tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-86034296107482974642011-09-08T08:20:43.718-07:00Angel A. Alomahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07833820552103109174noreply@blogger.comBlogger191100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8603429610748297464.post-34635733983049029062011-09-08T06:55:00.000-07:002011-09-08T08:20:43.730-07:00

“I call heaven and earth as a witness this day, that I have set before you life and death...Therefore choose life...” (Deuteronomy 30:19a) In many of our countries children die on a daily basis, not because of horrible, debilitating illnesses, but simply for lack of food. In Haiti, it used to be that one out of every eight children did not live to see the age of five for this reason, but because

Angel A. Alomahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07833820552103109174noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8603429610748297464.post-69060554353342012212011-08-26T13:28:00.000-07:002011-08-26T13:33:20.192-07:00

At a moment in the prayer service this morning, trying to avoid the sun in my eyes by standing in the shadow of the cross on the front of our building, I suddenly felt the urge to write this prayer, which I completed in within the time of a song that was being played there. I used the blank back of the program distributed that morning to write it. It just flowed right out, without pause.

Angel A. Alomahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07833820552103109174noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8603429610748297464.post-26196665449154010472011-08-10T08:13:00.000-07:002011-08-10T10:04:58.012-07:00

I recently returned from another inspirational trip to Honduras. It is always good to visit with Linda Coello, her blood relatives and her extended family that comprise the organization of which she is president – CEPUDO. They are the people who do a great job of distributing the goods that we send for that country and who are our partners in projects that include the building of houses and water

Angel A. Alomahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07833820552103109174noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8603429610748297464.post-55313046724726006552010-10-27T07:53:00.000-07:002010-10-27T07:55:09.191-07:00

On Monday, Oct. 4th, 2010, I landed in Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras, (one of the scariest airports for landings and take-offs in the world). There is a very large mountain that appears to be right at the end of the runway – no matter whether you are taking off or landing! This was to be a “good news” trip because we were visiting there to inaugurate a number of housing and

Angel A. Alomahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07833820552103109174noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8603429610748297464.post-56710053820463975612010-07-15T10:28:00.000-07:002010-07-30T10:53:19.959-07:00

Our Farewell Dinner The night before we departed on this greatly anticipated trip, I invited the group traveling to Haiti to my home for dinner. Included were Don Moen, the well-known Christian music composer and performer whose inspirational songs have graced our prayer-room at Food For The Poor (FFP) for many years, his son Michael , whom I would meet for the first time that night, and Jesse

Angel A. Alomahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07833820552103109174noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8603429610748297464.post-57211957646421466272010-07-13T07:26:00.000-07:002010-07-13T07:48:22.548-07:00

The Beginning Our group of 32 excited pilgrims departed for the capital of Honduras, Tegucigalpa (Tegus), on Tuesday, June 29th, to share our love with the poor of that beautiful nation along with our partners there who, like ourselves, want to transform the suffering that exists into dignity and hope. Vicki Kaufmann, our director of Speakers’ Bureau, Ed Young, our new country manager for

Angel A. Alomahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07833820552103109174noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8603429610748297464.post-50531946079819435022010-06-28T10:14:00.000-07:002010-07-07T07:34:51.884-07:00

It is quite an adventure just traveling to Guyana. First, we boarded a flight from Miami to Trinidad, having a layover in “Trini” of about seven hours.  A late-night flight from there brought us to Georgetown, the capital of Guyana – a little after 11:00 PM.  Then, after an hour’s drive from the airport, we finally arrived at our hotel accommodations. Our layover in Trinidad was used to good end

Angel A. Alomahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07833820552103109174noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8603429610748297464.post-13106063121800442612010-06-25T13:08:00.000-07:002010-06-25T13:51:31.943-07:00

In early June 2010, after severe flooding occurred in Guatemala, a small team from Food For The Poor (FFP) – including Alice Marino, Director of Marketing, and Mark Khouri, Director of Goods In Kind - traveled with me there to meet with our partners, Caritas Arquediocesana. The purpose of our trip was to visit some of our joint programs in the country. Traveling at the same time was a team from a

Angel A. Alomahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07833820552103109174noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8603429610748297464.post-80335386798959542002010-06-21T10:14:00.000-07:002010-06-21T13:58:00.315-07:00

THE BEGINNING About two hours before the “sinister” hit Haiti, I was on my way to the Miami Airport to take a flight to the Dominican Republic (DR) to meet with the country’s president. On my way there, I received a call advising that he would not be able to meet with me. I decided to cancel my flight. When we first learned of the earthquake, we could not have imagined the extent of the

Angel A. Alomahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07833820552103109174noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8603429610748297464.post-25531081756588803022010-05-10T06:55:00.000-07:002010-06-25T13:10:49.860-07:00

“A sword will pierce your heart.” Those words, spoken to Mary by the aged Simeon, ring true for all mothers. With the discomforts of pregnancy, when features swell with gained weight, a once graceful walk becomes a waddle, and the excruciating pain of the last stages of labor make her scream in agony, a mother takes a look at her bloody, mucous filled infant, the cause of all her recent sorrows.

Angel A. Alomahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07833820552103109174noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8603429610748297464.post-87193306026068922672009-12-30T06:23:00.001-08:002009-12-30T06:28:27.138-08:00

Nations of rice and rum, of drought and storms,Let us hear your song! Let us hear your song!Nations of beans and corn,Let us hear your song!Nations of breadfruit and yams,Let us hear your song!The guitar is wounded with five sharp swords.Oh, what a sad song! What a sad song!A song of hunger and thirst,What a sad song!A song about premature night,What a sad song!The Mayan flute plays a mournful

Angel A. Alomahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07833820552103109174noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8603429610748297464.post-44010263681225600272009-11-20T11:46:00.000-08:002009-11-20T11:50:17.443-08:00

I cannot forget you, Haiti.As I depart from your weeping shores,I steal your salty air in my greedy lungs.I smell nothingbut the scent of your sorrow and suffering.The memory of your unique cuisineresides permanently in my mouth.Your sovereign soildeeply embedded beneath my nails.Home… I’m home…yet you continue to haunt me.The lines of my ageing handsremind me of your dous granmoun.I picture the

Angel A. Alomahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07833820552103109174noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8603429610748297464.post-60211313406026584152009-10-19T10:22:00.000-07:002009-10-19T10:47:39.720-07:00

“Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, for they are no more.” (Mat. 2:28b)Oh Haiti, your tears burn into my heart like fire,Your mountains stand naked like your children,Without hands, unable to hide their shame.Yet, despite orange hair and swollen bellies,Despite hunger and hardship,Their beauty cannot be hidden.Oh mother Haiti, although your tired breasts are dry of milk,

Angel A. Alomahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07833820552103109174noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8603429610748297464.post-28259579669316102382009-10-07T13:27:00.000-07:002009-10-09T06:26:34.014-07:00

PART THREEEarly on Wednesday morning we took off in our bus for Cite Soleil (City of the Sun), a place that experiences horrendous poverty that has often manifested itself in violence and unrest. This gigantic seaside slum is home to almost 400,000 inhabitants of Port au Prince.The first place we visited there is truly a beautiful oasis amidst the ugliness of extreme need. Margherite Nassau

Angel A. Alomahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07833820552103109174noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8603429610748297464.post-83633518242145048052009-10-07T12:08:00.000-07:002009-10-09T06:24:45.930-07:00

PART TWOOur afternoon began with a visit to our boy’s orphanage and school, Foyer de l’Espoir (House of Hope). This was the site of the soccer game between our boys from this home and the “visiting team” from Lynn University that had accompanied me on my last trip. Our boys beat them 6 – 4 and great was their jubilation!At one point of our visit, the speakers were asked to sit in a shaded area

Angel A. Alomahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07833820552103109174noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8603429610748297464.post-61660047311578902952009-10-07T11:39:00.000-07:002009-10-09T06:23:37.184-07:00

On Tuesday, May 6th, a group of 19 of us – priests, pastors, deacons, the director of Speakers’ Bureau (Vicki Kaufman) and myself – departed from Fort Lauderdale to Port au Prince, Haiti. The humid heat, the “welcome” music, the crowds offering taxis and to carry our small pieces of luggage and the musicians in the parking lot were all happy reminders that we had arrived. Madame Pun, FFP’s

Angel A. Alomahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07833820552103109174noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8603429610748297464.post-27434485913110776402009-05-20T05:36:00.000-07:002009-06-16T12:57:10.390-07:00

For some years now, Food For The Poor donors have been funding tilapia projects of all different types and sizes in may of our countries. The tilapia is a hardy fish that matures quickly at a small cost and it has become very popular in the US and the world. For our purposes, it supplies the much needed life-saving protein that is often times lacking in the diets of the destitute (protein

Angel A. Alomahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07833820552103109174noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8603429610748297464.post-48413241553244342952009-05-18T11:11:00.000-07:002009-06-16T12:54:53.335-07:00

For some time now, Food for the Poor, through the generosity of its donors, has been buying container-loads of musical instruments and sending them to the poorest areas of our countries, to schools and communities, hoping that the young people who receive them will choose a musical instrument over a knife or gun. The program has been successful beyond our expectations. On a visit to Cite Soleil,

Angel A. Alomahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07833820552103109174noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8603429610748297464.post-89827914159647473842009-05-14T12:52:00.000-07:002009-06-16T12:52:56.470-07:00

Seven years ago, I visited La Chureca, the garbage dump outside of Managua, Nicaragua. There, I met a man of my own age (52 then) that had been working in garbage dumps since he was 12 years old - 40 years!! He looked 75... life had treated him so discourteously. He told me that he had lost the ability to dream. This simple statement was both

Angel A. Alomahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07833820552103109174noreply@blogger.com1