I arrived 5 minutes before my race because they bused us in from a place 6 miles away and it took almost a hour to get to the starting line from when I parked my car.  I ran to get my chip and check my gear and had just enough time to get to the front of my 500 person wave.  They had 13 waves each day staggered 30 minutes apart.  I was thirsty so I asked the starter if he could pour a handful of water in my cupped hands to relieve my thirst from being on a hot bus and not having anything to drink for over an hour.  The starter barked “are you a warrrior” and the frenzied wave of 500 blurted “grrrrrraaa, we are warriors”.  Kind of silly, but fun, especially for adults who have a boring life it’s a chance to bust loose a little and let out a big yell.

The horn went off and the top 20 or so “warriors” sprinted out in front, of which I was included.  For the first mile or so there were no obstacles, and it was a very fast pace, probably a sub 6 minute per mile pace.  I passed about 5 young guys in the process and was in about 5th place out of 500.  There were two leaders way in front and the rest of us close.  The first obstacle was jumping over cars.  After that the order of obstacles gets blurry to me being that a) I was going on four hours sleep, b) I was fighting a virus and c) I wasn’t paying much attention to order since after the first mile I was beginning to suffer.  We went over bales of hay, two mud pits, climbed a hill with rope, climb over a wall, under tunnels, and such and such.  There were 12 obstacles in all.

What I really thought of all this is that it was fun, but I am really no warrior at all.  I know people who are warriors: they sleep in tent villages fighting mosquitoes, hunger, yellow fever, malaria, tuberculosis, typhoid fever, meningitis, hepatitis, pneumonia, and other communicable diseases.   Mother living in fear every day their children will not have food and die are the warriors.  Mothers wailing from dead children are the warriors.  People passing a week without food are the warriors.  People who have no medicine and are sick are the warriors.  Most have no doctor, no job, no steady source of food, no house (only a shaky tent), and continue to press on and try to find a life.  They have joy in their neediness and we are miserable and unhappy even though we have a lot of stuff.  These are my Haitian friends who are poor in material possessions buy very rich in spirit.  They are the true warriors.  They are the true heroes.  Trust me.

Buying spaghetti and feeding a tent village in June, 2010: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzfZOvzzqg4

Plea from a Tent Village:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdDj7c-ikQY

Thank you for your incredible support, compassion and prayers!

Mike Fedele

“Its the heart afraid of breaking, that never learns to dance.
Its the dream afraid of waking that never takes the chance.
Its the one who won’t be taken that cannot seem to give.
And the soul afraid of dying that never learns to live….But,
just remember in the winter far beneath the bitter snow, lies
the seed that with the sun’s love in the spring becomes The Rose.”
- Bette Midler, The Rose

Dear Friends of Haiti:

Short Video of Mike Giving Message from Maranatha Orphanage and Kids saying Hello to everyone in the United States: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UCPbYmLXjA

Short Video of Children Under Tents and Tarp: Video of Maranatha Orphanage and School After Earthquake:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHcNBStZ9Xk

Short video of Mike and Haitian Friends with LFTW feeding and connecting in a Haitian tent village pt.1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NCtTlTh3oM

Short video of Mike and Simon with Hungry Children in Haitian Tent Village pt. 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMMkO60Ub3o

I have just returned from my second trip to Haiti after the earthquake and have much to tell you.  I will do it in several e-mails and blogs.  First, from the bottom of my heart I want to thank those of you who have acted before and after the earthquake by showing your continued support of Haiti, in particular the children of Maranatha Orphanage and School, the people of Source Matelas, Haiti, and the many others in villages we have befriended over the past 8 1/2 years and whom we continue to give food, education, love, a listening ear, capital for business and other necessities. Short video of Mike and Simon with Hungry Children in Haitian Tent Village pt. 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMMkO60Ub3o.  Without YOU what we do would not be possible and we need your continued support for sustaining the orphanage and school and the exciting rebuilding project that we have planned for our kids, which includes sustainable projects such as a restaurant, goat farm, bakery, and trade schools.

I am not poor.  But our friends are. I do not pass four days or even a week without food like many of our friends are living in tent villages right now.  Millions of people in this country are at risk every day for disease and death.  I don’t live in fear of getting TB, AIDS, meningitis, malaria, or pneumonia.  But they do;  I don’t worry that I will die and leave my children wandering the streets for food and a place to sleep.  But these mothers do; You and I have the comforts of the American life and we should not only be grateful, but see it as an opportunity and indeed a privilege to help the rest of the world that is not as fortunate.  One secret to a happy life lies in giving from our hearts.  And I want to encourage you to see the possibilities for your life through helping the poor and giving from your heart.  When you give until you are happy it will change your life.  Think bigger about your life.  Don’t focus on the negative, the problems, but on the solutions.  See problems not as walls that stop you but as opportunities to change people’s lives and your own life to make a real, lasting difference in our broken lives and in our needy world.

While nearly 1/2 the people in Haiti are at risk of dying from hunger, malaria, AIDS, malnutrition, and bad water, we are far too comfortable.  Our bellies are too full.  It has been wisely said “If you always do what you always did you will always get what you always got.”  Our hearts need to be inspired to make a difference so that your life will be better and more fulfilling.  LFTW is about Haiti and helping the poor.  LFTW is also about helping you to change your life and giving you something that will give you a fulfilling life where your own dreams are made possible.  LFTW is about healing ourselves and healing others through our lives.  LFTW is an organization that allows people to be free to share their gifts and talents to help others help themselves and transform both ourselves and others.  We focus on healing the whole person, including ourselves.  We are very open about that and desirous of you traveling to Haiti to use your talents as well as raise support for our work.  Short video of Mike and Haitian Friends with LFTW feeding a Haitian tent village pt.1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NCtTlTh3oM

My brothers and sisters in Haiti are poor, yet never poor in spirit.  They cannot speak for their problems.  Therefore, I must say something that helps you realize the magnitude of the current problems in Haiti.  First, Iim afraid we have already forgotten the monumental tragedy that occurred this past January, and the 300,000 plus that died in the earthquake and the millions of our hungry, displaced, homeless brothers and sisters are in this broken land called Haiti.  Our sound bite, entertainment-drenched generation has had its fill of the spectacle of Haiti, and wants to move on, but I will not let let that happen.  We look at the images and pictures, video and newspapers, and mostly remain silent.  We hear the cries, and hear the reports of hundreds of thousands and even millions in tent villages with no food, not jobs, sicknesses and no money.  And we continue to fill our bellies till we are bursting.  We have no right to do that without doing something and making a difference.  What if you were living in a tent village without food, a job, your children hungry, no home and sick from TB or AIDS.  Would you want someone to help you?  Of course you would.  Video of Mike going inside an extremely poor tent village in April, 2010 to meet people, give and feed them Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CPZrvdOV54

Mothers are afraid of dying, because they don’t want to leave their children on the streets.  Communicable diseases like tuberculosis and meningitis are now more rampant than ever and are killing people off daily.   You have clean water, but imagine having to drink dirty water as they do?   Your air is clean, but theirs is unclean.  They still breathe it.  Your children are fed, but theirs are hungry. Children eat dirt and concrete to stay alive.  Your children go to school, but these little ones have no one to teach them.  You have beautiful clothes.  They have rags.  You have a beautiful place to live, but they have bedsheets for a roof and sticks to hold it up.  You have air conditioning and fans, they have mosquito carrying malaria to fight every night.  You have a bed, they have an uneven dirt floor with a piece of cardboard over it if they’re lucky.  You have TV, they pray to their God by the light of a candle each night.   Mike goes inside an extremely poor tent village in April, 2010 to meet people, give money, and feed them Part 2 : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMMkO60Ub3o
Our orphanage and school building is destroyed, but the children are doing well; the school is functioning. but we don’t have clean water.  The children are presently living under tents and tarps and we have done some modest rebuilding to the school to make it reasonably safe and so that authorities won’t shut it down and take our license away to operate.  Many schools and orphanages have been shut down, but ours has not and we were given the go ahead by the authorities to continue operating.  We are presently building a small concrete structure for the girls to sleep in.  The boys will sleep under tents and tarp.  All of this will continue until we can find a place to rebuild a strong, safe facility with trade schools and full child and adult facilities.  This will be part of our $2.2 million dollar rebuilding project.

Sponsor Project

We have completed our sponsor project and now you can go to our website and for as low as $30 a month chose a child to sponsor. You can chose either a girl or a boy and see their brief bio.  If you want to you also have the option to chose two children for $60 a month.  This project will help your child with food, clothes and education. The link to SPONSOR A CHILD AT MARANATHA TODAY IS: http://www.lifefortheworld.com/sponsor.html. Link to girls pictures: http://www.lifefortheworld.com/sponsorGirls.html.    Link to boys pictures: http://www.lifefortheworld.com/sponsorBoys.html.  We really appreciate your help.  We really want you and need you to connect with your child.  You will receive letters throughout the year translated with the child’s letter in creole and pictures and video of your child.  You will also have the ability to communicate with your child through e-mail and have the ability to write to your child.  You are invited to come on a trip to Haiti to visit your child.  This project is crucial for our children to live and receive education.


Rebuilding Project
 
We are presently completely rebuilding the orphanage and school.  This is part of a $2.2 million dollar rebuild project that will include trade schools such as electrical, masonry and auto mechanic schools, full dormitories for children and adults, a restaurant to create income, a sewing school, a bakery and a medical clinic.  We have the personnel and property to create this project.  We are in need of the financial resources.  Right now we have approximately $45,000 in our rebuilding account.  We are in land negotiations for a piece of property in Source Matelas right across the street from the present orphanage and school.  The price of the land right now is $40,000, not including surveying, notary and lawyer fees.  We are interested in this property but want to look at other possibilities and need to determine if we will be able to build on this land.  So we are going to hire some people and hopefully find qualified volunteers to evaluate the suitability of this property.

NYC Art Benefit
 
Our Art Benefit was a great success. The benefit was initiative of Kevin O’Hanlon, art gallery owner of Rogue Space Chelsea. It was held on the lower West side of Manhattan in NYC from April 27th through May 5th.  The NY Satellite group of LFTW hosted this incredible event.  We grossed over $20,000 from the sale of paintings done by the children.  You can still purchase one of the paintings for $300 on the website. Look for an article, pictures and blogs about the “Art For Haiti” event on the website soon. Documentary on the children of Maranatha creating the 209 masterpieces. http://vimeo.com/11692948 . Included in the event were performances from Richard Laurent http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJOSS0×1cF8  and The Mama Foundation Gospel For Teens performances during the event http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j3k7yUmDeFY

Upcoming Newsletter

On June first we will be featuring our first newsletter.  We will feature a monthly newsletter that will be e-mailed the first of every month.  The newsletter will be informational and will help to keep everyone informed about the children of Maranatha and Life For The World.

Feeding the Poor in Other Villages

During our trip in April we spent a considerable amount of time feeding the poor in tent villages in the areas where the displaced Haitians are living.  THE PEOPLE IN HAITI TELL ME VERY FEW ORGANIZATIONS ARE FEEDING THE POOR AND I SEE THIS BUT LIFE FOR THE WORLD IS FEEDING THE POOR IN MANY VILLAGES.  Many of these people have no one giving them food.  I asked the Director of UNICEF at the airport where all the NGOs reside why these people are starving with so much money given and he said they are “working on it”.  I told him that hundreds of thousands of people are starving to death and that I don’t see enough people being helped.  There are over 1.5 million Haitians living like this.  I see almost no groups feeding these people and they are dying.  My opinion is that humanitarian workers are afraid of going into these villages because of rampant communicable diseases like TB and meningitis.  Mike goes inside an extremely poor tent village in April, 2010 to meet people, give them money, and feed them Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6yqMZfqu9U
WE ARE FEEDING THE POOR, AND WE HAVE FED TENS OF THOUSANDS SINCE THE EARTHQUAKE HIT AND CONTINUE TO DO SO BECAUSE WE BELIEVE THAT IT IS ACTING IN LOVE TO RISK OUR OWN HEALTH TO FEED THESE PEOPLE.  People in these villages carry communicable diseases as AIDS, TB, Meningitis, and others, and have malaria and many other medical problems.  However, with proper precautions taken you can significantly reduce the risk of contracting diseases and at the same time do the work of keeping dying people alive until a large scale solution can be realized, which involves the work of the Haiti, the United States, other countries and private NGOs like Life For The World.

Summer Teen and Adult Trips to Haiti

We will be taking at least two teams to Haiti this summer for a 6 day “Experience Haiti” trip which will include visiting our orphanage and school, spending time with the kids, connecting and feeding people in the villages, visiting the markets, visiting our goat farm in Sibert, visiting downtown Port au Prince to see the devastation and work being done, and to get inspiried for our work and learn about Haiti.  On this trip we will not do a building project.  Haitians do the building for us and we pay them.  The purpose of these trips is to understand Haitians, their culture, and experience how the poor live, as well as to see the work we are doing.  The purpose of this trip is to help you see the problems, feel compassion, and get inspired.  Total cost of trip is $1,000 plus airfare.  You will need to get your passport and book the flight yourself.  The down payment of $600 is due by June 10th and the final payment of $400 is due by June 22nd.  It takes up to six weeks to get your passport so you should move on that immediately if you want to go.  If you need help preparing a sponsor letter we can help with that and we can help you find sponsors if you need help.

We will take up to 15 people for each trip.  Right now we have openings.  The teen trip is mostly for teens, but if there are adults who can’t make the August trip you are welcome to come on the June trip.  Also, if you are a teen who cannot make the June trip you may come on the August trip.  We are flexible.

1st Trip Date is Wednesday July 7, to Monday, July 12th
2nd trip date is Thursday Aug 5th to Tuesday Aug 10th.

How YOU Can Help
 
If you are interested in doing any of the following or something else not mentioned, contact me via email or phone (219-781-7618).  Some of these positions will be paid if we cannot find volunteers.  If you are interested either as a volunteer or as a paid position please let me know.  The pay will be modest but fair.

1.  Sponsor a child through our website at $30 a month or two at $60 a month. http://www.lifefortheworld.com/sponsor.html.

2.  Looking for a volunteer “Shipping Coordinator” who will do all of the footwork shipping our containers and all the logistics A – Z.  This person will also coordinate getting our NGO status in Haiti which we are presently working on.

3.  Visit Haiti on one of the trips above to get inspired to make a difference!

4.  Looking for a few volunteers for help as “Sponsor Coordinators”

5.  Looking for people who want to help us plan the rebuild.

6.  Looking for volunteers to help us set up “Haiti Presentations” at schools, clubs, churches, and a variey of venues both as educational presentations and to raise support through our sponsor program for operating expenses and our rebuilding project.

7.  Looking for volunteers to help us raise support for our rebuilding project in a variety of ways including auctions, fashions shows, dances, dinners, or through any other ways.  Please fill out fundraiser volunteer sheet on website if interested (will be available on website soon).

8.  Looking for volunteers to help us with grant writing. 

9.  Looking for people who want to teach English at our school.

10.  Looking for people to help in all phases of the rebuilding project.

Please look at all of our videos posted recently on You Tube to get a picture of what is happening in Haiti and a vision of our work.  There are about 20 posted in the last three weeks from our last tow visits and we will be posting a lot more.  We don’t want you to forget our brothers and sisters in this broken land.  We don’t want you to forget the work we are doing together in LFTW.  In order to realize these childrens dreams and our own dreams, we must continue.  Give and it will be given back to you in ways you can’t imagine.  If you sacrifice you will find a better life.  Anything that matters is going to cost us something – our time, our fears, our money, our life.  But what you get in return will be more than you could have ever imagined.

Mike goes inside an extremely poor tent village in April, 2010 to meet people, give and feed them Part 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CPZrvdOV54

Mike goes inside an extremely poor tent village in April, 2010 to meet people, give money, and feed them Part 2:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VnKtY0njPS8   Mike goes inside an extremely poor tent village in April, 2010 to meet people, give them money, and feed them Part 3: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r6yqMZfqu9U
Thank you so much for your compassion, generosity and perseverance with us.  Together we are making a difference!
Best Regards,

Michael S. Fedele
Founder & President
Life For The World, Inc.
7618 Tapper Avenue
Hammond, IN.  46324
Phone:  219-781-7618
Fax:  219-932-3018
www.lifefortheworld.com
lifefortheworld@sbcglobal.net
http://lifefortheworld.blogspot.com

"Sak vid pa kanpe."
An empty sack doesn't stand up. (A hungry person cannot do anything.) 
- Haitian Proverb

"Papa, ki kote ou rete, sonje mwen. Ki sa ou fe, mwen pral remen ou toujou." 
Daddy, where ever you are, remember me. In what ever you do, I will always
love you. - Boy to his lost father

---

I recently returned from Haiti on February 8, 2010, and now wish to tell you my story of what we together accomplished in Haiti at Life For The World with your help and what is currently happening in Haiti on the ground. I have also attached a slide show of over 270 pictures with our work we just did in Haiti which you can view.  Believe me, it is with the deepest, most heartfelt gratitude and thanks to you that I write. My words cannot express to you how much of a difference you have made in the lives of thousands of people with your thoughts, prayers, work and financial support of our work among the poor in Haiti and at Maranatha Orphanage and School in Source Matelas, Haiti. Simply put, without you it would have not been possible to have come this far, and without you it will not be possible to continue.  I went and the rest of the people who went with me, were merely an extension of your prayers, financial support, work and thoughts.  We still need your continued support, work and prayers.  Children and adults here in the States have demonstrated incredible generosity and compassion which has amazed me and left me utterly speechless.  Together, and only together, young and old alike, we will continue to make a difference.  It has been wisely said that it is not the years in our lives that matter, but the life in our years.  We have an opportunity before us to make a real difference in the world while we have the time and energy, and we can do it together! Many people are already starting to forget Haiti and the real problems of hunger and starvation, homelessess, joblessness and disease are just beginning. 

I cannot go on without recognizing the generosity and work you all have done in the last month and over the years for our Haitian brothers and sisters and children at Maranatha Orphanage and School who are suffering. My deepest thanks and gratitude go out to the compassionate and generous students, parents and staff of Andrean High School in Gary, IN for their support and recent concert to benefit our work in Haiti; my thanks go to the generosity and work of the Haitian Americans and Brooklyn, NYC group that came to Haiti with me after the earthquake led by Richard and Johanna Laurent; to Hans and Savoir Faire of Brooklyn for their love for the Haitian poor; to the incredibly generous work and dedication of the people of Glen Ellyn, Illinois including Lynda and Rick Jones, Doug and Beth Merlo, Bob and Linda Loro and the rest of the unseen heros of Glen Ellyn; to the people in N.W. Indiana including Dr. Chris McIntire who tirelessly and generously works for the poor in Haiti; to Wadsworth Elementary School for “penny wars” that produced substantial donations from the children; to Michelle O’Day and Lisa Hanenburg for their compassion and work for the poor; to Cottage Grove Church, Ed Van Drunen and Vera Vander Zee for their work and love to the poor; to Suburban Bible Sunday School class for their prayers and generosity; to my friend Phillip Weiss for his tireless generosity; to Richard and Jackie Kincaid and the rest of the Because Foundation for their compassion and generosity toward the poor in Haiti and around the world; to Connie Wilkenson and the women of N.W. Indiana for their fundraising efforts; to The Wellspring in S.C.; to Dan and Andrea Quick and people in N.W. Indiana for their years of generosity; to Gene Fedele and people in Florida for their generosity; to Theresa Weakland and the Munster Junior Women’s Group for their compassion and generosity; to my high school classmates from Harrison, N.Y. for their generosity and continued support, and to the rest of those people who work unseen and unrecognized by most, I want you to know that I appreciate all that you have done on behalf of the poor and LFTW in Haiti. Your work will not go unrewarded.  You have done and continue to do great things, and please know for sure that your support, no matter how small, matters to our work with the children of Maranatha Orphanage and School and the rest of the poor we help in Haiti.

We were able to do some amazing things in Haiti with your help.  And, in the midst of chaos, hunger and homelessness, we impacted the lives of thousands of people on the ground and gave food, set up tents, organized a 13 helicopter Navy food drop in Source Matelas, relocated the orphans of Maranatha, performed three other food distributions with food purchased in Haiti, purchased and collected food for Maranatha School and the people of Source Matelas, and gave hope to thousands to let them know that they have not been forgotten.

I arrived in Haiti through the Dominican Republic on January, 27th and was graciously flown to Haiti by an ERA helicopter for free, which normally I was told would have cost about $8,500 a day.  ERA is a subsidiary of Seacor. I had to travel through the Dominican Republic because it is still difficult to get to Haiti through the PAP airport.  I was dropped near the old Club Med called Club Indigo about 40 miles North of Port au Prince. This place is where many of the doctors and nurses from the USA were staying because of the nice facilities, one of the few nice places outside PAP not hit by the earthquake. The helicopter team of ERA dropped some food for the poor with us also, for which we were grateful. Simon, my friend and longtime worker for LFTW, picked me up and drove me back to a place called Latan, the place where I live when in Haiti.  Before I arrived, however, we drove to Maranatha Orphanage and School to see the children. When I arrived they were so happy to see me.  They were living under tents and tarp and the buildings, schoolrooms and dorms were either completely demolished or damaged and I could see it was very dangerous for the kids to be living under tents so close to damaged buildings.  When I arrived at the house in Latan I was greeted by Bryan Hutchinson, a man from Glen Ellyn, Illinois who accompanied me to help with the relief effort.  We had been split up in the Dominican Republic but now brought back together.

When I got to our house in Latan I ate something and went to bed because of being so tired from the trip. I thought about the ability I have to eat food while hundreds of thousands around me are hungry, and it made me sad and grateful at the same time. The next day we went to assess the damage at Maranatha Orphanage more fully and take pictures of the damage and spend time with the kids. The kids were happy and seemed to be doing well. We spent the day in Source Matelas where the orphanage is and walked among the people of Source Matelas, talked with them, and listed to their problems.  Many of the huts and homes in Source Matelas were destroyed and some people were living under tents made of bed sheets or tents set up by the Brooklyn, NYC group on their visit in January right after the earthquake.  The next day we travelled to the market and purchased some rice, dry spaghetti and beans for the people in the village of Source Matelas.  We distributed food to over 500 people in Source Matelas that day and made many hungry people happy. They said “Nou tre kontan Michael paske ou et zamni ou pote nou manje nou konen ou pa bliye nou.”  We are so happy because you and your friends brought us food Michael we know you did not forget us.”  I told them that the people in the United States who supported us with the money to buy the food should be thanked.  We also visited several other orphanages and organizations including Samaritan’s Purse where they donated more food and oil to give to the poor and for Maranatha, for which we were grateful.

Bryan and I spent a couple of days at the PAP airport where all of the NGOs like UNICEF, Red Cross, World Food Program and others have set up their “headquarters."  I attended some meetings and met with many people and registered with them to get food and supplies for our orphanage and the people of the Source Matelas village.  All in all, we provided food, money and supplies to over 500 children and their families in Sources Matelas on several occasions, as well as the teachers of Maranatha School.  Many of the children we suppplied with food in Source Matelas attend the school which is now not operating because of the damaged schoolrooms.

On Sunday, January 30, something amazing happened! Really, a miracle. Lynda Jones from Glen Ellyn had coordinated a food drop with the Navy stationed off the coast of Haiti at the aircraft carrier SS Carl Vinson, the largest aircraft carrier in the world. This food was to supply Maranatha Orphanage and School only.  However, when we arrived, two Navy helicopters were on the ground waiting for us to give us food and water.  The In-charge commander told me that they would not drop any food until all of the people were out of the field where they were going to drop food and we had only 20 minutes to do it. I told him I wanted to feed these other hungry people with the food from one helicopter, and the food and water from the other helicopter we would take to Maranatha School. He said they wouldn’t do it until all of the people were outside the field.  I then gathered up about 20 Haitian men that we have given food and money to through the years, and they were very willing to help me and Bryan get the crowd outside.  We successfully got the crowd outside, and by now there were thousands of people from several different villages waiting outside for food and water.

We then allowed the people to come back into the field and successfully got the people organized into lines, and I really didn’t know if we would be able to pull that off but we did, thanks to the Navy, my relationships with the people, knowing Creole, Bryan’s help and the help of 20+ other Haitian men to assist in the organization effort we did it.

When the field was clear the Navy commander gave the go ahead to drop the food and water on the ground and start passing out the food.  We passed out food and water to ten people at a time and there were several thousand hungry people.  Some people said to me in Creole, “Nou pa genyen manje pou anpil jou”, which means “we haven’t eaten for many days!" Now, here’s the really amazing thing.  Once the Navy saw that this was organized, they sent in eleven more helicopters with food and water to this field, and we fed thousands of people. It was amazing!  The XO of the SS Carl Vinson came in one of the helicopters and also handed out food to the poor.  He said to me this was very organized and was one of the largest food drops they had done thus far in Haiti, and he was happy to do it.  Many times people just bull rush the food, but we were able to keep the people organized even though they were very hungry. There was also a video cameraman from a station in NYC who interviewed me while I was in the field.

The next day the satellite group of LFTW from Brooklyn, NYC arrived and we set up tents for homeless Haitians in Sources Matelas, Bon Repos and Shada.  We also did a food distribution in Bon Repos, which I know Rose, one of the members of the Satellite group from Brooklyn, will never forget.

Rose was taking video for the Brooklyn group. Up to this point Rose had not seen the desperation due to hunger. I told her in the morning to make sure her video camera was ready because I was going to take her to a place to see something she would never forget.  We took bags of rice and beans and put them in the back of our truck.  I asked Simon, who was driving the truck, to stop at Bon Repos in the tent village where thousands of people were living under bed sheets held up by sticks.  When we arrived the people were crowding around us. Richard and I pulled out some bags of rice and beans and began scouping out rice and beans to people from the bags.  People pressed in on us and were desperately trying to get a scoup of rice. Rose was stunned and in shock.  She said she couldn’t take what she was seeing and it was too painful for her to see this chaos and desperation.  The crowd of about three hundred people asked me, “Michael, please give us food we are hungry.” I told them I would come back with police to help us distribute the food.  I told them they had to be more gentle if they wanted us to give them food. They were in tears as they saw us leave because the situation was too dangerous for us to stay in.  I asked Simon to leave immediately. My heart was broken for these people who were so hungry and I saw Rose crying and saying out loud, "I can’t take this." "It’s too much."  "I can’t bear to see this anymore." I said, “Rose, we can’t close our eyes to the pain like the rest of the world does. If we really want to make a difference we must feel the sorrow and look into their eyes and see the pain and desperation." When we allow ourselves to see the pain and sorrow we can feel the compassion to do something about it.  When we close our eyes we shut out the ability to do something for these people in misery. We cannot close our eyes to the hurt, even though it’s easier for us if we shut our eyes.

The NYC group also set up tents in Source Matelas for a number of people displaced and homeless. They also organized food distributions in Source Matelas and fed over 500 people.  I was very happy to see how organized everything was. Alex, Hans, Rose and Richie organized the food distributions in Source Matelas without me and it was very rewarding for me to see that. 

One of the very sad things we saw almost everywhere were tent villages of 500 - 5000 people. They try to live under bed sheets and clothes with sticks to hold up the tents. These people have no job, no food and no home. They are already dying from hunger, but if they make it to the rainy season coming they will surely be in trouble if something is not done for them. 

Please do not forget your brothers and sisters in Haiti. They need us now more than ever. Once again we I appreciate your love and support, and together we have made a huge difference and, with God helping us, we will continue to help give life for the world.