All Night for Haiti

It is important for students to get involved in Service learning Programs because this is the way we have to improve our education and meet community needs at the same time. Today, students not only need a good GPI to demonstrate they are compromised with school; also they need to do more of what they are asked for. Participating in service learning education, internship, volunteer programs and others programs outside the classroom, is the best way student have to make obvious they are really compromised with school and community. Last October 16, 2009, I participated in a service learning program at Miami Dade College Kendall Campus named All Night for Haiti. The activity was organized between Miami Dade College and the Food for The Poor Organization. The Food For the Poor is a charity nonprofit agency which mission is implement programs and projects in order to supply assistance and help the poor people in the Caribbean and Latin America. This organization has been helping children and the poorest of the poor by providing food, housing, health care, education, water projects, emergency relief and micro-enterprise assistance in the Caribbean and Latin America. For instance, this organization usually ship food, clothing, clean water, medicines, educational materials, homes, support for orphans and the aged, skills training and emergency relief, and other medical supplies to these countries where children and families are often forgotten. Moreover, in its endeavor to reduce poverty this agency has taken the initiative to develop numerous aquaculture projects such as tilapia farms, which provide nutrients, vital protein and a self-sustaining food resource. Whenever a hurricane hit these countries, Food For The Poor takes action rescuing residents and brings food and water to storm victims.
Participating in this activity has caused a great impact in my point of view of the struggle life that poor people face every day in the Caribbean and Latin America. In the course of the activity, members of Food for The Poor Organization explained to the student how life is for children and poor families in these countries. For example, because of the lowest income that poor families have in poorest communities, these families have to go to the dump every day to simply stay alive. Parents and children spend time in this precarious and detrimental environment looking for tin, aluminum cans and materials that can be recycled for only one or two dollar per day. In addition, we learned that an education is a luxury for poor children since their parents do not have money to pay their school. Consequently, children are forced to work or prostitute in order to bring money at home; in other case, they live in the street for they do not have where to live. Through the night, there were several expositions about the positive result that the organization has achieved during these years. In Haiti, news schools have been opened with funds collected in donations organized by this agency in cooperation with community groups, individual businesses and churches. In addition, Haiti citizens presented videos and testimonials explaining how important the presence of Food for The Poor Organization in Haiti has been. Moreover, they spoke about Haiti’s national flag, coat of arms, anthem, history, capitol and other important places and issues.
In order to take action in this cause, this night I did several things. I got to the activity at 8 pm whit the intention of spending all the night doing whatever the organizers asked me to do. At the beginning, I attended to the theater in order to see all the presentations. This section was very interesting because we learned very important facts about Haiti and the Food for The Poor Organization as I have mentioned above. The second part of the activity was focused in the cultural traditions of Haiti people. It was very enjoyable for us because the artist performed different dances and songs which are typical of their culture and heritage. In addition, there were not only student, but also there were Haiti citizens who came to the activity and cheer with the students their experiences in different fields such as education, medicine, sports, agriculture, tourism and so on. What is more, they explained to us how important it has been for Haiti the work done by this agency through these years. The most directly way we helped the organization was buying food, water, souvenirs and donating money to raise funds. It was what I did in order to help and made real the dream of those poor families. At the end of the activity, all the students organized the area and interchanged our experiences and impressions of the activity with the organizers.
In my personal opinion, the Food for The Poor Organization is playing an important role for the essentials human rights in this moment. Today, there is a big difference between rich and poor countries, and a lot of people are insensible to the crude reality that thousands and millions of families face every day. It is absurd for me that people sleep without having dinner whereas thousandths of tons are wasting every day. It is impossible that children in poor countries die for illness that are cured in riches ones. Since this organization is focused in reducing the despair between rich and poor, families are benefiting and the rest of the world is realizing that there is something that we can do for poor, starving and marginalized people. I encourage this organization to work hard as they has done in order to rise more founds in industries, government and other organizations. Finally, it is important to organize more activities like this in colleges and universities in order to involve the students in this problem because we will be the futures leaders of the world and have to be concerned about the poor.