​Promoting a global culture of solidarity with the poor - in Haiti, Africa, and beyond. - for a more just and sustainable world   .  .  .  

“Won’t You “Skip a Lunch to Save a Child”?

Hunger: A Silent Epidemic at Our Doorsteps

Children in Haiti are born into some of the harshest conditions anywhere on earth. Nearly all are seriously disadvantaged in terms of growth, development, and potential to thrive. Malnutrition rates are among the worst in the Caribbean. Nearly one-third of all Haitian children under five suffer from stunted growth and three-quarters of children aged 6-24 months are anemic. [World Bank, Demographic and Health Survey, 2005].

These figures fail to tell the entire story of children’s struggle for survival in Haiti. Chronic malnutrition is more often an indirect cause of death among children ages 1-5 years. Because these children don’t get enough to eat, they have less natural resistance to disease. When they get sick, as all children do, they may recover, but it usually takes them longer than it would if they were well fed. The next time they get sick the recovery may take longer still. Eventually children who never get adequate nutrition succumb to illnesses that other children are strong enough to overcome.

One Person’s Solidarity CAN Make a Difference!

Following a June 2002 Rich in Mercy “reverse mission pilgrimage” to Haiti, Marlene Shaw, of Republic, PA, created the RIM “Skip a Lunch, Save a Child” fund to provide financial support for a nutrition and early education “head start” program directed by Sr. Eileen Davey, a Holy Union sister from Fall River, MA in the St. Louis de Montfort parish in Port au Prince’s Delmas section. Supporters of the “Skip a Lunch” program contribute $5 a month to provide a daily, nutritious meal, structured play, and various formative educational activities for approximately 100 “at risk” children. These children are bright, playful, full of love and affection. Their families work hard every day, but despite their hard work they cannot earn enough to provide adequate food for their children.

The parish is providing for these “high risk” children. Together with Marlene Shaw YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE IN THE LIVES OF THESE CHILDREN!

Read Marlene Shaw’s original inspiring                 .