Children dying in Haiti, victims of food crisis

[brentspeak]

Source: AP

The 5-year-old teetered on broomstick legs — he weighed less than 20 pounds, even after days of drinking enriched milk. Nearby, a 4-year-old girl hung from a strap attached to a scale, her wide eyes lifeless, her emaciated arms dangling weakly.

In pockets of Haiti accessible only by donkey or foot, children are dying of malnutrition — their already meager food supply cut by a series of devastating storms that destroyed crops, wiped out livestock and sent food prices spiraling.

At least 26 severely malnourished children have died in the past four weeks in the remote region of Baie d'Orange in Haiti's southeast, aid workers said Thursday, and there are fears the toll will rise much higher if help does not come quickly to the impoverished Caribbean nation.

Another 65 severely malnourished children are being treated in makeshift tent clinics in the mountainous area, or at hospitals where they were evacuated in Port-au-Prince and elsewhere, said Max Cosci, who heads the Belgian contingent of Doctors Without Borders in Haiti.



Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081121/ap_on_re_la_am_ca/cb_haiti_food_crisis

---

The next time some pompous, urbane Thomas Friedman-type idiot waxes poetical on the "benefits" of globalization, remind them about this unfolding tragedy in Haiti: it's occurring because Haitian leaders -- at the insistence of the WTO -- agreed to curtail Haiti's own agricultural production in favor of importing food -- food which is now priced so high that the average Haitian is starving to death.

[Mojorabbit]

1. I just got finished reading

an article re Zimbabwe and it is awful there too. The article is heartbreaking as is yours.

Hungry in Zimbabwe: 'If you rest, you starve'
Food catastrophe unfolds in rural area; nation remains in political paralysis
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27806974

[Paranoid Pessimist]

2. People of all ages are dying, victims of global humanitarian crisis n / t

[madeline_con]

3. They should be given Plumpynut

It needs no water or refrigeration, is high in protein, can be given therapeutically at home, so moms can care for all their kids, instead of lingering in aid stations.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plumpy'nut

[elocs]

4. In this country we complain about the high price of food

while we probably have the cheapest food and most plentiful supply of it in the world that allows us to throw away massive amounts of food. Yes, there are people who are hungry here, but we do not have the widespread starvation that is happening in other parts of the world.

[cobalt1999]

5. Don't ignore the fact they've doubled their population in the last 40 years

They have grown well beyond the island's ability to feed their population without imports even in a good year. Throw in a series of storms that takes out 60% of their harvest and this is what happens.

[AikidoSoul]

6. I feel helpless as usual

when I hear these kinds of things. I'm not on the ground near these incidents. I don't know which data are correct. I have no idea what to do. And worst of all, I'm sitting here with a plate of toast and butter as I read this.

I feel really bad about this, but have no idea what to do. Any suggestions?

[Greyfox_Hyena]

7. With news like that makes me wonder...

...where are those s***heads from focus on family now?

Aren't children the most valuable thing for them?

Oh, of course.
They prefer to invest their f****** money to take away rights from innocent people they don't like, and later when they could do something REALLY useful for people really in need, they don't have any.