Leftovers

Those of us who lived in Haiti for an extended period of time must deal with certain issues for years and years. We are marked by our experience. Some things that hit us are extremely positive such as the generosity and hospitality of the Haitian people but others nag at our spirit and sometimes make us weep. The one that got to me tonight was the leftovers.

I scraped the food from our dinner plates and serving bowls into the compost bucket. And I swear, the first thought that came into my head was, "I wouldn't be doing this if I still lived in Haiti." We never tossed food. Even moldy bread became chicken food. If there was as much as a tablespoon of mashed potatoes, it went into the fridge. We had people who worked for us who really wanted those leftovers and we gave them willingly. Actually, I never gave them directly to my workers. I would say something like, "Marie, I have this leftover food. I am sure you know someone who might want it. Would you take it for him/her?" And Marie did know someone - her daughter or her two sons for starters! But going through this "back-door" allowed Marie to hold onto a bit of human dignity. Sometimes, when you are quite poor, dignity is your only possession.

Last week was my stress-filled Spring Break and one of my mini-projects was to clean out the fridge. I tossed so many containers with little dabs of food, it wasn't funny. Most spoiled before we could eat them or we never wanted to eat them (again) anyway. So I promised myself that I wouldn't save the dabs anymore. But it is tough! My dad always got after me for not finishing my dinner. He would tell me about the starving children in China... and yes, just like you, I wanted to tell him to send it to them. So rude... But the truth is that once you've lived among starving people, you are changed. I still remember my older son's reaction to his first university food-fight. He absolutely raged at his friends and classmates after that experience. He was horrified that most people just didn't seem to care. We care, my husband, my sons, we care about those who are hungry. We do all we can to make a difference in their lives. And although saving the little dabs after dinner isn't going to help them, it certainly does hurt to throw it away.