New Hatian in Sosua!

Status
Not open for further replies.
M

mike l

Silver
Sep 4, 2007
3,157
466
0
As I was leaving my safe compound in the heart of Sosua I saw a young man approaching and could not help but notice he seemed somewhat out of place.

Nicely dressed and with an empty nap sack on his back he was searching through our garbage cans.

I have never seen this in the 3 years that I have lived here so I watched and circled back .

This young man found a discarded jar of sphagetti sauce with perhaps 1 or 2 teaspoons left.

There was also a discarded jar of peanut butter with about 2 tablespoons available.

I circled a couple of times and came back and gave him $RD100.

This is the first time I have ever seen a human being eat out of a garbage can in the DR !
 
F

Freemo

New member
May 26, 2003
314
14
0
Happens every night in the Capital

Every night about midnight or so the guys comes round usually in pairs, sometimes alone and sort very quietly through the trash bags and boxes left in the street for collection.

My wife says they are Haitians and the habbit round our way has increased noticeably over the past 6 months until I suppose you would call it a nightly ritual.

Whether they are after 'food' primarily or just stuff in general it doesn't seem clear, but I have seen then eating direct from the bins.

I'm talking about the Gazcue / Universitaria area.
 
E

Expat13

Silver
Jun 7, 2008
3,255
50
48
It is heartbreaking to see. Almost want to leave a litte extra with the basura.

My girl always takes our throw away leftovers of good stuff, to the street for the Haitians.

Hopefully it will not substantially increase the crime rate.
 
A

Adrian Bye

Bronze
Jul 7, 2002
2,077
138
0
I took this photo in Havana, Cuba, the "workers paradise" a few years ago

IMG_0231-1024x768.jpg


article: Why I Firmly Disagree with the System in Cuba | Adrian Bye - Thoughts From An Internet Entrepreneur In The Caribbean
 
F

Freemo

New member
May 26, 2003
314
14
0
Those green bins

Only a few days ago I parked the car behind a row of shops in a London suburb. And there were about 6 of these green bins all full to the brim with plastic bags of food.

It looked to be mainly bread and cake type products. I figure the sell-by dates had expired. The plastic bags were all clear plastic with large printed notices on them advising that the contents were not fit for human consumption.

Probably just a bit on the stale side is all.

Mind blowing when you consider what the 'have-nots' are rooting around the bins for in the 3rd world countries.

The world is just a crazy lop-sided place. Very sad indeed.
 
P

PeterInBrat

Gold
May 29, 2006
10,265
200
0
Most Dominicans have family connections who they can go to to get bare essentials, but there still is hunger in Sosua. Very often they go to the store and buy food for one meal at a time, even buying one or two teaspoons of tomato paste at a time because they can't afford a whole can.

Given the man's clothes/backpack, do you think he is a refugee from the earthquake?
 
C

catcherintherye

Silver
Mar 2, 2008
2,902
544
0
I don't believe Mike is in a position to determine why the man is here. The backpack was probably just a means for carrying any found food.

He might well be a Haitian refugee from the earthquake, or perhaps he is here for some other reason. Whatever the reason, it is shameful that anyone must forage through trash in search of food, whether it is here, the US, or in Cuba.
 
M

MrMike

Silver
Mar 2, 2003
2,586
100
0
52
www.azconatechnologies.com
I cant believe you've never seen anyone eat from a garbage can in the DR. I have never seen a garbage can go untouched.

Granted, they are mostly picked through by people looking for returnable bottles or other recyclables but by the look of these guys its hard to believe they don't get snacky from time to time.
 
D

dv8

Gold
Sep 27, 2006
31,266
363
0
thing i observed in london:
all chain cafes like pret-a-manger, starbucks, eat and so on throw bin bags full of unsold food. every day. bags of pre-packed sandwiches, salads, sushi boxes, smoothies.
why not give it away? there are so many folks who go hungry, even in the first world, let alone here, in DR. macdonalds throws away all buns/fries that do not get sold withing certain slot of time wasting hundreds of tons of food every day.
very sad.
and there, i will admit: despite the fact i could afford to buy food many times i dug in those bags along with poor and rich alike.
there is a movement of people in the western world, well off, educated and my all acounts normal - who feed on food thown away by restaurants and supermarkets:
Freeganism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
as a child i dreamt about teleport machines in every kitchen that would send our uneaten or unfinished food to africa to feed the hungry. what i see is only more machines for killing and none for saving. :tired:
 
B

blackrainbow

New member
Dec 26, 2009
219
28
0
England.

As Haitians beg for money, they also offer you a service, things might of obviously changed since the earthquake,

dominicans want for nothing, My personal Opinion, may be different for some.


Lets put this into perspective: If you knew you had no money, im pretty sure you would be jumping on their bandwagon, but there still people and they need to eat, it doesnt matter what country im in,

besides it probablly makes me more knowledgable as a tourist, and not an everyday expat gringo,

and the current situation England is in, go figure.
 
Last edited:
B

Black Dog

Bronze
May 29, 2009
1,761
154
0
I have people on a regular basis coming into my office in Sosua just asking for money for various reasons. Some are Dominican, some are Hatian and I've also had gringos!
 
S

suarezn

Gold
Feb 3, 2002
5,823
290
0
55
Same here in The US. TONS and I mean TONS of food get thrown away every day instead of being given away to soup kitchens, etc...and this is mostly due to a fear of a lawsuit, because believe it or not I'm sure if Mcdonalds gave that food away and someone got sick from it (even though it as a handout) they would have a lawsuit in their hands.

It does make me sick to see this. About a month ago I went to Little Caesars (pizza chain) where they sell these 5 dollars (Hot 'n Ready) pizza and when I got there they were about to close. The guy just gave me two pizzas for free as they were going to just throw them away and I saw they had something like 50 pizzas they didn't sell that night which were all going to waste.
 
W

woofsback

Bronze
Dec 20, 2009
706
233
0
can ya spare a dime :)

Black Dog said:
I have people on a regular basis coming into my office in Sosua just asking for money for various reasons. Some are Dominican, some are Hatian and I've also had gringos!
Click to expand...


hey brother!!! can ya spare a loan so i can get back to the DR.
if ya lend me enuf i'll even buy ya a beer when i get there :)
 
  • Like
Reactions: Black Dog
R

Rumble2005

Active member
Mar 18, 2006
388
40
28
Sad Sad Sad

suarezn said:
Same here in The US. TONS and I mean TONS of food get thrown away every day instead of being given away to soup kitchens, etc...and this is mostly due to a fear of a lawsuit, because believe it or not I'm sure if Mcdonalds gave that food away and someone got sick from it (even though it as a handout) they would have a lawsuit in their hands.

It does make me sick to see this. About a month ago I went to Little Caesars (pizza chain) where they sell these 5 dollars (Hot 'n Ready) pizza and when I got there they were about to close. The guy just gave me two pizzas for free as they were going to just throw them away and I saw they had something like 50 pizzas they didn't sell that night which were all going to waste.
Click to expand...

Bingo. I go to a trade show in Vegas annually. I have witnessed the big resorts on the strip throwing out insane amounts of food.
I have also seen the poverty in Vegas, though it is almost entirely the result of mental illness or substance abuse.
At any rate I asked a hotel employee why they throw out all the seemingly good food vs sending it to a homeless shelter. The response was that they used to do it but a homeless guy "said" he got sick and sued the resort in question for millions. Thus, they just throw the food out now.
Having said all this my information is not from an official source.
 
waytogo

waytogo

Moderator - North Coast Forum
Apr 3, 2009
6,407
580
113
Santiago DR
blackrainbow said:
Ive never seen a haitian beg for money, dominicans on the other hand......
Click to expand...

You've never seen the Haitian children at the heavily trafficked intersections begging for money? I was told they collect money and turn it over to adults. I've seen these children knocking on the windows of cars and they are not even tall enough to look in. Very sad...
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top Bottom