The indomitable spirit of a country and its people is best expressed in the
Haiti national flag , for it admonishes among others, defense of freedom, independence and sovereignty. But such aspiration becomes a melodramatic rhetoric when the majority of the inhabitants are starving, when local agricultural products cannot sustain, and the country is sadly dependent on international food aid to feed the needy and hungry.
Although the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization is in the forefront of extending help and introducing new technologies to avert food shortages, still the effort is not enough as clearly manifested by the rampant malnutrition on the countryside.
Just last week, Haiti had been drenched by tropical storm Fay, and all its crops flattened and irrigation damaged by hurricane Gustav, making life barely tolerable on a country that survives on its agricultural production. As if one crisis is not enough, international food aid is again hampered by the erratic climatic patterns.
July saw riots staged by the starved citizenry, and to quell such unrest World Vision International has vowed to send in at least 500 metric tons of food in August, while it was making strides, the hurricane came making continuation of the humanitarian mission almost impossible. Ministry officials had expressed apprehensions that the impact of the storms would be felt in the coming months, as local harvests would be meager affecting the earning capacity of the inhabitants and putting a lot of strain to a reeling economy.
And to make things really worst as it is, tropical storm Hanna is brewing north of the Bahamas, while a tropical wave is developing from the African coast. Haitian's know that the worst may not be over yet.
by:
The Flagman
