Wyclef Jean’s Yéle Haiti and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) announced the launch of a new joint food distribution program in two of Haiti’s worst neighborhoods today (Nov. 14). Cité Soleil and Bel Air rank among the poorest slums in Haiti, which itself is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere. To add to the country’s issues, the interim government filed a lawsuit against Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide last week, accusing him of stealing tens of millions of dollars from the Haitian treasury and the state-owned telephone company. Cité Soleil and Bel Air were devastated by tropical storm Jeanne in 2004 and violence and crime prevent aid from reaching the disaster stricken areas. “Children fear not the storm, because after the storm, it gets calm, and that’s when the sun comes out. Yéle Haiti,” Jean said. Unemployment rates have reached 80 percent in the area, where open sewers run and residents bake and eat mud pies for a small amount of nutrients. Jean’s organization and WFP will distribute food to the region twice a month and feed almost 3,000 people per day. “Working with Yéle Haiti has allowed us to reach out to some of the most vulnerable people in Haiti, namely the women and children of Cite Soleil and Bel Air. We are therefore very happy about this new cooperation,” said WFP Haiti Country Director, Mamadou Mbaye. Yéle Haiti is a U.S. 501 (c)3 organization. For more information visit www.yele.org.
Wyclef Jean’s
Yéle Haiti and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) announced
the launch of a new joint food distribution program in two of Haiti’s worst
neighborhoods today (Nov. 14).
Cité Soleil and Bel Air rank among the poorest slums
in Haiti, which itself is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.
To add to the country’s issues, the interim government
filed a lawsuit against Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide last week,
accusing him of stealing tens of millions of dollars from the Haitian treasury
and the state-owned telephone company.
Cité Soleil and Bel Air were devastated by tropical storm
Jeanne in 2004 and violence and crime prevent aid from reaching the disaster
stricken areas.
“Children fear not the storm, because after the storm,
it gets calm, and that’s when the sun comes out. Yéle Haiti,”
Jean said.
Unemployment rates have reached 80 percent in the area, where
open sewers run and residents bake and eat mud pies for a small amount of nutrients.
Jean’s organization and WFP will distribute food to the
region twice a month and feed almost 3,000 people per day.
“Working with Yéle Haiti has allowed us to reach
out to some of the most vulnerable people in Haiti, namely the women and children
of Cite Soleil and Bel Air. We are therefore very happy about this new cooperation,”
said WFP Haiti Country Director, Mamadou Mbaye.
Yéle Haiti
is a U.S. 501 (c)3 organization. For more information visit
www.yele.org.
