“Man can live about forty days without food, about three days without water, about eight minutes without air, but only one second without hope.” –Hal Lindsey
I was driving home today, thinking about my Inspiration Information post today and listening to NPR. And this amazing story came on about a local Haitian restaurant that is serving free food to thousands of starving people in the midst of limited relief supplies and looting.
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=122989207
This once upscale pizza parlor that was too expensive for most Haitians to eat at, has transformed into a community-bonded food distribution center. It began small, with the owners cooking whatever food supplies they recovered post-quake and handing them out to survivors on the street. When they began to run out of food and gas, other businesses and citizens in the neighborhood started chipping in, pooling their resources.
It’s a story that’s been repeating throughout Port-au-Prince, where individuals who already have very little have been sharing their limited resources with neighbors to make every bit stretch.
Now, Muncheez is feeding around 1000 people a day, with lines wrapping around the building. And international aids groups have taken notice, providing the improvised soup kitchen with bags of lentils and dried food.
In the words of co-owner Gilbert Bailly: “As long as I have stuff to give, I am going to keep doing it. It keeps myself busy. It gives me hope.”
To me, there is no silver lining in Haiti, if not this. There are celebrities rising to the occasion. Politicians. Doctors. Trained relief workers. People with the power, influence, or skill sets to make a significant difference. But also, all around, everywhere you look there are everyday, ordinary people with nothing but their resiliency, their resourcefulness and — above all else and in spite of insurmountable hardships — a limitless, indestructible HOPE.
What could be more inspiring than that?
always merry and bright,
aaron
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