The Sacre Coeur Refectory (Soup Kitchen) in Hinche, Haiti feeds 75-125
families a day, five days a week. The exact number of people fed is
difficult to know since many families, due partially to embarrassment, will
send one of their children to the refectory with a bucket which is used to
feed the family back home. The meal is served around 1:00 PM each day,
Monday thru Friday and usually consists of beans, rice and cornmeal which
Father Bourdeau buys in the local market. Most of the country's poor could
not afford to buy food locally in the best of times. Now with the price of
food, and everything else, increasing dramatically, the number of families
forced to seek assistance is rising and will continue to do so for the
foreseeable future. St. Monica spends $700 per month to support the
refectory which works out to less than 25 cents per meal. A bargain price
to keep a child alive and well. Below
are before and after photos of a girl named Lavalie who was literally
starving to death until her family started receiving food assistance at
Sacre Coeur.
Lavalie - Before
Lavalie - After