Food is a luxury in Haiti. The majority of families are lucky to indulge in one meal per day, which is usually eaten around 2pm. Lunch is not a part of the normal school day, so most students come to and leave school hungry. Last week, through The Lord’ Kitchen, I had an opportunity to help the ladies in the kitchen cook and serve lunch to the students at the school on campus here at Grace International Lamentin. 5 women, 4 hours, and probably close to 300 pounds of rice and beans later, over 500 students and staff were fed.
The Lord’s Kitchen was started after the 7.2 magnitude earthquake in 2010 that shook Haiti to its core. At the time, Grace International became home to over 25,000 people who had been displaced because of the earthquake. Many relief teams came to aid of Haiti during this time by providing mainly medical care and construction work. However, there was a group of “church moms” that came and just wanted to help in any way possible. When asked what they like to do, they said that they loved to cook. Through the willingness and determine of this group of women, Grace International made it happen. The Lord’s Kitchen started out for the refugees temporarily living on campus and now serves the community school on campus. Not only does it provide nutrition to the local children, The Lord’s Kitchen also provides employment for the staff cooks. I don’t know much Creole and those women don’t know much English, but the morning I spent cooking with them was special and full of smiles, laughter, and love. Someway, somehow, we were able to connect across different cultures and languages in order to work together to accomplish something for the greater good.
The Lord’s Kitchen is a per funded program, meaning the kitchen only runs when there are donations specifically to help fund the program. YOU can help to keep this ministry going. For around $1, you can feed one student lunch for the day. It costs around $300 to serve a meal for the entire school, which is 30 people donating $10 each or 10 people donating $30 each. To donate today, visit the Grace International website by clicking here!
