Martha Lemieux
February, 1999

When asked why I was going on the trip to Haiti, I said that I felt the need to "ground" myself - to be more aware of what I have and how blessed I am. Did I ever get "grounded!" Having lived in South America and volunteered with charitable groups, I've seen poverty. But I've never seen such unending poverty. It was everywhere, for miles and miles, as far as the eye could see.

As I write this, we've been home for two days and tears still come to my eyes when I think of what we saw. I returned with much admiration for those who work with the poor in Haiti, a strong belief in what Food for the Poor is doing and how efficiently they do it (9.2% operating expenses in 1997), gratefulness for having been born in the United States and not in Haiti, and pride in Nativity parish for the 27 homes we helped build.

God surely will bless us for our caring and sharing.