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Article: Haiti on the brink of ecocide.
- Article from:
- E Magazine
- Article date:
- August 1, 1994
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1994 Earth Action Network, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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As I rush down the street to avoid the beggars, a woman steps directly in front of me. She pushes her child into my arms. I grasp reflexively, and find myself holding a small naked boy. We look at each other. Dark, tired eyes. He begins to cry silently. He has skinny arms and legs, a distended stomach, blotchy skin, and patchy hair. He has kwashiokor, a disease of malnutrition--literally "the disease the first baby gets when the second one comes." Then the woman shouts and aggressively pushes her upheld hand into my stomach. Is she saying that I am fat? My friends wouldn't think so. Yet, compared to her, I am fat.
I have promised myself 10 times not to give more ...