World Food Program USA Blog

Unique moment for Haiti

As a dual Political Science and Spanish/Latin American Studies major at American University, I am currently enrolled in two courses that focus on the history of Latin America. No Latin American history course would be complete without a discussion of Haiti; it was even mentioned in one of the Spanish language courses that I completed last year. Haiti is located on the Island of Hispaniola, and neighbors the Dominican Republic. 

As I have come to understand the history of Haiti through my studies, Haiti is significant in the discussion of Latin American history because it was basically the only country in which slaves of African descent were successful in leading an armed rebellion that eventually led to their country’s independence, and their own independence from slavery. After Haiti gained its independence from France, it essentially became a self-governing country. However, through the years Haiti has experienced political and social instability that has affected Haitian society.

Despite these political and social instabilities, as well as frequent hurricanes that have a devastating effect on the nation, President René Préval assured former President William Clinton and Ban Ki-moon, secretary general of the United Nations that, “Haiti is at a turning point.” And indeed, it is a turning point.

Haiti’s government has become more stable due to the help provided by a United Nations peacekeeping mission, and many Haitians have benefitted from assistance provided by the World Food Program. Furthermore, last year the United States Congress passed a piece of legislation titled HOPE II, which gives Haiti “duty-free, quota-free access to U.S. markets for the next nine years.” With the help of HOPE II, the goal is that Haiti can move beyond aid and move towards economic development. Ban Ki-moon plans to return to Washington to lobby lawmakers to continue to provide non-traditional humanitarian assistance to Haiti. The goal for this year: to lower Haiti’s port fees. Lowering Haiti’s port fees will increase its export zone thereby creating a market that will ideally spark large-scale economic growth. Haiti is at a turning point. If lawmakers in Washington continue to support legislation that provides Haiti with non-traditional humanitarian aid, than the hope is that Haiti can experience true economic development and not slide back into hard financial times.

Read Secretary General Ban Ki-moons op-ed in the New York Times.

Learn what the World Food Program has been doing in Haiti.

-Devinne Mack

Outreach Intern

Friends of WFP

WFP Success in Peru

I just got back from Peru on early Wednesday morning.  It was truly a life-changing experience.  Before this trip, I would always say, “I can talk about global hunger and the work of WFP until I’m red in the face, but I won’t truly understand it until I see it firsthand.”  Well, this turned out to be true.  As we were visiting the operations in Peru, I just couldn’t get over how impressive and efficient WFP was in implementing its programs.  I saw how WFP does more than just feed people; it helps people feed themselves.   

I was fortunate enough to visit a tile-making factory while I was in Peru.  The factory was in the village of En Puruchcku.  The factory looked very different than the ones we have in the United States.  It was an open area, with a couple of huts and a big oven like building.  Most of the work was done outside.  The factory opened in 2007 and started out as a food for work project.  WFP and ABA (WFP’s non-governmental partner in Peru) taught the factory workers different methods of tile production.  In 2007 and 2008, the project was able to provide roof tiles for 180 homes (with 400,000 tiles), 9,000 block tiles used for the flooring of homes and 1,000 tubes needed for a sprinkler and irrigation system used throughout the community. 

The factory has had so much success that they are now receiving money, instead of food, for their work and are selling these tiles to other communities in the area, as well as several companies in the nearby city of Ayacucho.  Prior to purchasing tiles from En Puruchcku, factories in Ayacucho were buying tiles from the capital city of Lima, several hundred miles away. 
 

I found the people who worked in this factory to be truly inspirational.  They were extremely hard workers and had a passion for their craft.  It really shows you what someone can do with a little bit of help.  
 

Listen to our Behind the Scenes conference call from Lima. 

 

 

Brian J. Ward
Outreach Associate
Friends of WFP

Taking the lead in solving global hunger

This Tuesday, I attended the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing called “Alleviating Global Hunger: Challenges and Opportunities for U.S. Leadership.” It was an exciting opportunity to hear from many distinguished panelists and to witness the commitment of the committee’s members to ensuring that the United States takes a leadership role in ending global hunger. Specifically discussed was the Lugar-Casey Global Food Security Act of 2009, which was sponsored by Sens. Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) and Bob Casey, Jr. (D-Pa.). Committee members and panelists highlighted the fact that even though we know an increase in food production would help solve many of the issues related to hunger and poverty, the United States and other donor countries have actually been decreasing funding for agricultural development programs. The Global Food Security Act would make agricultural development and international food security a top priority for the U.S. government. 

Sen. Lugar, who grew up on a farm that his family still owns in Marion County, Indiana, spoke about how agriculture technology and development has allowed his own family to increase production exponentially over the course of his lifetime. I know from my own personal experience living with farmers in rural Malawi that many of the farmers across sub-Saharan Africa are women who have a difficult time getting access to technology, education and credit. With better seeds, better irrigation systems, better education and the access to small loans to make investments in their farms, these women would be able to plant more, plant better and ultimately harvest more food for their families. Catherine Bertini, one of the panelists at the hearing and former executive director of the World Food Program, spoke about the need to build agricultural development systems around women, since they represent 80 percent of the farmers in sub-Saharan Africa and 60 percent of farmers worldwide. 

Rev. David Beckmann, president of Bread for the World, also mentioned another piece of upcoming legislation which would allow the U.S. government to develop a comprehensive strategy to end global hunger. The upcoming legislation is based on a report, the Roadmap to End Global Hunger, which was developed by a broad-based coalition of non-governmental organizations, including Friends of the World Food Program. In this comprehensive strategy, agricultural development would be one vital piece of a broader effort that includes emergency food relief, nutrition programs and safety net programs, like school feeding.

Following last year’s global food crisis and knowing how many of the poorest people around the world are now being impacted by the global financial crisis, it is really exciting to see this all this new legislation and know that the U.S. government is taking action that will provide both immediate and long-term solutions toward ending global hunger. 

Katie Campbell

Public Policy Assistant

Friends of the World Food Program

More than two miles above sea level, a gracious people live a rugged life in harmony with their land

The people we visited migrated to the high Andes Mountains of Peru 6,000 years ago. They suffered horrible atrocities from 1980 to 2000 during a civil war started by a group known as the Shining Path. The World Food Program, by providing food for work and food for education, has helped them put their lives back together. This initiative by WFP is set to end in June. As a volunteer for Friends of the World Food Program, I was very fortunate to be able to experience their culture, share their food, and see the tremendous work they have done in cultivating their fields and building their communities. These gracious people will forever be in my thoughts. I would like to introduce these people to you.

 

         

     

Ed Smith, volunteer
WFP Committee of Indianapolis

Peru 2009

 The incredible opportunity to travel as a UN Delegate to Peru with the Friends of the World Food Program for the United Nations World Food Programme is an incredible honor for me. To see and experience first-hand the beauty of the people and their country, and learn of their joys and their difficulties makes my efforts with Music For Mankind® (www.musicformankind.net) very personal. To help in whatever way I can touches my heart in a way that words may not describe. I have produced a short video of the trip, included here (click on the photo), which will later become a full documentary. I hope you enjoy seeing some of the beauty that we experienced.

My sincere thanks to Friends of the World Food Program and all of my fellow travelers for such an incredible adventure!

Kelly Moore

 

“Serious” video game encourages players to aid the hungry

Though many video games emphasize violence or winning a sports game, some companies are beginning to market “serious” games that make education the main goal of the game.  Food Force, a game developed by the United Nation’s World Food Program, is one of the most popular “serious” video games on the market.  Players of “Food Force,” are challenged to locate food insecure or undernourished people of a fictional island and then get food to them.

Leigh Alexander, director for the video-game publication Gamasutra, recently spoke about the effectiveness of serious games.    “These are the games that are looking to be more than entertainment, but to engage the player,” said Alexander.  Food Force is an effective “serious” game because it incorporates aspects of traditional video games, short of explosions and gunshots, to maintain the interest of young gamers and educate them about world hunger issues and some tactics used to address them.  The ultimate goal of “serious” games such as Food Force is to motivate players to take action to address the problem in the real world. 

 

Read more about “serious”games.

 

Take action against world hunger.

 

Check out Food Force.

 

-Devinne Mack

Outreach Intern

Friends of WFP

Dancing in Peru can be confusing

Margot had prepared us for the rituals that were going to be performed for us as we headed up into the Andean mountains, but little did I know that I was in for a fun treat. We arrived in Union Potrero after a three-hour bus ride through unpaved roads. Union Potrero is the headquarters for ABA, WFP’s NGO partner that works in the Andean region. We were greeted with a warm welcome filled with love and appreciation. As the villagers began playing a traditional song on their handmade string instruments, they started asking members of our group to dance. This is where it gets funny.

For those of you who don’t know me, I have rather long hair and three earrings, which caused one of the men in the village to mistake me for a woman. The man asked me to dance, and as we moved in front of the live music, he noticed that I was a man and suddenly looked confused. The crowd shouted with laughter, including myself. He then asked an actual woman to dance and a woman of the village came to dance with me. There is so much more to write, but I thought this would let everyone know that we are having a great time. This is truly an experience I will never forget.  

Brian Ward
Outreach Associate
Friends of the World Food Program

Pictures Speak a Thousand Words!

Follow links to view images (all photos taken by Stella Metsovas).  Please feel free to share with all your friends and family!

 

Image Gallery #1
Image Gallery #2
Image Gallery #3

Stella Metsovas

 

 

WFP in Peru--Making a Difference

When I think of the most typical WFP operations, I think of programs in which food is provided to ensure that people survive until tomorrow and WFP food is the only food people have available. The programs we saw this week were not the typical WFP programs. They provided so much more: training and projects to help improve people’s lives.

This morning, we climbed high into the mountains again, this time to visit a man-made lagoon that helps people in local communities harvest rainwater. Without the lagoon, these families have water only five months or so out of the year. With the help of WFP and ABA, a local, non-governmental partner, the construction of these lagoons has ensured that people in the towns near Union Potrero have access to water for themselves and their animals throughout the entire year. They have even begun installing irrigation systems on their farms to make better use of the water and increase their harvests!

At the lagoon, we were joined by ABA and WFP staff, along with many of the villagers from Union Potrero.  We got to watch and participate in a water blessing ceremony, very similar to the agriculture ceremony Meredith discussed in her latest blog post.

As the leader of the community stepped up to speak, he explained that when they first had the idea of creating the lagoon water reservoir, nobody believed it could succeed. The idea of building a lagoon with walls made of stone and land, rather than cement, seemed like an impossible idea. But they didn’t give up and even began building it themselves, using their bare hands to scrape away the land to create a large hole. This was extremely difficult work.

Luckily, WFP and ABA came along and offered their support for the project. Together with the villagers, they brought in machinery to dig out the lagoon and then worked with the community to perfect it and maintain it while it filled with water from the rainy season. In exchange for their work on this project, WFP provides food assistance to families that supplements their regular diets.

I am just so fascinated by the large scope of the WFP projects we have seen on this trip. Not only do families receive food, but they learn the skills needed to sustain themselves.

Jessica Lennon
Communications Assistant
Friends of WFP

Visit to Chakiccocha

From 14,000 feet high in the Andes mountains, our group of nine Americans – five WFP Committee volunteers and four Friends of WFP staff – watched in awe as the Quechua people of the village of Chakiccocha shared their ancient ritual to bless and prepare their land for the next harvest season. This ritual was truly a once-in-a-lifetime insight into the indigenous Quechua culture, and we were invited with open arms to observe and participate in this beautiful tradition.

It started off with an invitation for men and women to sit, on separate sides of the land, and face two village elders, who sat in front of a blanket covered with a lovely woven basket and a variety of offerings that would play an integral role in this ritual. With the backdrop of the Andes mountains, brown rock and red clay and all shades of green, broken only by an occasional home or patch of yellow or purple flowers, the setting truly could not have been more stunning. As the village leaders began to put fruits in the offering basket two by two, followed by cotton, coca leaf (a traditional plant that is chewed or made into tea by the people of the Andes), flowers and seeds, one of the Spanish-speaking villagers (most speak only Quechua) explained to us what was going on. When all offerings were placed in the basket, a hole was dug in front of a stone, and the villagers sang a song asking that the land open up and accept their offerings. As one leader dug this hole, a sense of happiness could be felt. It was determined that the land truly did open itself to accept the offering, as the soil was soft and there were no rocks in the hole. The basket was lowered into the opening on a bed of straw and then re-covered with dirt and then stones.

The villagers then moved on to the second portion of the ritual – the preparation of the land. The men stood in line and used a tool invented by the Incas to break the land. The women faced them and, with their bare hands, pushed the freshly broken soil to one side, creating rows in which the villagers would later plant seeds. As this was taking place, a rumbling could be heard, and the skies opened up, first with rain and then with hail. Our group took shelter, groping for our ponchos and coats, but the villagers were unfazed. They explained that the rain was like a jacket for them, and they welcome it. The rain proved an important symbol to close out this ritual, guaranteeing a good harvest to come.

I can barely put into words how special it felt to be welcomed with so much love into the lives of a people practicing such a magnificent, ancient culture. I can’t wait to sleep in another such village tonight and really experience a full day in their lives.

Meredith Slater
Development Associate
Friends of WFP