that they ate cookies of dirt mixed with a little fat and baked in the sun.

But Haiti is a place of hope as well as tragedy. In 1804, Haiti became the first black republic to declare independence. During the early days of the earthquake, that surviving spirit was visible to the world. Aid organizations could not immediately reach all of the Haitian population in desperate need of rescue, but that did not stop Haitians from helping each other. They fought to dig survivors out from the rubble with their bare hands. They treated wounds with what little they had. And amid unimaginable tragedy, survivors with nothing more than the clothes upon their back faced the dark nights together, lifting their voices in song.

At The Hunger Site, we are proud to support the Haitian people in their time of need.

Partners in Health has been working in Haiti for more than twenty years not only to provide direct aid for those in need, but also to train Haitians to become doctors, nurses, and medical staff. Now more than ever, every one of those Haitians is better equipped to save lives, and PIH is on the ground to help them accomplish that goal. Donations to The Hunger Site to aid earthquake survivors go directly and swiftly to Partners in Health for emergency supplies and aid

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