Feeding hungry tummies in Honduras

Guadalupe Sanchez, director of donations for CEPUDO, a Food For The Poor in-country partner, describes her visit to a feeding center in Honduras:

Marvin and Anita visit the feeding center every day. They live in a rented room, in front of the feeding center with their mother, Katia. Their father was killed the year before in a fight at the community football field. After his death, Katia gave custody of her eldest son to a family member as she could no longer afford to pay for school tuition and uniforms that are necessary to receive an education.

Today when we arrived to the feeding center, Marvin welcomed us with a huge smile and immediately asked me to take his picture. It was very difficult for me to keep walking as he was hugging my legs and I had to do as he asked. I took a few pictures of him, and then he introduced me to his sister, Anita, who was not as outgoing as her younger brother.

After my new tour guide showed me around the feeding center, it was time to eat. The plate today contained rice and soy with fried plantains. The rice was uniquely prepared in a way that I had never seen before as it contained cabbage, lettuce, carrots, cucumber, chicken broth and even a pound of bologna. The meal was prepared by the center’s coordinator along with three mothers, including Katia. Katia is very skinny, does not smile and hardly speaks. In her eyes you can see her despair, a sadness that is easy to understand.

The time to eat has now arrived and begins with a prayer thanking God for the food. Initially, there were 30 children and two elderly persons eating, but as they left, more would arrive to take their place. In total, there are 60 children and seven elderly fed here daily, Monday through Friday. The elderly are welcomed here for breakfast as well as dinner.

As we began to say our goodbyes to the children, we gave them a personal hygiene kit. The majority had stopped eating as their curiosity took over and they had to see what was in the bag. Immediately, they lost interest and continued to eat until their plate was empty.

I ask myself how many other stories are there at this feeding center like Marvin and Anita’s?

I ask myself how many other stories are there at this feeding center like Marvin and Anita’s? What would happen to them if this was not here? How can we help Katia? Thousands of ideas come to mind, but what I am sure of is that CEPUDO, with the support of Food Tor The Poor, is a fundamental part of sustaining this center. So many times I have said “rice with soy and beans is the only thing we have” but I had not realized that this means so much to so many people who receive our help daily.

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Marvin y Anita asisten todos los días al  Comedor 15 de Septiembre. Ellos viven en un cuarto alquilado frente al comedor con su madre Katia. Su padre murió el año pasado en una pelea de maras en el campo de futbol de la comunidad. A raíz de esto, Katia cedió la custodia de su hijo mayor a alguien de su familia pues no podía pagar los útiles escolares y uniformes que necesita para recibir una educación digna.

Hoy, cuando llegamos al Comedor, Marvin nos recibió con una gran sonrisa e inmediatamente me pidió que le tomara una foto. Era muy dificil seguir caminando pues había abrazado mi pierna y no tenia opción mas que hacer lo que el niño me pedia. Le tome un par de fotos y luego me presento a su hermana Anita, que no es tan extrovertida pero si tiene la misma alegría que su hermano.

 
Despues de un recorrido por el comedor junto a mi nuevo guía llegó la hora de la comida. El plato de hoy era arroz con soya y plátanos maduros fritos. El arroz habia sido preparado de una forma que no lo había visto antes pues tenia repollo, lechuga, zanahoria, pepino, consome de pollo y hasta una libra de mortadela. La comida fue preparada por la coordinadora del centro y tres madres entre ellas Katia. Katia es muy delgada, no sonrie, casi ni habla y en sus ojos hay una desesperación, una tristeza que es facil de entender.

 
La hora de almuerzo ha llegado, todo empieza con una pequena oración de agradecimiento a Dios por los alimentos. Inicialmente habían unos 30 niños y dos ancianos pero a medida que van saliendo unos van llegando otros. En total sirven almuerzo a 60 niños y 7 ancianos de lunes a viernes. A los ancianos  tambien les proveen de desayuno y cena.
 
Me despedí de los niños y les entregamos un kit de higiene personal. La mayoria dejó de comer por la curiosidad de ver que habia dentro de aquellas bolsas, pero inmediatamente perdieron el interés y continuaron comiendo hasta dejar los platos completamente vacios.
 
Me pregunto que otras historias como la de Marvin y Anita hay en ese comedor? Que pasaría con ellos si el comedor no existiera? Como podemos ayudar a Katia? Mil ideas vienen a mi mente pero de algo que si estoy segura es que CEPUDO/FOOD FOR THE POOR es parte fundamental del funcionamiento de este centro. Tantas veces he dicho “arroz con soya y frijoles es lo único que tenemos” y no me daba cuenta de lo mucho que esto es para miles de personas que diariamente reciben nuestra ayuda.

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