Food and drink

Our first stop after we left the airport was at a restaurant for lunch.  We had a large room to ourselves, which was nice because Jeannot was able to continue telling us about the work Compassion is doing in Haiti.  He did, that is, after we had a fairly long discussion about what was safe to eat and drink and what was not.  The restaurant offered a buffet lunch, with plenty of choices for everyone to find something to their taste, even without eating the things we were told to avoid.  While it was good to be given advice on how to prevent food or water-borne illness, it did made me think about the many Haitian people living every day without the 'luxury' of these choices. 

This is the buffet lunch that was served to us at Compassion Project Center HA-336.

Here's my plate.  My favorite thing were the spicy-flavored beets.  Least favorite? The goat meat (bottom of plate).  But I tried it because it's a common Haitian food.

Here's the platter of goat meat.

This is our group eating lunch at HA-336.

We also had a buffet lunch at HA-778, with goat stew, which was pretty tasty!

This is the dining area at our hotel where we had our breakfasts and dinners.  There was some very nice Haitian art, as well as the stained glass lights which looked like they could have been in a restaurant back home!

I think that many people might worry about the food when they are considering going on a sponsor tour.  In my experience on this Haiti trip, the meals were fine and I did not have any problems.  There was always a variety of food and plenty of it.  Our trip leaders also made sure we had lots of bottled water to drink. 

Where do the Haitian people get their food and drink?

Perhaps from a street vendor like this.

Along the sidewalks there are people selling fruit.

Lucky communities have a good well.

But you might have to carry your water home a distance on top of your head.

Or you might get your water from the river, where people are also bathing and washing clothes.

 Many diseases - such as cholera and typhoid, are spread thru unsafe water, but there is a way to help, thru Compassion's Water for Life project.  Healthy water is something most of us take for granted, but it is truly a blessing, and something that many people around the world don't have.  

Consider making a donation... thank you!