If You Can Stomach It

I had the opportunity to travel to Haiti this past week with Renovation Church and World Wide Village. Our group of 17 stayed in Port-au-Prince and spent most of our time at a children’s home – Foundation For the Promising Children of Haiti. We did multiple projects with the children’s home and also spent time with the children as well.

However, this is a food blog. Not a missions blog. Not a travel blog. Not a charity blog. You read it because you want to see food posts. Thus, I can’t in good conscience go off about the condition of Haiti or the people. Despite the fact that it’s also my blog, which gives me the prerogative to talk about whatever I want, this is a food blog and I’d like to share with you the Haitian food I experienced while there. If you are interested in finding out more about the trip, you can view my photos.

Because we stayed at the World Wide Village guest house, most of what we ate was American food. We went out for lunch after church Sunday and I ordered Haitian Chicken and Rice. The dish was pretty good. It had a tomato-based sauce that included onions and peppers.

Haiti used to be lush and green. It was called the “Pearl of the Caribbean” at one point and you can still see a hint of that former beauty in the mountains and shorelines. Unfortunately, due to corruption, deforestation and the subsequent erosion, the earthquake and now the poverty, most of that beauty is gone. There remains some of the agricultural gems that Haiti naturally produces – plantain, sugar cane, mangos and coconuts. I was able to sample all of this (except the coconut).

The produce of the land was certainly enjoyable. BUT – Haiti is a land full of ironies. A tent city of poverty flying the nation’s flags across the street from the collapsed palace. Dry cleaners, car washes and shoe-shiners on the street that is lined with dust, pollution and garbage. A symbol of national pride – the Eternal Flame – no longer burning. Perhaps the irony that struck me most was the kitchens. Despite being a land with all this great produce, the kitchens the women cooked in were sad. Below are two photos that show the state of Haitian kitchens. They are outdoors because they still cook over fire. The first photo is the woman who cooks for the children’s home. The second photo is the kitchen of a school World Wide Village supports.

Diets in Haiti consist of rice and whatever is in season at that time – mangos, plantain, melons, etc. The fuel for cooking is charcoal and some bio fuel. The people eat once or twice a day, at most.

American’s are a blessed people. We have kitchens stocked with pots, pans and appliances to cook with. We have refrigerators full of food. We know our next meal is only a few hours away. This is not the case in Haiti. Be thankful for what you have to eat and remember that in America, we may get hungry, but we never starve.